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Star Ledger - Increasing school funding formula would lower percentage of aid to N.J.'s poorest districts, analysis shows
The Record - Legislator says state aid cuts hurt Paterson schools
njspotlight.com - Controversial Proposal Moves Ahead, While BOE Delays Votes on Other Mandates - Administration still pushing to allow non-educators to fill school superintendent slots
Star Ledger - Increasing school funding formula would lower percentage of aid to N.J.'s poorest districts, analysis shows
Published: Tuesday, April 12, 2011, 9:45 PM Updated: Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 12:09 AM
By Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
TRENTON — Plugging more money into the state’s school funding formula would lower the percentage of aid sent to New Jersey’s largest, poorest districts, according to an analysis of the Department of Education’s budget.
Under the proposed budget, 56.4 percent of the $7 billion allocated for state aid will go to these districts, known as former Abbott districts, the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services’ analysis said.
But if the formula is funded fully for fiscal year 2011-12, that percentage would drop to 50.9 percent, suggesting to at least one legislator that not all of the state’s at-risk children, who cost the most to educate, are stuck in failing urban districts as Gov. Chris Christie often argues.
The analysis was made available at an Assembly Budget Committee hearing.
Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) said the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 was designed so money would follow the state’s neediest children, no matter where they live or which schools they attend.
"I don’t represent any former Abbott districts, but I know I have these kids in my district," said Greenwald, who represents wealthy New Jersey suburbs like Voorhees and Cherry Hill. "I know they succeed when the formula is in place."
Greenwald chided acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf, who testified before the committee, for proposing another Department of Education budget that fails to fund the formula fully. Though districts will receive $250 million more this year than they received last year, the formula is still underfunded by $1.7 billion, according to the analysis.
The state Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of Christie’s decision to cut $1 billion in school aid from the fiscal 2010-2011 budget.
The Education Law Center, which brought the suit, argues the cuts violated the state’s obligation to provide a "thorough and efficient" education to poor children.
During today’s hearing, Cerf advocated the state’s position — that New Jersey’s desperate financial situation made it impossible to fully fund the formula. The same argument stands for this year, Cerf said.
The Record - Legislator says state aid cuts hurt Paterson schools
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Last updated: Wednesday April 13, 2011, 8:37 AM
BY LESLIE BRODYAND ZACH PATBERG
The Record
STAFF WRITERS
Democratic Assemblywoman Nellie Pou made an impassioned plea Tuesday at a Trenton budget hearing as she invited acting education chief Christopher Cerf to visit Paterson schools to see for himself the pain of state aid cuts.
Pou, who represents Paterson, described this year's elimination of most art and music programs, hundreds of teacher layoffs and classes "overcrowded with 30 to 35 children."
Cerf promised to visit. "I would love to tour classrooms and experience firsthand what you're describing," he said. "I would value that very much."
Pou's invitation came after the Assembly budget committee grilled Cerf for more than two hours on a range of budget issues, often focusing on last year's aid cuts to districts. The state Supreme Court is now considering whether Governor Christie's aid cuts to schools last year were constitutional; advocates argue the cuts violated the state's obligation to provide a thorough and efficient education to poor urban children.
A report by the Office of Legislative Services says that the governor's proposed budget for fiscal 2012 allocates $7 billion for state formula aid to schools, a shortfall of $1.7 billion from the sum required by the state's 2008 school funding formula.
The OLS report noted that under the governor's proposed budget, Paterson would get $371 million in state aid for fiscal 2012, or $38.5 million less than dictated by the funding formula.
Some district officials and advocates commended Pou's diagnosis of the schools and used it as a chance to push for more local autonomy. The district has been under state control for 20 years — school board President Theodore Best has described the oversight as "handcuffs."
Fernando Martinez, of the parents' group Paterson Education Organizing Committee, said the board, which is now just an advisory body to the state, should have "more power in terms of programs to implement and moving money around."
State officials "are not here every day, they don't know what the needs are," he said, pointing to science labs still waiting for supplies and 100-year-old buildings that leak.
Longtime board commissioner Jonathan Hodges said poor test scores by students correspond to the dwindling state aid.
The state-appointed superintendent, Donnie Evans, had no comment beyond welcoming Cerf to visit the district.
Cerf repeated the administration's argument that the cuts were necessitated by the state's fiscal crisis. He said money poured into troubled districts could have better results if used more efficiently, especially if it could be used to attract the best teachers to the most challenging classrooms.
The Supreme Court plans to hear another round of oral arguments in the funding case April 20.
E-mail: brody@northjersey.com
