TRENTON – Today Senate President Steve Sweeney, Senator M. Teresa Ruiz and Assembly Democrats Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey announced the launch of a new, interactive website to share the details behind their plan to bring every school district in New Jersey to full funding under the School Funding Reform Act.
The Formula4Success website can be found by clicking here.
“We are committed to making this a transparent, statewide initiative, where every parent, teacher and administrator in the state can find out how underfunded their district currently is,” said Sweeney. “We believe the formula truly is a formula for success when it comes to making sure every one of our children can live up to their fullest potential.”
Seeking to remedy a school funding system that has left 80 percent of New Jersey’s school districts underfunded, Senator Sweeney and Senator Ruiz, the chair of the Senate Education Committee, authored legislation, S-2372, to create a special commission to develop a school funding reform plan to bring all districts to full funding within five years, addressing disparities in funding that have developed as a result of the state’s failure to follow the formula.
“There is nothing more important for parents than to know their children have the necessary resources to succeed in life,” said Ruiz. “The Formula4Success website will give families the information, tools and references they need to fully understand our plan, and how it will benefit children across the state.”
On the website, visitors can find a recap of the plan, along with a link to a copy of the legislation, an interactive search tool allowing residents to find out how much state aid their district is entitled to and recent press coverage of the proposal.
“While the circumstances behind each child may be different, the court-approved school funding formula is a unifying thread when it comes to achievement,” said Houghtaling. “This plan makes sure the state upholds its end of the bargain as it relates to the funding for additional services, technology and facilities.”
“This website is created to make sure every parent is acutely aware of the resources that every district is entitled to,” said Downey. “We want the parents of this state to visit our site and demand full funding for every district so all of our students are ready to compete in a global economy.”
Senators Sweeney and Ruiz and Assembly members Houghtaling and Downey encourage parents, educators and local officials to join in the effort to raise awareness by going to the website and corresponding Facebook page. On Twitter use the hashtag #Formula4Success.