Bill Text: NJ SR25 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges State to fully fund extraordinary special education aid for students in 2023-2024 fiscal year and thereafter.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [SR25 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-SR25-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH PENNACCHIO
District 26 (Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Urges State to fully fund extraordinary special education aid for students in 2023-2024 fiscal year and thereafter.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution urging the State to fully fund extraordinary special education aid for students in the 2023-2024 fiscal year and thereafter.
Whereas, The federal "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. s.1400 et seq., is intended to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education designed to meet their unique needs; and
Whereas, The IDEA provides federal funds to assist states and local agencies in meeting their obligation to provide special education and related services to all children with an identified disability in order to address their individual needs; and
Whereas, Providing the necessary special education and related services for students with disabilities can be extremely costly for New Jersey school districts, particularly with respect to students who have the greatest needs; and
Whereas, School districts with particularly high special education costs face even more budgetary pressures and challenges in educating all of their students; and
Whereas, A school district should not be expected to bear alone the costs of properly educating the State's highest-need students; and
Whereas, In response, the New Jersey "School Funding Reform Act of 2008" (SFRA), P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.), provides additional funding to school districts, known as "extraordinary special education aid," for students who have excessive special education costs which exceed a certain threshold; and
Whereas, Under the SFRA, extraordinary special education aid is available for students educated in public school programs whose costs exceed $40,000 and for students educated in private schools whose costs exceed $55,000. When these thresholds are met, the State is required to reimburse the district for 90 percent of the expenditures above the threshold for students educated in a public school program with nondisabled peers and to reimburse 75 percent of expenditures above the thresholds for other students; and
Whereas, Extraordinary special education aid serves multiple important purposes, including helping school districts meet the high costs of educating the most vulnerable children, helping districts stabilize their budgets, and ensuring that students' individual needs are fulfilled; and
Whereas, Despite the SFRA's requirement for the State to reimburse school districts for extraordinary special education costs, the State has not fully funded its formula for distributing extraordinary special education aid to school districts; and
Whereas, Based on applications submitted by school districts to the Department of Education for costs incurred in the 2022-2023 school year, districts were eligible to receive a total of $585.4 million in reimbursements for extraordinary special education aid. However, the fiscal year 2024 appropriations act only included $420 million for that purpose, and school districts received only 71.7 percent of their entitlement; and
Whereas, The State's failure to fully fund extraordinary special education aid may hinder a district's ability to provide needed services for its most vulnerable students and puts even greater pressure on school district budgets that are already stretched thin; and
Whereas, Providing full funding for extraordinary special education aid would not only help school districts deliver the necessary services for their students but also would provide property tax relief for the State's citizens by helping to stabilize school budgets; and
Whereas, In order to ensure that special education students are provided with the services needed to address their individual needs and that school districts are able to provide the necessary resources for all of their students, it is critical that the State fully fund extraordinary special education aid in the 2023-2024 fiscal year and thereafter; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House urges the
State to fully fund extraordinary special education aid for students in the 2023-2024
fiscal year and thereafter in order to meet its obligations under the "School
Funding Reform Act of 2008" (SFRA), P.L.2007, c.260
(C.18A:7F-43 et al.), and help school districts cover the costs of educating
the State's highest-need children.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Governor, each member of the State Legislature, and the State Board of Education.
STATEMENT
This Senate resolution urges the State of New Jersey to fully fund extraordinary special education aid for students in the 2023-2024 fiscal year and thereafter.
The "School Funding Reform Act of 2008" (SFRA), P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.), provides that the State is to reimburse school districts for certain costs of educating special education students when the costs exceed $40,000 for a student educated in a public school program or $55,000 for a student educated in a private school for students with disabilities. The extraordinary special education aid serves multiple important purposes, including helping school districts meet the high costs of educating the most vulnerable children, helping districts stabilize their budgets, and ensuring that students' individual needs are fulfilled.
However, despite the SFRA's requirements, the State has not fully funded its formula for distributing extraordinary special education aid to school districts. Failing to fully fund extraordinary special education aid may hinder a district's ability to provide necessary special education services and puts even greater pressure on a school district's overall budget. It is critical that the State fully fund extraordinary special education aid in the 2023-2024 fiscal year and thereafter in order to ensure that special education students are provided with the services they need and that school districts are able to provide the necessary resources for all of their students.