Bill
Bill > A1500
NJ A1500
NJ A1500Directs DOE to create New Jersey Education Funding Portal to make available to school districts and public State school aid information.
summary
Introduced
01/13/2026
01/13/2026
In Committee
01/13/2026
01/13/2026
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead
Introduced Session
2026-2027 Regular Session
Bill Summary
This bill directs the Department of Education to create, maintain, and update a New Jersey Education Funding Portal. The portal is to make available to school districts and members of the public the data inputs and calculations used by the department in formulating State school aid for all school districts and allow individuals to estimate the effects of changes to enrollment, equalized property value. Under the bill, the portal is to provide user-friendly plain language to specify the: (1) manner in which school district adequacy budgets and local shares are calculated; (2) current methodology of measuring and weighting at-risk students and students with limited English proficiency; (3) weights applied to students in different grade levels, as well as those applied to students enrolled in county vocational school districts; (4) current methodology used to calculate the geographic cost adjustment; (5) current methodology used to calculate the amount of State funding a school district receives to educate its special education population; (6) provision of extraordinary special education aid and the cost thresholds used as the bases for reimbursement of extraordinary special education costs; and (7) methodologies used to calculate security categorical aid and transportation aid. The bill also requires the portal to be searchable by school district and include, for each school district: (1) measurements of the budgeted local share, district income, equalized valuation, and resident enrollment; (2) the total amount of State school aid received in each of the most recent three school years; and (3) the amount received by the district for each type of categorical State aid in each of the most recent three school years. Finally, the bill requires the portal to include links to: relevant State laws, regulations, and guidelines pertaining to school funding; current budgets for each school district and, as available, proposed budgets for the upcoming school year; and the Educational Adequacy Report.
AI Summary
This bill directs the Department of Education to create and maintain a New Jersey Education Funding Portal on its website, which will provide school districts and the public with detailed information about how State school aid is calculated, referencing the "School Funding Reform Act of 2008" and subsequent legislation. The portal will explain in plain language how school district adequacy budgets (the estimated cost of educating students) and local shares (the portion of those costs funded by local property taxes) are determined, along with the methods for accounting for at-risk students, students with limited English proficiency, different grade levels, and students in county vocational school districts. It will also clarify how adjustments are made for geographic cost differences, the funding for special education students, extraordinary special education costs, security, and transportation. Users will be able to search for specific school districts to see their budgeted local share, income, equalized property values (equalized valuation), enrollment, and the total State school aid received over the past three years, broken down by aid category. Furthermore, the portal will offer links to relevant laws, regulations, current and proposed school budgets, and the Educational Adequacy Report, and will allow users to estimate how changes in enrollment or property values might affect a district's State aid.
Committee Categories
Education
Sponsors (4)
Last Action
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee (on 01/13/2026)
Official Document
bill text
bill summary
Loading...
bill summary
Loading...
bill summary
| Document Type | Source Location |
|---|---|
| State Bill Page | https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2026/A1500 |
| BillText | https://pub.njleg.gov/Bills/2026/A1500/1500_I1.HTM |
Loading...