New Jersey-2022-S2609-Introduced

An Act establishing the School Funding Commission.

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

1. a. There is established the School Funding Commission. The purpose of the commission is to study issues related to school funding and issue a report with its findings and recommendations that will be the basis of a new school funding formula in the State. The commission shall be composed of 26 members as follows:

(1) the Commissioner of Education or a designee;

(2) nine members appointed by the Governor, three of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Education Association, two of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey School Boards Association, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Parent Teacher Association, and one of whom shall have knowledge and experience in school finance or State budgeting or finance;

(3) five members appointed by the Senate President, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational Schools, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey School Boards Association, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the Education Law Center, and one of whom shall have knowledge and experience in school finance or State budgeting or finance;

(4) five members appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the Education Law Center, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Education Association, and one of whom shall have knowledge and experience in school finance or State budgeting or finance;

(5) three members appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials, and one of whom shall have knowledge and experience in school finance or State budgeting or finance; and

(6) three members appointed by the Minority Leader of the General Assembly, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Charter School Association, one of whom shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, and one of whom shall have knowledge and experience in school finance or State budgeting or finance.

b. The appointments to the commission shall be made within 45 days of the effective date of this act. Vacancies in the membership of the commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made. Members of the commission shall serve without compensation but shall be entitled to their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant to this act.

2. a. The commission shall organize within 30 days after the appointment of its members. A majority of the commission members shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting business. The Commissioner of Education shall serve as the chairperson of the commission.

b. The commission shall hold meetings at the request of the chairperson and shall hold at least two public meetings. The commission shall seek to gather stakeholder input on the various aspects of school funding, including input from school districts, county vocational school districts, charter schools, and nonpublic schools from around the State.

c. Staff and related support services shall be provided to the commission by the Department Education. The commission shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.

3. It shall be the duty of the commission to study:

a. New Jersey's current school funding formula, the "School Funding Reform Act of 2008," P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.), and the various aid categories under the formula, including: preschool aid; transportation aid with a focus on the aid used to provide transportation to students attending charter schools and nonpublic schools; security aid; and special education aid with a focus on the effects of census based funding under the current formula and the feasibility of utilizing a tiered funding system;

b. the effects of the current funding formula on the education of at-risk students and students with limited English proficiency;

c. the school funding formulas of the states surrounding New Jersey in order to identify the positive and negatives aspects of each of these funding formulas;

d. the ability of municipalities in the State to raise adequate taxes for the support of public schools;

e. the allocation of property taxes for school purposes;

f. the impact of identified State policies and how they may affect school funding in each county and municipality;

g. the impact of the use of payments in lieu of taxes and other tax incentive programs on the ability of municipalities to support public schools; and

h. the benefits of a reorganization of the Department of Education in regard to the implementation of the State's school funding formula.

4. The commission shall issue a final report containing its findings and recommendations to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than one year after the organizational meeting of the commission. The report shall be posted prominently on the Department of Education's Internet website.

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the School Funding Commission to study issues related to school funding and issue a report with its findings and recommendations that will be the basis of a new school funding formula in the State. The commission will be composed of 26 members including the Commissioner of Education, nine members appointed by the Governor, five members appointed each by the Senate President and the Speaker of the General Assembly, and three members appointed each by the Minority Leader of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the General Assembly. The members will include persons with knowledge and experience in school finance or State budgeting or finance and members who have been recommended for appointment by various educational organizations in the State. The Commissioner of Education will serve as the chairperson of the commission and staff and related support services for the commission will be provided by the Department Education.

The bill provides that it will be the duty of the commission to study:

� New Jersey's current school funding formula, the "School Funding Reform Act of 2008," P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.), and the various aid categories under the formula, including: preschool aid; transportation aid with a focus on the aid used to provide transportation to students attending charter schools and nonpublic schools; security aid; and special education aid with a focus on the effects of census based funding under the current formula and the feasibility of utilizing a tiered funding system;

� the effects of the current funding formula on the education of at-risk students and students with limited English proficiency;

� the school funding formulas of the states surrounding New Jersey in order to identify the positive and negatives aspects of each of these funding formulas;

� the ability of municipalities in the State to raise adequate taxes for the support of public schools;

� the allocation of property taxes for school purposes;

� the impact of identified State policies and how they may affect school funding in each county and municipality;

� the impact of the use of payments in lieu of taxes and other tax incentive programs on the ability of municipalities to support public schools; and

� the benefits of a reorganization of the Department of Education in regard to the implementation of the State's school funding formula.

The commission is required to issue a final report containing its findings and recommendations to the Governor and to the Legislature no later than one year after the organizational meeting of the commission. The report will be posted prominently on the Department of Education's Internet website.