New Jersey a top state for fair school financing, report says June 8, 2015, 5:52 PM Last updated: Monday, June 8, 2015, 7:09 PM BY HANNAN ADELY STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD

New Jersey ranks as one of the top states for fair school financing, according to a national report released Monday, but the authors also warned that the state’s fairness was slipping. The report, “Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card,” finds that New Jersey has the third-highest per-pupil state aid to schools in the country and gives more to high-poverty schools, compared to most other states. The fourth annual report, which covers 2007 to 2012, was released by the Education Law Center, a Newark-based legal advocacy group. New Jersey provides an average of $17,299 per student, according to the report — with $14,544 going to students in low-poverty schools and $18,867 in high-poverty schools. Poor schools are allotted more money to address the needs of at-risk students, including English-language learners and those who need remedial help and early education. Only three other states — South Dakota, Delaware and Minnesota — earned top fairness ratings for both their level of funding and distribution. New Jersey’s financing system has its roots in the landmark Abbott v. Burke case, in which the courts required a change in the state funding formula to meet the needs of high-poverty districts. But disparities are expected to grow because the state has not fully funded schools under a formula that the state adopted in 2008, depriving school districts of about $1.1 billion in aid, according to the Education Law Center. In the past three years, funding to schools has stayed mostly flat. That has hit high-poverty districts harder because they rely on the state for most of their money, while wealthier districts depend on local taxes that they can raise by up to 2 percent annually. Increases above 2 percent require a public vote. For the past three years, wealthier districts increased local revenue by about $1,200 per student on average, while low-income districts increased local funding by only $17 per pupil. “The Christie administration’s hostility to fair school funding over the last six years is taking its toll,” said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, who co-authored the study with research director Danielle Farrie and Bruce Baker, a professor at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. “We must get back on track to maintain our position as a leader in equity and opportunity for all students.” The Christie administration maintains that it has given more to schools than any prior administration despite strong economic challenges and that teacher quality, not spending, is the biggest indicator of success. http://www.northjersey.com/news/new-jersey-a-top-state-for-fair-school-financing-report-says-1.1351810