TRENTON – Senator Joseph V. Doria Jr. today said New Jersey needs a new school funding formula that will foster program efficiencies and property tax relief without gutting the progress made in special needs districts.
“It was heartening to hear of the successes both in Union City and in Brigantine,” said Senator Doria, D-Hudson, and member of the Joint Legislative Committee on Public School Funding Reform.
“The progress made by students in the Abbott Districts is substantial, but avoiding cuts in special needs facilities means finding additional support for our other schools,” Senator Doria said.
School superintendents from Union City and Brigantine said their best practices programming had produced positive enhancements in both test results and graduation rates.
Although members of the panel said they remained open to sources of new funding, Senator John H. Adler , a Co-Chair of the committee, said he hoped to release a proposed revision of the school aid formula by late October.