New Jersey will need to readjust its funding formula for average students and those with more complex needs if it wants to meet the education standards set in its constitution, according to a report released Thursday by a nonpartisan think tank.
New Jersey Policy Perspective, a nonprofit working for economic, social, and racial justice, is calling for legislative hearings on adjusting the formula to reflect higher student performance goals. The authors note state exams have become more rigorous, and students are expected to meet higher standards since the last time the formula considered such factors, almost 20 years ago.
“This is a new generation of kids facing new and different challenges,” said Bruce D. Baker, the report’s co-author and a professor at the University of Miami and until recently a Rutgers professor. “The school funding formula needs to adapt to these changes.”
The state’s constitution mandates that schools provide a “thorough and efficient” education for all students, but the current funding formula, under the 2008 School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), is based on learning goals set in the early 2000s, Baker said.
“They were already out of date when they were implemented,” he said.
The formula was designed to address inequities among districts in poor and wealthy municipalities, as a result of the Abbott lawsuits in the state Supreme Court, which challenged the practice of basing school funding predominantly on property tax revenue.
The report concluded that if New Jersey wants Massachusetts-level test scores that top the national charts, it would need to increase the funding it sends to the highest-poverty districts by more than $7,000 per student. The report did not include a statewide total of such recalculations.
The report recommends that the state Legislature direct the Joint Committee on the Public Schools to hold hearings and gather expert advice on adjusting the formula to reflect what students need to meet higher standards.
Currently, the state sets a per-student amount of funding for elementary students of $12,451, which considers varying labor market expenses and the rigor of the standards students are expected to achieve. The state includes additional funds for students in higher grades, those in special education, English language learners, and those from impoverished homes.
Because of the state’s high rate of residential segregation and concentrated poverty, adjusting the formula “is a matter of both racial justice and educational adequacy,” the authors wrote.
The report noted that higher funding levels can boost student achievement: “Researchers have found compelling evidence that reductions in class size, more support and instructional staff, early childhood education, increases in instructional time, and more competitive wages for school staff benefit students.”
According to Mark Weber, the think tank’s special analyst for education policy and the report’s co-author, the Department of Education issued a triennial report on the formula this year, but it did not consider the higher state standards.
In 2018, over 100,000 of the state’s approximately 1 million students attended severely underfunded schools, where they received more than $5,000 per pupil below the law’s targets. While that number has been cut in half in recent years, many students remain enrolled in underfunded schools, according to the report.
Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) said he looked forward to reviewing the report in detail.
“I 100% agree that we need to revisit, modernize, and update the school funding formula, and that is a top priority for me as Senate Education Chair,” he said.
A request for comment from Pamela Lampitt, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, was not returned.
Some states, including Kansas, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Delaware, are revising their formulas based on data showing how funding relates to student outcomes, and New Jersey should join them, the authors said.
“Lawmakers don’t need to start from scratch. They need only follow the law and reset a few key components in the formula to ensure that all schools and their students receive adequate funding,” the report concluded.
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Tina Kelley may be reached at tkelley@njadvancemedia.com.