NJ Spotlight: Dems Object to Proposals to Reduce Funding to At-Risk Youth

Legislative Democrats are attempting to force the Christie administration to reverse course on plans to adjust the state's school funding formula to provide less aid to districts with at-risk youth.

The Assembly and Senate Budget Committees approved a resolution Monday that rejects the administration's Educational Adequacy Report, which calls for increasing base spending on all pupils but decreasing extra aid targeted at low-income and limited-English students, NJ Spotlight reports.

“They can’t simultaneously decide to decrease funding to those students requiring the most intensive resources,” Deborah Cornavaca, an organizer with Save Our Schools New Jersey, told NJ Spotlight. “It is simply counter-intuitive.”

The Budget Committees' resolution will go to a vote by the full Assembly and Senate. Should it pass the Legislature, it would require the administration to revise the adequacy report and resubmit it.

A report by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services said close to 100 districts would see more aid under the administration's proposal, while 152 would see decreases, NJ Spotlight reported.

Funding to the Red Bank, Shrewsbury and Red Bank Regional school districts would be flat under the administration's Educational Adequacy Report, data shows.