Bill Text: NJ S158 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

New Jersey Senate Bill 158 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Establishes the Equity in Education program in DOE to finance school district initiatives that target segregation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S158 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2010-S158-Introduced.html

SENATE, No. 158

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

214th LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator NIA H. GILL

District 34 (Essex and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

Establishes the Equity in Education Program in DOE to finance school district initiatives that target segregation.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

An Act establishing the Equity in Education Program in the Department of Education and supplementing chapter 7F of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Equity in Education Program Act."

2. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. equality in educational programs is a fundamental tenet of public education;

b. this State's policy against discrimination and segregation and their aftermath in the public schools matches in vigor and import its policy in favor of a thorough and efficient education;

c. while great progress has been made to ameliorate the effects of racism, inequalities remain;

d. segregation is a problem that continues to plague our public schools, with New Jersey having the fourth most segregated system of schools in the nation according to a national study; and

e. it is the responsibility of the State to provide financial assistance to school districts that are initiating reforms to ensure that students are provided a thorough and efficient education in a school environment that is free from segregation and discrimination and their aftermath.

3. As used in this act:

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Education;

"CPI" means the average annual increase, expressed as a decimal, in the consumer price index for the New York City and Philadelphia areas during the fiscal year preceding the prebudget year as reported by the United States Department of Labor;

"Department" means the Department of Education;

"Eligible school district" means a public school district in the State, but not including an Abbott district as defined under section 3 of P.L.1996, c.138 (C.18A:7F-3), that meets at least one of the following criteria:

(1) the school district is under a desegregation order issued by a court or by the Commissioner of Education;

(2) the school district is addressing diversity issues through redistribution of resident students in the district's schools; or

(3) the school district is developing magnet programs or schools to offer opportunities for enhanced student achievement to resident or nonresident students, or both resident and nonresident students, in order to create a significantly altered racial or ethnic composition of the student population of the district;

"Program" means the Equity in Education Program.

4. There is established in the Department of Education the Equity in Education Program. The purpose of the program is to finance reform initiatives to assist New Jersey school districts in providing a thorough and efficient education in a school environment that is free from segregation and discrimination. The successful reform initiatives which are financed pursuant to the program will serve as models that other school districts may replicate.

5. a. An eligible school district may apply to participate in the program by submitting an application to the Commissioner of Education. The application shall include:

(1) a detailed description of the school district's equity plan to implement or maintain a comprehensive reform approach that will significantly impact segregation in the district, including the identification of all costs attendant to the implementation and maintenance of the plan; and

(2) other information as required by the commissioner.

b. The commissioner may exempt a school district from the requirement of submitting a description of the equity plan, or any other application requirement set forth in subsection a. of this section, if the commissioner finds that the district has satisfactorily complied with the requirement at an earlier date.

c. The commissioner may select up to six school districts to participate in the program. In selecting the school districts to participate, the commissioner, to the extent feasible, shall include at least one district each from the north, central and southern geographic regions of the State. The selection shall be made based upon an evaluation of the district's equity plan, an analysis of the district's capacity to successfully carry out the equity plan and such other criteria as shall be determined by the commissioner.

d. In the event that a district selected to participate in the Equity in Education Program is selected as a choice district pursuant to the "Interdistrict Public School Choice Program Act of 1999," P.L.1999, c.413 (C.18A:36B-1 et seq.), the district may apply different criteria to out-of-district students than to resident students for admission to a district program or school designed to create a significantly altered racial or ethnic composition of the student population of the choice district.

6. a. A school district selected by the commissioner to participate in the program may be eligible for a program implementation grant to defray the start up costs of the district's equity plan, and shall be eligible for equity aid to support the district's equity plan on an ongoing basis, with approval from the commissioner.

b. A selected school district may be eligible for a single program implementation grant in an amount not to exceed $800,000. The exact amount of the grant shall be determined by the commissioner upon evaluation of the district's application. A school district which receives a program implementation grant in a school year shall not receive equity aid calculated pursuant to subsection c. of this section in that same school year.

c. A selected school district shall be eligible for equity aid calculated as follows on an annual basis:

EQAID = EQACF x PE

where

EQACF is the additional cost factor for providing ongoing funding to support the district's equity plan. For the 2005-2006 school year EQACF shall equal $2,000. For the 2006-2007 school year, EQACF shall equal $2,000 increased by the CPI; and for each subsequent school year, EQACF shall equal the prior year amount increased by the CPI; and

PE is the program enrollment which equals the number of students enrolled in the initiatives that the district has established to implement the equity plan.

The receipt of annual equity aid by a school district shall be contingent upon the district securing matching funds in each school year in an amount not less than two-thirds of the equity aid amount for that year. The matching funds may be from any source or combination of sources, such as the county freeholders, the municipality, other public entities, the school district itself or corporate contributions or grants, as determined by the commissioner. The commissioner shall determine that the school district has secured the necessary matching funds prior to the payment of any equity aid pursuant to this subsection.

If pursuant to the district's equity plan, nonresident students enroll in the district and the district receives State funding for these students pursuant to the "Interdistrict Public School Choice Program Act of 1999," P.L.1999, c.413 (C.18A:36B-1 et seq.), the district shall not receive equity aid for these students.

d. The annual equity aid and matching funds received by a school district pursuant to this section shall be an adjustment to the school district's spending growth limitation for the first budget year in which it receives the aid and matching funds. In subsequent budget years, the additional amount shall be included in the school district's prebudget year net budget and prebudget year net T & E budget.

e. The annual equity aid and matching funds received by a school district pursuant to this section shall not be included in total stabilized aid under subsection a. of section 10 of P.L.1996, c.138 (C.18A:7F-10), but shall be included in the prebudget year total under that subsection.

f. The annual equity aid and matching funds received by a school district pursuant to this section shall be included in the school district's budget year and prebudget year State aid totals
under subsection b. of section 10 of P.L.1996, c.138 (C.18A:7F-10).

7. a. The commissioner shall annually evaluate the effectiveness of each selected school district's equity plan. In order to facilitate the evaluation, each of the selected school districts shall submit an annual report to the commissioner in the form and by a date prescribed by the commissioner.

b. If the commissioner determines pursuant to the evaluation that under the school district's equity plan the district is not making sufficient progress toward meeting the goals of the program, the commissioner may eliminate the equity aid the school district is receiving in accordance with a schedule determined by the commissioner.

c. In the event that the commissioner determines that under the school district's equity plan the district is not making sufficient progress toward meeting the goals of the program and the district's equity aid is eliminated pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the commissioner shall work with the school district to ensure educational continuity for students enrolled in the initiatives at the time of the commissioner's determination.

8. The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the provisions of this act. The rules shall include, but not be limited to: a method for determining the number of students enrolled in the initiatives the district has established to implement the equity plan; the sources of funding from which a school district may obtain matching funds; and the criteria upon which the commissioner will base his determination that under a selected school district's equity plan the district is not making sufficient progress toward meeting the goals of the program. The commissioner may select school districts to participate in the program prior to the promulgation of the rules, and these districts may receive such waivers as the commissioner deems appropriate while the districts seek to comply with the adopted rules.

9. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the Equity in Education Program in the Department of Education. The purpose of the program is to finance reform initiatives to assist New Jersey school districts in providing a thorough and efficient education in a school environment that is free from segregation and discrimination and their aftermath.

The commissioner may select up to six school districts to participate in the program, which to the extent feasible, will include at least one district each from the north, central and southern geographic regions of the State. Only school districts that meet at least one of the following criteria will be eligible to be selected for the program:

(1) the school district is under a desegregation order issued by a court or by the Commissioner of Education;

(2) the school district is addressing diversity issues through redistribution of resident students in the district's schools; or

(3) the school district is developing magnet programs or schools to offer opportunities for enhanced student achievement to resident and nonresident students in order to create a significantly altered racial or ethnic composition of the student population of the district. Abbott districts, which receive supplemental funding under other laws, are ineligible for the program.

A school district selected by the commissioner to participate in the program may be eligible for a one-time program implementation grant to defray the start up costs of the district's equity plan and will be eligible for equity aid to support the district's equity plan on an ongoing basis. The amount awarded to a school district as a program implementation grant may not exceed $800,000. The exact amount will be determined by the commissioner upon evaluation of the district's program application. A school district that receives a program implementation grant in a school year is not permitted to also receive equity aid in the same school year.

Equity aid would be provided annually to a school district in the amount of $2,000 for each student enrolled in an initiative that the district has established to implement the equity plan. This per-pupil amount will be inflated annually by the CPI. The receipt of equity aid will be contingent upon the district obtaining matching funds in the amount not less than two-thirds of the equity aid amount for that year. The matching funds may be from any source or combination of sources, such as the county freeholders, the municipality, other public entities, the school district itself or corporate contributions or grants, as determined by the commissioner. The commissioner is required to determine that the school district has secured the necessary matching funds prior to the payment of any equity aid.

The annual equity aid and matching funds received by the school districts will be an adjustment to the district's spending growth limitation. Also, the annual equity aid and matching funds will not be included in stabilized aid for the purpose of calculating the district's State aid cap; but the annual equity aid and matching funds will be included in the district's prebudget and budget year State aid totals for the purpose of protecting the district against any excessive State aid decrease.

The bill requires the commissioner to annually evaluate the effectiveness of each selected school district's equity plan. If the commissioner determines pursuant to the evaluation that under the school district's equity plan the district is not making sufficient progress toward meeting the goals of the program, the commissioner must eliminate the equity aid provided to the district in accordance with a schedule determined by the commissioner. The commissioner must work with the school district to ensure educational continuity for those students enrolled in the initiatives at the time of the commissioner's determination.