New formula to increase state contribution by 20 percent
South Brunswick will receive a 20 percent increase in school aid under the new formula unveiled this afternoon (Wednesday) by Gov. Jon Corzine and state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy.
The district will receive $24.5 million in aid for the 2008-2009 school year, a $4.1 million increase. Under the new formula, the state’s contribution to the district’s budget will increase from 21 percent to 26 percent.
The new aid formula, unveiled in Burlington Township, replaces the current formula with one the state characterizes as “a unified approach to school funding” that “allocates similar resources to similarly situated students, no matter where they live.”
About $7.8 billion will be distributed for K-12 education across the state for the upcoming school year, an increase of approximately $530 million. All districts will receive an aid increase of at least 2 percent during the first year and no districts will see a decrease in total state aid during the first three years, according to the state.
”Over the last year, parents and educators have been telling me they want more for students and they are passionate,” Gov. Corzine said in a press release. “Today we unveil a new school funding formula that gives all of our children in all of our communities the opportunity to succeed. It is balanced, unified and equitable and it provides significant relief to local property taxpayers, who for decades have shouldered the important yet growing cost of education.”
The formula is the product of more than a year of work, Ms. Davy said.
”This is a formula that follows the basic principle that children with greater needs deserve greater resources,” she said. “The Department of Education has worked long and hard over the past year to devise a fair, balanced, equitable, and logical system of allocating state education aid.
”With this new formula we are expanding the definition of ‘needy’ students, making sure those children who face multiple obstacles are fully funded and ensuring aid is distributed to middle-income districts accordingly.”