Testimony on S2425

Senate  Education Committee

December 14, 2023

The Garden State Coalition of Schools supports S2425, eliminating the  use of the census-based methodology to calculate State aid for special education in favor of  a calculation based on the actual number of special education students included in the district’s resident

enrollment.  We appreciate the sponsors’ care and concern for our most vulnerable students.

            We believe that the census-based methodology, with its broad-brush allocation of funding resources, does a disservice to both special education and general education students.  In my 23 years of board of education service, I have seen the number of classified students rise steadily. This increase has been caused by a factors that include New Jersey’s reputation for superior special education services, as well as better diagnostics and better informed parents.  As the result of these increases in student numbers and program expenses, the census-based allocation is frequently insufficient to support the mandated programs and services needed by our most vulnerable students.  This has meant that our board, like many boards around the state, has had to make sometimes agonizing choices when forced to re-allocate general education funds to fill the gaps in budgets for special education.  Since boards are also constrained by the two percent tax levy cap, those funds cannot be raised from local taxpayers.

            When boards have to increase class sizes, lay off paraprofessionals, decrease the amount of school supplies, or cut co-curricular programs because of the revenue gaps created by the use of the census-based methodology, all students are affected and communities are polarized.  Faced with budget cuts that are the direct result of insufficient special education funding, I have often heard frustrated community members and even new board of education members say, “Why do we have to spend so much on special education?”  You can imagine the outraged and emotional response from parents of special-needs children.  It is a debate where everyone loses—especially the students.

            Some might argue that the census-based methodology prevents over-classification.  In our view, the dramatic increase statewide in numbers of classified students during the fifteen-year period since the enactment of the SFRA formula in 2008 renders that argument moot.  To allay any remaining concerns about over-classification and create a more feasible funding model, we would suggest that the funding system for special education might be modified to a tiered model that takes into account levels of disability, as well as numbers of students.

            We are at a critical juncture in education right now.  Our classified students and their friends and siblings in general education programs need the help provided by S2425 to strengthen programs and help bring our school communities back together.