On Saturday, May 30, the New Jersey School Board Association hosted its final Legislative Committee meeting of the 2025-2026 year. The committee welcomed Michael Illiano, Gov. Sherrill’s policy advisor for education and youth safety, as its guest speaker.
Charles Caraballo, NJSBA’s newly installed Vice president of legislation/resolutions, opened the meeting by greeting committee members and other attendees. NJSBA Executive Director/CEO Dr. Timothy Purnell welcomed new and returning committee members and highlighted the importance of statewide advocacy efforts. The committee also approved the minutes from the March 14, 2026, meeting.
Vice President Caraballo then introduced guest speaker Michael Illiano. Illiano started in Gov. Sherrill’s office in January at the commencement of the governor’s term. Illiano began his remarks by providing an overview of the new administration’s priorities, including modernizing the school funding formula, exploring ways to save costs through shared services, and tackling rising healthcare costs.
Jonathan Pushman, NJSBA’s senior director of advocacy, moderated a conversation with Illiano that covered a series of issues important to school board members. Illiano discussed his role in the context of the incoming administration and how working previously for Senate Education Chair Vin Gopal provided good context for this new position. The conversation then shifted to the proposed FY2027 state budget. Illiano noted that this was a tough budget cycle to prepare for, especially given the short turnaround between Gov. Sherrill’s assumption of office and her delivery of the budget proposal. While the proposed budget makes cuts across all areas of government funding, it does make some significant investments in education that highlight the governor’s priorities moving forward.
On school funding, Illiano discussed the need to modernize the existing School Funding Reform Act (SFRA) formula, noting that the administration is looking at all components of it, including local fair share, transportation costs, special education calculations, the two percent tax levy cap, and the base cost assumptions that the formula is based upon. He also discussed the idea of cutting down on costs through district consolidation and shared services, noting that pushes for consolidation have been around for decades but that there are significant obstacles to successfully achieving cost savings. Other topics touched on by Illiano included the shift in youth mental health services from NJ4S to the proposed SPARK program; preschool funding; school facilities; and the need for the state to address rising healthcare costs.
Governmental Relations Update
Jesse Young, NJSBA’s director of governmental relations, John Burns, NJSBA’s senior legislative and policy counsel, and Harrison Silver, NJSBA’s legislative advocate, dedicated the remainder of the meeting to updates on the FY2027 state budget process, a rundown of pending legislation and newly enacted laws of interest to school districts, and other advocacy-related activity at NJSBA. Notable updates included:
- New details on the FY2027 proposed state budget that came through Office of Legislative Services analysis and other documents from the New Jersey Department of Education;
- A sample resolution drafted by NJSBA urging relief from rising health benefit costs. The resolution is provided for boards (whether participating in the state health plan or not) who wish to urge the Sherrill administration and the state Legislature to provide immediate, short-term relief from the unsustainable increased healthcare costs experienced by school districts in recent years; and
- NJSBA’s newly launched Civility Project, which is working to increase civility and improve school governance.
The next Legislative Committee meeting will take place on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.
