Coffin’s Corner for Education

Lame-duck education in New Jersey

By: Stephen Coffin

The New Jersey legislature’s narrow approval of Governor Corzine’s school funding formula on Monday, January 7, 2008, the last day of the lame-duck session, made the proper funding of our schools unnecessarily more difficult. In so doing, public education continues to serve as the scapegoat for New Jersey’s high level of property taxes because the Corzine administration and the state legislature seem to act without a keen understanding of the root causes such as the outdated, overly expensive and unnecessary layer of county government as embodied by Freeholders; unfunded and under funded mandates; excessive surpluses of municipal governments not subject to the 2% cap of S1701 as well as sharply increasing costs for special education, health care, pensions, energy and facility construction.

The new funding formula will level down education in New Jersey because it will require financial aid decisions to be made on a new “per-pupil adequacy cost" that is well below the previous foundation funding level. By basing financial aid decisions on this lower level, it will reduce the amount of financial aid provided to most school districts because the cost basis for determining need has been reduced. This will become even more apparent when approximately $860 million of one time “adjustment aid” evaporates.

In addition, most schools districts will lose entitlement aid for at-risk children, particularly special education, as these and other categorical financial aid funds are now subject to the “wealth-equalizing local share calculation."  The wealth-based formula for special education will cause districts to suffer severe reductions in categorical special education aid.

The combination of reductions in overall financial aid as well as in categorical special education aid will force districts either to raise property taxes or sharply reduce programs and services for regular education students. However, state legislation, especially S1701, A1/S4 and the new funding formula, limits the ability of school districts to raise property taxes to make up for reductions in state aid. Because districts are required by state and federal mandates such as the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) to provide special education programs and services, the money to fund special education will have to come from cuts in the budget for regular education. Given the triple whammy of severe cuts in financial aid, particularly special education aid, combined with escalating special education expenses and limits on the ability to generate new revenues it is most likely that districts will cut essential programs and services for regular education students that go well beyond art, music, technology, athletics and cultural programs.

Another likely consequence will be the elimination of many regular education teachers which will result in much larger class sizes. Because larger class sizes often lead to lower test scores and make it more difficult for students to achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP) school districts are likely to be subjected to many of the more stringent penalties of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This will further reduce the financial resources available to support quality education and continue the downward spiral of education in New Jersey.

Stephen Coffin is an Adjunct Professor of school finance, holds the New Jersey School Business Administrator Certificate of Eligibility, and has an MBA in finance as well as a Masters in Public Administration. He welcomes your comments at coffinscorner@aol.com