Bill > S3620

Introduced Session

This bill makes various changes to special education aid and the Educational Adequacy Report. The bill also establishes the Special Education Funding Review Task Force. The bill requires the Department of Education to make available on the department's Internet website the calculation of aid payable to each school district in the succeeding year in a user-friendly manner, including explanations of the variables used to determine the district's aid. The information is required to be posted each year within two days of the Governor's Budget Message. Additionally, the bill makes certain changes to the Educational Adequacy Report, which is submitted to the Legislature every three years to update the various parameters used to calculate State aid to school districts. Pursuant to the bill, the Commissioner of Education may initiate a review of certain elements of the school funding formula, including the metrics for adjusting costs in intervening years between reports. Additionally, the bill requires that a draft of the Educational Adequacy Report be made available for public comment for at least 30 days, during which time members of the public may provide remarks on the draft report at public hearings to be held at various locations across the State and through the submission of written and electronic testimony. During the development of the next Educational Adequacy Report following enactment of this bill, the commissioner is required to engage a diverse group of stakeholders to review and make recommendations concerning: the calculation of a district's local share and whether the metrics used are best able to estimate a district's potential adjusted tax levy; the abilities of the Department of Education and school districts to predict and anticipate State school aid amounts from year to year; possible methods of improving upon the existing preschool funding methodology; and possible adjustments to deadlines pertaining to the development, submission, and adoption of school district budgets. The bill requires the commissioner to publish a summary of the findings and recommendations in the Educational Adequacy Report. Additionally, the bill establishes reduction adjustment aid to ensure that the amount of State school aid provided to a school district is not decreased by more than two percent of the district's prebudget year total operating budget. The total operating budget is defined as the sum of a district's general fund revenues from local sources, State sources, federal sources, and other sources, less any withdrawals from reserve accounts and reimbursements for extraordinary special education aid. The bill also establishes certain municipal overburden protections to prevent a school district from receiving a reduction in State school aid. Pursuant to the bill, an SDA district would not be subject to a reduction in State school aid if it is located in a municipality in which the equalized total tax rate is greater than the Statewide average equalized total tax rate for the most recently available calendar year and if the district is spending below adequacy. In the case of a school district other than an SDA district, the district would not be subject to a reduction in State school aid if it is located in a municipality in which the equalized total tax rate is at least 10 percent greater than the Statewide average equalized total tax rate for the most recently available calendar year and is spending at least 10 percent below adequacy. These municipal overburden protections would also apply to a regional school district if 50 percent or more of the district's constituent districts or municipalities met either of the aforementioned qualifying criteria. An SDA district that is spending above adequacy would not be subject to a reduction in State school aid that exceeds the amount by which the district is spending above adequacy. Additionally, the bill provides that the amount of vocational expansion stabilization aid received by a county vocational school district would be adjusted to allow for increases in resident enrollment. The adjustment would equal the number of additional students enrolled in the district multiplied by the additional cost per pupil for county vocational school districts and the geographic cost adjustment. The bill also changes how special education aid to school districts is calculated. Under the provisions of the "School Funding Reform Act of 2008," the State provides special education aid to school districts using the census-based method. Under this method, districts receive funding for special education based on the assumption that a fixed percent of the total student population requires special education services, rather than using the actual number of special education students to determine the amount of State aid that school districts will receive. This bill eliminates the use of the census-based methodology and calculates State aid for special education based on the actual number of special education students included in the district's resident enrollment. Under current law, a school district is reimbursed for certain special education costs in the form of extraordinary special education aid. However, in recent years the State's appropriation for extraordinary special education aid has covered only a portion of eligible costs provided in state, with the percentage covered fluctuating from year to year. The bill requires the State to increase the appropriation from year to year, or otherwise ensure that the percentage of a school district's costs reimbursed through extraordinary special education aid increases compared to the previous fiscal year. Finally, the bill establishes the Special Education Funding Review Task Force for the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of State aid provided to support special education costs, examining the possibility of a tier-based model for special education funding, making recommendations regarding the implementation of a tier-based funding model, and providing recommendations for responses to changes in special education revenues, including federal revenues. The task force would consist of 11 members, each of whom is to have a background in, or special knowledge of, the legal, policy, and administrative aspects of special education in New Jersey. The task force is required to issue a final report detailing its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature no later than one year after the organization of the task force.

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Vin Gopal (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee (on 02/19/2026)

Official Document