NEWS UPDATE    e-mail newsletter

TRENTON -- The state's school funding law, shoved aside by recent state budget woes, will be examined today at a meeting of legislators considering changes in the way New Jersey pays for public education.

The special committee on school funding reform was to hear from the state Education Department about the school funding formula, which hasn't been fully implemented for five years.

State aid for most schools hasn't increased in that time, forcing them to rely more heavily on property taxes, which have increased about 7 percent per year in recent years. They are the highest in the nation at $6,000 per property owner, twice the national average.

The school funding panel, among four considering property tax reform ideas, also was scheduled to hear testimony from Stanley Sanger, the Union City schools superintendent, and Robert Previti, the Brigantine schools chief, on ways to save money.

About 55 percent of the property tax money collected annually in New Jersey goes toward schools, and about $10 billion of the $30 billion spent every year by the state goes to school operations.

A state Supreme Court ruling -- stemming from concerns that children in poor city schools don't receive the same quality of education as those in wealthy suburban schools -- requires the state to provide heavy funding for 31 districts designated as needing special help.

Those districts have about 22 percent of the state's student population, but they get about 55 percent of all state school aid.

Meanwhile, the state hasn't increased financial aid to most other schools for five years amid chronic state budget deficits. Middle-income districts in particular contend the failure to increase state aid annually has led to sharp property tax increases.

The four committees are to devise property tax cutting recommendations by Nov. 15 as part of an effort to slice New Jersey's property taxes by the end of the year.

Gov. Jon Corzine wants to cut projected property tax growth by about 20 percent by 2010.
Published: August 29. 2006 6:03AM

8-29-06 a.m. Property tax reform session focuses on schools
Lawmakers trying to solve the expensive puzzle of New Jersey's high property taxes are scheduled to return to work this afternoon, for the third meeting of a committee looking to overhaul public school funding.

School costs account for about 55 percent of the expenses covered by property taxes, even though the state budget includes $7.35 billion in public school aid.

Lawmakers on the school funding committee are considering ways to adjust the way that aid is distributed among the state's 616 school districts, and are also considering ways to cut school costs through regionalization, consolidation or outright spending limits.

This afternoon's hearing is scheduled to consider "best practices" in public education, highlighting the Union City school district in Hudson County and Brigantine school district in Atlantic County.

Officials with the state Department of Education also are scheduled to discuss the state's current school funding formula, the Comprehensive Education Improvement and Financing Act of 1996.

That formula, designed to provide state aid to school districts based on the actual cost of providing a basic education, has been underfunded by about $1 billion, experts told the legislative committee during its opening meeting three weeks ago.

The school funding committee is one of four special legislative committees set up to propose solutions to the state's property tax crisis. Committee members are scheduled to proposed specific legislation by the end of the year to cut property taxes.

8-29-06 p.m. Live from the Ledger: Lawmakers squabble at school funding hearing
Political fireworks this afternoon lit up a legislative hearing that had been designed to help lawmakers reworking the state's $7.3 billion school aid program learn about successful public school improvement strategies.

The setting was a meeting of the joint legislative committee reviewing school funding with an eye toward property tax reform.

Union City Schools Superintendent Stanley M. Sanger was there to showcase his urban community's school programs and improving test scores. But Republicans on the committee suggested that political interference might be hampering the schools and adding to the cost of the running the district. State aid accounts for 78 percent of the Union City school district's budget.

"There are people who think that the board of education has become a political patronage system," said Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen).

His comments were cut off by Sen. John Adler (D-Camden), and Assemblyman Herb Conaway (D-Burlington), chairman of the special committee. "The purpose of this committee today is to look at best practices in a district that has been successful in educating the poorest kids in the state," Conaway said. "If we are going to engage in ad hominem attacks, I'm going to ask you to suppress them."

Another committee member, Assemblyman Brian Stack (D-Hudson), serves as mayor of Union City and appoints the Board of Education there. He "absolutely" denied there is any political interference in the school district. "I think that's why it runs so successfully," he said.

According to Sanger, Union City students' scores on standardized tests have improved for each of the past four years and are among the highest among the state's large city districts.

He acknowledged that the district is expensive to run and relies heavily on special aid required by the state Supreme Court's Abbott vs. Burke school funding decisions, but inisted the money is well spent.

"The fact we're spending a high amount per student has to do with more and more of our students coming with special needs," he said. "The bottom line is, we're getting success."

Contributed by Dunstan McNichol