Dive Brief:

• Testifying before the New Jersey Senate, acting Education Commissioner David Hespe was questioned about the way the state has allocated its school aid under Gov. Chris Christie’s administration.  
• Christie had proposed a $36.8 million increase to the education budget, which would bring the state’s ed budget up to $9 billion. However, Hespe admits the division of these funds was not done in accordance with the funding formula signed into law by Christie’s predecessor.   
• The old formula considers enrollment, special needs, and family income level when doling out state aid; the Christie administration, on the other hand, used the current fiscal year awards and then added $20 per-student funding to calculate aid. This has ruffled the feathers of districts that feel their specific needs were left unmet.  

Dive Insight:

The funding divisions in New Jersey are reminiscent of the dialogue currently happening in Illinois over the School Funding Reform Act. While Illinois is trying to streamline its funding process to just focus on income and property taxes, it looks like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie over-streamlined to a point where his state's formula was neither complicated nor effective.

Nationally, school districts vary depending on the neighborhood, and for the state to forget this is a disservice — specifically to those who need the aid the most.