Gov. reveals new school funding plan
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
Cherry Hill Sun
1/11/2008

New formula has school administrators worried about the future of state aid

Gov. Corzine introduced a new formula to the Legislature in early December that he says will provide a unified approach to school funding and allocate similar funding to similarly situated students, no matter where they live.

Corzine hoped to have his plan approved by Jan. 8.

The formula, however, seems to have administrators in Cherry Hill and other local school districts worried about the potential state aid cuts they could face in the future.

Corzine’s new funding formula replaces the ad-hoc state aid system that currently exists. Under “A New Formula for Success: All Children, All Communities,” approximately $7.8 billion will be distributed among K-12 school districts for the fiscal year of 2009, an increase of approximately $530 million.

All districts will receive a state aid increase of at least 2 percent during the first year of the plan, and no districts will see a decrease in aid during the first three years.

However, one of the significant changes in the new school funding formula can be seen in districts after the third year of the plan. Districts can see a decrease in aid if the districts experience a decrease in overall enrollment of “at risk” students.

The brunt of state aid in the previous formula-funding plan was funneled to the 31 poorest school districts in the state, the Abbott Districts, as they are known. The new plan bases funding on the needs of the district’s individual students. Districts with growing numbers of poor or immigrant students will receive more state funding under Corzine’s plan.

The New Jersey Department of Education estimated that 49 percent of “at risk” students – those eligible for free or reduced price lunches – are outside the Abbott Districts.

The new plan is based on the theory that “at risk” students – students with limited English proficiency and special education students – cost more to educate.

“This is a formula that allows the basic principle that children with greater needs deserve greater resources,” said Education Commissioner Lucille Davy in a press release. “The Department of Education has worked long and hard over the past year to devise a fair, balanced, equitable and logical system of allocating state education aid.

“With this new formula, we are expanding the definition of ‘needy’ students, making sure those children who face multiple obstacles are fully funded and ensuring aid is distributed to middle-income districts accordingly.”

The state will also look at each school district’s overall enrollment numbers from December 2000 to December 2007 to determine the growth or reduction rate of the student population. Districts with growing enrollment rates will likely see increases in state funding.

However, the new formula has school district administrators in Cherry Hill worried about the future of state aid funding for the district.

The Cherry Hill School District will receive a 10 percent increase in state aid for the 2008-2009 school year, said Public Information Officer Susan Bastnagel, but because Cherry Hill’s budget exceeds the formula-defined “adequacy” budget, only 2 percent of the increase can be used for education purposes. The remaining 8 percent can only be used for property tax relief.

Superintendent David C. Campbell also had several critical words for the governor’s new funding formula and the state’s inability to properly fund the old program.

“The state’s failure to fund CEIFA (the current funding formula) since 2001, combined with an increase in mandated programs and services over that period, has led to increased property taxes in Cherry Hill and many New Jersey communities. At the same time, our district’s demographics have changed,” Campbell said.

“The number of at-risk students has grown from 761 in 2001 to 1,447 this year. The number of special education students has grown from 1,143 in 2001 to 1,750 this year.

“Particularly in light of these demographic changes, the 2 percent increase in state aid that Cherry Hill would be able to use for educational purposes would not begin to make up for the years of flat state funding.”

Why the rush to pass the new formula, he said, with such far-reaching legislation with almost no public analysis or debate? Campbell said the state should strive to create a fair and equitable formula for all school districts in New Jersey.

“Cherry Hill has waited a long time for school funding reform. We’re willing to wait a bit longer to ensure that the new formula is, indeed, fair and equitable, that it adjusts for demographic changes, and that aid really will follow the at-risk child, the special needs child and the child with limited English proficiency,” he said.