12-19-07

Link to DOE website that has variety on information and data regarding  the new school funding proposal, as well as prior school funding reports and analyses.

http://www.state.nj.us/education/sff/

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What’s being said about the new school funding proposal on respecitive Assembly and Senate Republican and Democrat Homepages (12-18-07 a.m.)

1)    Senate Democrat Homepage: Nothing on new funding proposal

2)      Senate Republican Homepage: Audio –  ‘Lance and Kean Protest Passage of a School Funding Plan During Lame Duck’

http://www.senatenj.com/index.php/audio/lance-and-kean-protest-passage-of-a-school-funding-plan-during-lame-duck/170

3) Assembly Democrat Homepage:   Nothing on new funding formula proposal

4) Assembly Republican Homepage:

BRAMNICK EXPRESSES CONCERNS ABOUT INEQUITY OF CORZINE’S NEW SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick today expressed deep concerns about Governor Jon Corzine’s proposed new school funding formula saying the plan fails to recognize that many suburban school districts have been flat-funded for the past five years.

“Any increases suburban schools see during the next three years will mean very little as this new formula is based on last year’s numbers which do not reflect the fact that many of these districts received virtually no aid for five years,” said Bramnick, R-Union, Morris, Somerset and Essex, who pointed out that Administration officials did not release aid figures for years three and beyond.

Noting that 58 percent of school aid now is reserved for the 31 Abbott Districts, leaving only a 42 percent share for the remaining 585 districts, Bramnick said the new aid formula amounts to another freeze in state aid for suburban districts for the next two to three years. When the real formula takes effect in year three, he said he fears many rural districts will again be shortchanged. As a result, as enrollments rise, so too will property taxes.

Between 2002 and 2007, Abbott Districts received an average 6 percent increase in aid annually despite sharp drops in enrollments while non-Abbotts saw, on average, a one percent increase along with rising enrollments.

“The initial figures may look appealing for some school districts, but this formula fails to take into account that since 2002 suburban schools have been short-funded nearly $1 billion,” explained Bramnick.

The funding inequity, he said, will also be notable in special education aid as the plan calls for a significant portion of that funding to be based on a community’s ability to pay. Despite Corzine’s promise to have “the money follow the student,” he said he has grave concerns about the impact of the plan on special education aid as two-thirds of it will be distributed under a wealth-equalized formula.

“Instead of giving a basic level of state aid to each student with additional aid to those who are ‘at risk,’ this Administration is cutting what little aid many suburban districts receive,” he said. “This new formula does nothing to address the inequity of state-funded education aid.”