New Jersey School
Boards Association, 413 West State Street, P.O. Box 909, Trenton, NJ
08605-0909
Telephone: (609) 278-5202
●
Fax:
(609) 695-0413 ●
Web
site: www.njsba.org/PI
BACKGROUNDER
| CONTACT: | Frank Belluscio (fbelluscio@njsba.org) |
| Mike Yaple (myaple@njsba.org) | |
| (609) 278-5202 |
More Facts about New Jersey's
Public Schools
TRENTON, February 23, 2004—The New Jersey School Boards Association has compiled statistics on state aid to public education, school administrative spending, tax rates and school district organization. The information should prove helpful to reporters covering Governor McGreevey’s Annual Budget Message tomorrow. [Click here to view Education by the Numbers I, released on January 12, 2004.]
State Aid to Public Education
|
30th |
New Jersey's ranking nationwide in the percentage of school funding provided by state government (state aid) in 1992-93. |
|
34th |
New Jersey’s ranking among the 50 states in 1994-95. |
|
44th |
|
|
49.6% |
Average percentage of public school funding provided by state
governments nationwide in 2002-03. |
|
37% |
Percentage of public school funding provided by New Jersey state
government the same year. |
(SOURCE: National Education Association, Rankings & Estimates: Rankings of the States 2002 and Estimates
of
School Statistics 2003, May 2003;
Rankings and Estimates: 1995; Rankings and Estimates: 1993.)
School Administration
|
3rd |
New Jersey's ranking among the 50 states in the percentage of public school expenditures devoted to "school administration" and "general administration" in 1992-93 (10.42%). |
|
14th |
New Jersey's ranking for administrative spending in 1994-95 (8.82%). |
|
21st |
New Jersey's most recent ranking for administrative spending, 1999-2000 (8.39%). |
(SOURCE: U.S. Dept. of Ed., National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, 1996, 1997,
2002. [Analysis: New Jersey School Boards Association].)
|
27.1% |
Increase in New Jersey public school enrollment from 1989-90 through 2002-03 (1,076,005 to 1,367,249 students). |
|
28.2% |
Increase in the number of classroom teachers during the same period. |
|
0.1% |
Increase in the number of school administrators from 1989-90 through 2002-03 (8,644 to 8654). |
(SOURCE: N.J. State Department of Education, Fall Survey and Vital Education Statistics.)
Shared Services
|
677 |
Number of shared-service arrangements recognized by the state’s Regionalization Efficiency Aid Program (REAP) in 2001-02 alone. (Municipalities and/or school districts with shared-service arrangements that were created or expanded in 1997 or later were permitted to apply for REAP funds.) |
|
352 |
Number of these shared-service programs involving school districts. |
|
119 |
Number of programs involving districts with one school. |
(SOURCE: N.J. State Department of Community Affairs, “Fiscal Year 2002 REAP Distribution,” Spreadsheet REAP
2001 FINAL_xls, July 2001)
|
$10 million |
State appropriation for the Regional Efficiency Development Incentive Grant Program (REDI) in 2000-01. (REDI provided state grants to local school districts and municipalities to study and develop money-saving, shared-service arrangements.) |
|
$5 million |
State appropriation for REDI in 2001-02. |
|
$0 |
State appropriation for REDI in 2002-03 |
|
$2 million |
State appropriation for REDI in 2003-04. |
(SOURCES: New Jersey State Legislature, Fiscal 2004 Appropriations Act, Pamphlet Law; New Jersey State
Department of the
Treasury, Appropriations Handbook for fiscal years 2003, 2002 and 2001.)
Early Childhood Education
|
30 |
Number
of Abbott districts, all of which must provide full-time
pre-Kindergarten programs. |
|
132 |
Number of New Jersey school districts, including the 30 Abbotts, that received Early Childhood Education Aid in 2003-04 to fund pre-Kindergarten and full-day Kindergarten programming. |
|
201 |
Number of New Jersey school districts, including the Abbotts, that provided pre-Kindergarten programs for non-special education pupils in 2002-03. |
|
$329.6 million |
Amount of Early Childhood Education Aid provided
to New Jersey school districts in 2003-04 (same amount as in
2002-03). |
(SOURCES: N.J. State Dept. of Ed., Fall Survey, Enrollment, 2002-03; N.J. State Dept. of Ed., Division of Finance,
2003-04 State Aid Summaries-Cash Basis and 2002-03 State Aid Summaries-Cash Basis.)
Budget Caps
|
3% |
Current spending growth limitation, or cap, placed on school districts budgets (before adjustments for enrollment growth and other factors). |
|
549 |
Number of school districts holding budget elections in April 2003. |
|
71 |
Number that presented voters with ballot questions to authorize expenditures above the cap in 2003. |
|
478 |
Number (87.1%) that presented voters with budget proposals within the state's spending growth limits |
(SOURCES: The Comprehensive Education Improvement and Financing Act, N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-5d(1); N.J. State Dept. of Ed., School Election Results 2003-04; New Jersey School Boards Association, "2003 Annual School Election Finance Questions"; New Jersey's 21 county boards of elections.)
School District Organization/Operations
|
616 |
Number of school districts in New Jersey. |
|
23 |
Number of “non-operating” school districts in New Jersey. |
|
$1.22 |
Average equalized school property tax rate among all districts in 2002. |
|
92˘ |
Average equalized school property tax rate in the 23 “non-operating” districts in 2002. |
(SOURCES: Rutgers Bureau of Government Services, Legislative District Data Book, November 2003 [equalized school property tax rates]; N.J. State Dept. of Ed., New Jersey School Directory; Analysis, New Jersey School Boards
Association
[equalized school property tax rates in the 23 non-operating school districts].)
Click here to view Education by the Numbers I, released on January 12, 2004
For further information about New Jersey's local school districts, contact the New Jersey School Boards Association Public Information Department at (609) 278-5202.
|
The New Jersey School Boards Association is a federation of more
than 600 local boards of education.
Established 90 years ago, NJSBA represents the education
and related health and safety interests of New Jersey's 1.3
million public school students and advocates the positions of
the state's local school districts.
The Association also provides inservice training and
technical assistance to the state's 4,800 local board of
education members.
School board members, who serve without compensation, are the
largest group of elected and appointed public officials in the
state.
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