TRENTON, Dec. 28, 2007 — The Assembly Education and Budget Committees held a marathon hearing (at least 10 hours) on the proposed school funding formula yesterday.  For the first three and a half hours, committee members heard from – and grilled – Education Commissioner Lucille Davy and SDOE Division of Finance staff.  NJSBA Director of Governmental Relations Mike Vrancik provided comments to the committees, expressing apprehension

(more…)

The Assembly Budget and Education Committees will hold a joint meeting to discuss the governor’s new proposed school aid formula, the School Funding Reform Act of 2008.  The meeting will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday, December 27 in the Committee Room 4, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton.

Today’s news articles with NJSBA Comments:

Star-Ledger (12/21/07)

Gannett Newspapers (12/21/07)

Philadelphia Inquirer (12/21/07)

The state Department of Education has posted draft legislation, the School Funding Reform Act of 2008, which would implement the governor’s proposed school funding formula.

Governor Corzine has released preliminary state aid figures based on his proposed school funding formula, along with the general philosophy behind the proposal.  It’s called A New Formula for Success – All Children, All Communities. The legislation to impliment the plan, however, is still being written.  This means that some important details are missing and many questions remain.  What we do know (more…)

The legislation to implement the new school funding formula will be introduced on Monday, Governor Corzine told education advocates gathered at Drumthwacket this evening for a second briefing on the proposal.  In the meantime,

(more…)

The School Funding Express is racing down the tracks like the Amtrak Acela on a good day. Everyone agrees: School districts need a funding formula for 2008-2009; we haven’t had one for seven years. But NJSBA is concerned about the limited time available to the lame duck Legislature to deliberate over the plan. To date, no one has seen the actual legislation to implement the plan, only briefing materials on the broad concepts. There have been leaks to newspapers about dollar increases. But, as of this morning, where and how these increases will occur is not known.

The “number vacuum” is expected to be filled by midday. (more…)

As discussion of the new school funding formula and how it will impact local school districts picks up speed, a couple of themes come to mind.  First, anyone who has ever gone on a blind date knows the expectation and corresponding apprehension that leads up to the main event.  Anticipating the reality of a new school funding methodology (more…)

For better or worse the Abbott court decisions have been the focus of school funding and property tax debate over the last 30 years. Governor Corzine’s proposed school funding formula attempts to create one formula for all districts — Abbott and non-Abbott — without distinction.  The philosophy will be that the “Money will follow the needs of the child.“  (more…)

Last Friday, the governor and the commissioner of education held a formal ‘briefing’ on the new school funding proposal. The meeting highlighted a lot that has been previously discussed and added little new information. Most significant, we still don’t have a quantitative basis — i.e., the numbers that reflect the actual allocation of aid each district will receive under the new proposal. So we wait – with questions: (more…)