The fiscal year 2025 budget season continued its busy pace over the last week as the Senate Education Committee heard testimony from invited guests, including the New Jersey School Boards Association, regarding the school funding formula. Both chambers of the Legislature and various committees advanced education bills, which included a tax cap flexibility bill gaining its second Assembly committee approval. In addition, this week the NJSBA testified before both chambers’ budget committees on the fiscal year 2025 state budget.
Senate Education Committee Hears Testimony on School Funding Formula
On March 14, the Senate Education Committee heard testimony from invited guests across the PK-12 education community, facing a range of different school funding circumstances, on the school funding formula.
“I think it’s important that we try to gather as much feedback as we can today,” said Committee Chairman Sen. Vin Gopal, as he began the hearing. “We’re working closely with (Assembly Education Committee) Chairwoman (Pamela) Lampitt. With S-2 essentially coming to an end with the reconfiguration of the numbers this year, and more than a decade’s worth of data on how the formula (has) impacted districts, I think it’s critical we start taking the steps to modernize the formula. The core of the formula established under the 2008 (School Funding Reform Act) has not changed since the legislation was signed into law. But New Jersey has changed dramatically since 2008. Areas like special education, mental health and a number of other areas are taking up more in a school district’s budget than it did in 2008. We also acknowledge that the impact of SFRA has been incredibly uneven among districts. The formula stabilized many districts that have long struggled to fund their schools. But it’s also forced a significant portion of the state’s districts to wrestle with an unsustainable fiscal volatility. So, that is part of our conversation today.”
The NJSBA was among the guests that provided testimony. In its remarks, NJSBA proposed six amendments to the SFRA and related laws that the Association believes will help better empower school districts with the resources necessary to sustain or expand critical programs to meet their students’ academic, social, emotional and mental health needs. Specifically, the NJSBA suggested that the SFRA and other school finance laws be amended to:
- Replace SFRA’s census method of special education funding with a formula more aligned to districts’ current, actual needs.
- Stabilize year-to-year local share increases by using a multi-year average of equalized valuation instead of a one-year snapshot.
- Revise the transportation aid formula to include costs for transportation other than to and from school (e.g., transportation for athletics and other extracurricular activities).
- Provide a higher Security Aid per-pupil amount for older students.
- School district tax levy growth cap flexibility to allow school districts, particularly those experiencing state aid reductions, to reach their local fair share.
- Increase funding for extraordinary special education aid (we currently recommend $586 million, which represents the total statewide costs eligible for reimbursement in fiscal year 2024).
An archived recording of the hearing is available here.
Assembly Appropriations Committee Advances Tax Levy Cap Adjustment Measure
On March 14, the Assembly Appropriations Committee approved:
Tax Cap Relief for Certain Districts Experiencing State Aid Reductions A-3452 would provide the following additional school district tax levy growth cap adjustments:
- In the 2024-2025 school year, for a school district experiencing a state aid reduction, an increase in an amount equal to the district’s state aid reduction.
- In the 2025-2026 school year and thereafter, for a school district experiencing a state aid reduction and that is spending below adequacy (pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-70), an increase to raise a general fund tax levy up to the district’s local share after application of all other permitted adjustments.
The bill would also require, however, that if a school district “increases its tax levy … because the district experienced a reduction in State school aid in the … 2024-2025 school year … or because it experienced a reduction in State school aid and is spending below adequacy … in any school year after the 2024-2025 school year” then the district would be required to gain New Jersey Department of Education approval to reduce the total number of school district employees compared to the prebudget year.
The version of the bill passed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee described above reflects several meaningful amendments made to the version that passed the Assembly Education Committee on March 11. See NJSBA’s March 12 article in School Board Notes: “Legislative Update: Education Measures Advance as Budget Hearings Begin” for additional information on the introduced version of the bill, and the concerns and amendment requests NJSBA expressed at its first committee hearing.
The NJSBA supports the amended version of the bill, which now heads to the full Assembly for further consideration.
NJSBA Testifies Before Senate and Assembly Budget Committees on Fiscal Year 2025 State Budget
On March 19, the NJSBA testified before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee regarding the fiscal year 2025 state budget. Testimony focused on the following themes:
- Appreciation for reaching the long-awaited milestone of fully funding K-12 formula aid per the schedule set forth in S-2, while continuing to recognize the need to monitor and make adjustments to the formula as necessary.
- School district tax levy growth cap relief, particularly for school districts facing state aid reductions, to reach the district’s local share.
- Increasing funding for extraordinary special education aid.
- Relief from increasing transportation costs.
- Appreciation for the Murphy administration’s proposed budget’s support for various key education priorities, such as addressing ongoing school staff shortages and funding recently enacted expansions of eligibility for free school meals.
The NJSBA’s full testimony can be found here. This testimony will also be delivered to the Assembly Budget Committee at its March 20 public hearing.
Senate Labor Committee
On March 14, the Senate Labor Committee approved:
Tuition Fee Waiver for Apprenticeship Courses S-2168 would require public institutions of higher education and county vocational schools, which serve as the classroom training or education component of a registered apprenticeship program, to waive postsecondary vocational education tuition fees for certain apprenticeship participants. The bill requires the state to reimburse the IHE or county vocational school district for these tuition fee waivers. It now heads to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee for further consideration. The NJSBA supports the bill.
Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee
On March 18, the Senate State Government, Wagering Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee approved:
Police in School Polling Places S-2531 would amend the current law that limits the presence of police officers at polling places, including school polling places. The bill would authorize police departments to assign plainclothes officers to a school polling place. A school would have to request that a police officer be assigned and notify its district board of election of its request at least seven days before the election.
The bill would further require that, beginning with the first election following enactment of the legislation, each school serving as a polling place develop a security plan to prevent voters from having access to students that the polling place includes. The plan must include a designated voting area that must be locked and separate from the rest of the school if it is in session during the time an election is being held. Under the bill as amended, that requirement will only apply if the school “has the ability to fulfill the mandate.”
NJSBA supports the bill as it would provide local boards with the discretion to have police present at school polling places. The bill may now be posted for a floor vote before the full Senate.
Senate Voting Session
On March 18, the Senate approved:
Apprenticeship Data in the NJDOE’s School Performance Reports S-1421 would require the NJDOE’s annual School Performance Reports to include the number of students achieving placement following graduation, including placement in an apprenticeship. While not currently a statutory requirement, the NJDOE does currently include in its School Performance Reports the number of students who were enrolled into a United States Department of Labor registered apprenticeship following high school graduation. (Refer to the “Apprenticeship” section of the “Graduation/Postsecondary” tab of a school’s report).
The NJSBA supports the bill, which was approved by the Senate Education Committee Jan. 9 and next heads the Assembly for further consideration.
Special Election Separate Proposals S-2837 would allow districts to submit proposals to voters at a special school election to raise such additional funds for the subsequent school budget year. Special school elections may occur in January, March, September and December. A separate proposal or proposals may only be submitted on a date of a special election once during a school year. The bill would not prohibit the submission to the voters of a question for the approval of capital projects on the same special election date as the submission of a separate proposal for additional funds. The bill gained Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee approval March 11, and now heads to the Assembly for further consideration.
The NJSBA supports the bill and is seeking amendments to broaden its applicability to annual school elections, rather than special elections only.
Assembly Voting Session
On March 18, the Assembly approved:
Evaluation Review Task Force and Temporary SGO Relief S-2082/A-3413 would establish the New Jersey Educator Evaluation Review Task Force to study and evaluate the educator evaluation system established pursuant to the TEACHNJ Act and implemented in New Jersey public schools.
The task force is to examine the educator evaluation process, gather data, evaluate the data and make recommendations concerning the annual evaluation process for teachers, principals, assistant principals and vice principals established pursuant to the TEACHNJ Act. The task force is to consist of 13 members who have a background in, or special knowledge of, the legal, policy and administrative aspects of educator evaluation in New Jersey. The members are to include:
- One member appointed by the president of the Senate.
- One member appointed by the speaker of the General Assembly.
- One member appointed by the governor.
- Three representatives of the New Jersey Education Association.
- Three representatives of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association.
- One representative appointed by the New Jersey School Boards Association.
- One representative appointed by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.
- One representative appointed by the Garden State Coalition of Schools.
- One representative appointed by the American Federation of Teachers.
The task force is to consider the law in the current context of the state’s schools, identify areas for improvement and make any recommendations regarding any appropriate changes or updates to the law or regulations implementing the law. The task force is to issue a final report of its findings and recommendations to the governor and the Legislature no later than Sept. 30, 2024. The department is to make the final report available to the public on its website.
Additionally, the bill clarifies that student growth data used for the purposes of educator evaluations is data collected in the most recent year in which an educator completed student growth objectives. Under the bill, teachers are not to collect new student growth observation data in the 2024-2025 school year, and are instead to use, for the purposes of educator evaluations, existing student growth objective data from the most recent year in which the educator completed student growth objectives. For any teacher in their first year of employment in a district, any teacher without a record of pre-existing student growth objectives, or any nontenured teacher, the teacher is to set student growth objectives and collect data pertaining to these objectives during the 2024-2025 school year. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, school districts are to implement guidelines for the collection of student growth objective data consistent with any law, rule, or regulation enacted as a result of the findings of the task force.
NJSBA supported the current version of the bill, which is a significant departure from the legislation as originally introduced. Last session, NJSBA, alongside several other education stakeholder groups, expressed strong opposition to the legislation, A-5877/S-4234, when there was a push to move it during lame duck. That bill would have established a revised summative evaluation schedule for tenured teachers, principals, assistant principals and vice principals – effectively eliminating annual evaluations for certain teachers based on past performance. The NJSBA testified in opposition to the bill, citing the importance of the annual summative evaluation process to the quality and support of the teacher workforce. This new legislation will instead allow for more deliberation among all interested stakeholders before determining if there is a need to make any statutory or regulatory changes to the current educator evaluation system. The bill was approved by the Senate on Feb. 12, but was subsequently amended in the Assembly Education Committee in March; the amended version must now head back to the full Senate for further consideration.
Eliminating the “Basic Skills” Requirement A-1669 would eliminate the requirement that candidates for instructional certificates complete an NJDOE-approved test of basic reading, writing and mathematics skills, including but not limited to the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test. NJSBA supports the bill.
To view the full text of any of the bills summarized above, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.