>Ian Linker Republican Senate Candidate Calls For Major Changes In NJ Schools
Monday, August 22, 2011
By Ian Linker
School funding is a significant issue in New Jersey. The question is: How can lawmakers in Trenton most equitably distribute income tax revenue so that students get the best education for the money.
The current formula is needs-based so the cities and towns with lower per capita income receive significantly more state money per student than municipalities with higher per capita income. Thus, the resulting distribution of funds is skewed in favor of lower income school systems.
The current formula is undoubtedly flawed. What we need is a school funding system that resembles the legislation sponsored and widely touted by state Sen. Michael Doherty (R – 23), in which the amount a local school system receives from Trenton would be proportional, i.e., the same, per student regardless of the per capita income of the recipient system and importantly would remove the judiciary from the school funding process through constitutional amendment. While this sounds great on paper, it preserves the system that has failed our children in that it protects the bureaucracy by keeping state funds in municipality hands and continues to deprive parents of their freedom to send their children to the best-performing schools. The legislation also does not address the need to reform how education is delivered to students in New Jersey or the need to eliminate waste and inefficiency in the system.
