Two bills released on March 9 from the Assembly Education Committee would establish a school funding study commission.

A-882, sponsored by Assemblyman Craig Stanley, would create the Commission on the Funding of a Thorough and Efficient Public School Education. The panel would study and recommend to the governor and the Legislature the per-pupil cost required to provide public school students with a thorough and efficient education. The commission would include 13 members – two appointed by the Senate President; two appointed by the Assembly Speaker; the Commissioner of Education; and eight public members appointed by the governor.

Study Reforms

A-1363, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts and Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, would establish a task force to study potential reforms to the state’s education system. The Task Force on Education Reform would identify and study the best practices of state education systems across the nation to develop recommendations for a more efficient and effective education delivery system in New Jersey.

It would be comprised of 30 members, including – the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of Education; the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development; the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the NJ Commission on Higher Education; two members of the Senate; two members of the General Assembly; and 23 members to be appointed by the governor.

Members appointed by the governor would include representatives of various education associations, including the NJSBA.

The panel would issue a final report within six months of the bill’s effective date.