Bill > S2

Introduced Session

The "School Funding Reform Act of 2008" (SFRA), P.L.2007, c.260, was enacted with the purpose of determining the amount of State school aid each school district would receive based on the needs of the student population and local fiscal capacity. However, the SFRA has not been fully implemented since the 2008-2009 school year, resulting in school districts receiving levels of State school aid inconsistent with their current circumstances. This bill makes two modifications to the SFRA with the intent of realigning the amount of State aid provided to school districts with their current needs. First, under the provisions of the SFRA, a school district's State aid may not increase from one year to the next by more than the State aid growth limit (10 percent for school districts spending above their adequacy threshold, and 20 percent for school districts spending below that threshold). The bill eliminates that cap beginning in the 2018-2019 school year. Second, the bill transitions school districts towards the amount of State aid that the school district would receive in the absence of the State aid growth limit and the adjustment aid that the school district received under the SFRA. In the case of a school district in which the State aid received in the 2017-2018 school year is less than the amount that the district would receive in the absence of the State aid growth limit, the district will receive an increase in aid equal to its proportionate share of the sum of any additional State aid included in the annual appropriations act and the amount of any aid reduction made to other school districts. In the case of a school district that received a greater amount of State aid in the 2017-2018 school year than what the district would receive in the absence of the State aid growth limit and adjustment aid, the excess aid is phased out over a seven-year period, except that the bill provides a five-year transition period for a school district in a municipality that is authorized to impose and collect an employer payroll tax under the provisions of Senate Bill No.2581. This provision would apply to the Jersey City School District.

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Craig Coughlin (D)*,  Linda Greenstein (D)*,  Lou Greenwald (D)*,  Teresa Ruiz (D)*,  Stephen Sweeney (D)*,  Wayne DeAngelo (D),  Mila Jasey (D),  Joe Lagana (D),  John McKeon (D),  Nellie Pou (D), 

Approved P.L.2018, c.67. (on 07/24/2018)