Bipartisan legislation looking to reform a major component of a North Jersey homeowners tax bill was passed unanimously by the State Senate on Feb. 14.
Sponsored by State Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho (R-24) and State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11), S-354 would establish the School Funding Formula Evaluation Task Force to evaluate the state’s financial education support.
Oroho noted school funding is a driving factor in the property tax bill that Garden State residents pay. The task force being proposed would study the effectiveness of the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 (SFRA) and provide recommendations for improvements.
Formula Reboot?
“The state’s dubious funding formula controls the purse strings for school aid,” said Oroho (R-24). “The task force’s evaluation will help identify flaws and inconsistencies that contribute to funding imbalances. This will be an important step in improving the way taxpayer money is expended for education.”
Under the bipartisan bill, the task force will be directed to evaluate how school district adequacy budgets and local shares are determined; the methodology for measuring and weighing at-risk students with limited English proficiency; amd the weights applied to students in varying grade levels, as well as those applied to students enrolled in county vocational districts among other considerations.
Larger Review
“We need to make sure that New Jersey’s schools are the best in the nation, and that our system of school funding is equitable and affordable,” said Gopal. “The School Funding Reform Act requires the formula to be evaluated every three years, but only certain provisions are considered. This legislation would require a fundamental reassessment of the funding formula to determine whether it still reflects the true cost of education in New Jersey.”
In Oroho’s 24th Legislative District, 30 of 38 school districts lost school funding in the FY 2022 budget. The combined reduction of $7 million follows a $10.5 million loss the previous year. The Sussex County lawmaker has blamed the loss of financial aid to the policies of Gov. Phil Murphy.
“The funding double standard resulting from the misguided SFRA has been a failure. Too many schools, especially in rural and suburban areas, are losing out on the money they deserve and desperately need,” Oroho noted. “While certain districts have seen ever-increasing state aid, others have been subjected to millions of dollars of annual cuts forcing teacher and staff layoffs and reductions in educational services for students.”
Gopal Focus
Gopal said the special education funding is an issue of particular interest he wants to obtain answers for.
“There has been considerable debate about the impact of the current census-based formula used to calculate special education aid, which funds every district based on the assumption that their special education needs reflect a 15% statewide average percentage of students with disabilities,” said the chair of the Senate Education Committee.
“As a result, districts get the same aid whether they have large populations of students with disabilities or not, and regardless of whether they are spending as much as they should or providing the special education their students need.”
Previous GOP Efforts
This is not the first time members of the GOP wanted school aid reforms with the goal to to increase equity, improve education and lower property taxes.
In 2019, State Senate Republicans released their “Every Child Counts” plan, which attempted to fix what they see as many of the inequities in SFRA. Reforms in the plan included fully funding extraordinary special education, making sure PILOT payments are appropriately calculated, and eliminating the Geographic Cost Adjustment.
The bill now awaits action in the Assembly.
First of all, we need to eliminate the property tax-based school funding mechanism in favor of income tax based funding. Secondly, we need to be certain to de-link school funding from how much residents in a given district/town pay in income taxes, so that the formula is based entirely on need, and not on contribution to the tax base. So many New Jersey residents are property “rich,” but cash flow poor, particularly seniors who bought homes many years ago. They simply cannot afford the huge property tax bills, even when they receive homestead rebates and with senior freezes, both of which are not automatically applied, and inequitably distributed. But younger people struggling to get by with mortgage payments also cannot afford property tax bills in many areas, particularly when market conditions change and property values rise, resulting in higher than expected assessments.
Bottom line, property taxes are not progressive. Income taxes are, especially if loopholes and deductions are eliminated or reduced dramatically.
All schools should have been shut down in 1995, except for special education, and be fully automated online with best teachers recorded once, at own pace, on own schedule, saving taxpayers trillions a year, preventing billions of tons of un-needed CO2 into the environment, and saving 3 hours a day in commuting. They can socialize on own, at their expense, with all the free time and money they will have. Tackles affordable housing and quality of life for billions. Also tackles bullying, sexual abuse, school shootings, and bigotry. The brightest can excel and not be held back by the slower children. They can hire tutors if needed.
You cannot look at the property tax in a vacuum and not consider the other taxes. Reducing the property tax for schools will require a different tax to be levied; most likely an increase in the income tax. While this may produce more equity, the income tax as a base for school aid will be subject to economic fluctuations. The property tax does not have such fluctuations. A combination of both taxes may be a better answer. A base number raised by property tax would provide certain stability; the income tax part would depend on the economy.
A look at the expenditures themselves needs to be done. Where is the money being spent and how can it be reduced
I would appreciate it if someone would reach out to me to talk about special education in our school’s children with ADHD and Bipolar and other disorders because I don’t think the education system dealing with students doesn’t understand the meaning of special education and IEP meetings can someone please contact me at (prisonactivist@outlook.com) because I have a son in school and what I see I seriously don’t like. Respectfully Jackie V LaPortez Jr. Parent of a special education child
FINALLY; North Jersey has a Senator Steve Oroho!! AND; This School Funding’s Formula needs investigation’s Like big times & it’s way long 0verdue!! ALSO; Property Taxes’ used to fund Schools is unfair & Richly Immoral!! And it is every0ne’s responsibility, not just the property owner’s, since 99% 0f Home 0wner’s well, they 0nly 0wn A Mortgage!!
the problem with school funding is they find more ways to spend the money
i pay 5,000.00 a year in funding schools and don’t have any children in school and never had a child in school since 1984
i am 65 and a senior citizen
i don’t mind helping education but don’t believe to be rake by the coals by school boards and NJEA.
this year they raised school taxes with no justification
we must find out what is the cause of the increase whether salaries which i doubt or insurance which i doubt