Requires upcoming Educational Adequacy Report to include comprehensive review of certain components of school funding in consultation with certain stakeholders and experts.

S3442

SENATE, No. 3442

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 9, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� JAMES BEACH

District 6 (Burlington and Camden)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires upcoming Educational Adequacy Report to
include comprehensive review of certain components of school funding in
consultation with certain stakeholders and experts.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning the Educational Adequacy Report and amending
P.L.2007, c.260.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� Section 4 of P.L.2007,
c.260 (C.18A:7F-46) is amended to read as follows:

���� 4. a. The State Board of
Education shall review and update the core curriculum content standards every
five years.� The standards shall ensure that all children are provided the
educational opportunity needed to equip them for the role of citizen and labor
market competitor.

���� The Commissioner of Education
shall develop and establish, through the report issued pursuant to subsection
b. of this section, efficiency standards which define the types of programs,
services, activities, and materials necessary to achieve a thorough and
efficient education.

���� b.��� By September 1 of 2010
and by September 1 every three years thereafter, the Governor, after
consultation with the commissioner, shall recommend to the Legislature through
the issuance of the Educational Adequacy Report for the three school years to
which the report is applicable:

���� (1)�� the base per pupil
amount based upon the core curriculum content standards established pursuant to
subsection a. of this section;

���� (2)�� the per pupil amounts
for full-day preschool;

���� (3)�� the weights for grade
level, county vocational school districts, at-risk pupils, bilingual pupils,
and combination pupils;

���� (4)�� the cost coefficients
for security aid and transportation aid;

���� (5)�� the State average
classification rate for general special education services pupils and for
speech-only pupils;

���� (6)�� the excess cost for
general special education services pupils and for speech-only pupils; and

���� (7)�� the extraordinary
special education aid thresholds.

���� The base per pupil amount, the
per pupil amounts for full-day preschool, the excess costs for general special
education services pupils and for speech-only pupils, and the cost-coefficients
for security aid and transportation aid shall be adjusted by the CPI for each
of the two school years following the first school year to which the report is
applicable.

���� The amounts shall be deemed
approved for the three successive fiscal years beginning from the subsequent
July 1, unless between the date of transmittal and the subsequent November 30,
the Legislature adopts a concurrent resolution stating that the Legislature is
not in agreement with all or any specific part of the report.� The concurrent
resolution shall advise the Governor of the Legislature's specific objections
to the report and shall direct the commissioner to submit to the Legislature a
revised report which responds to those objections by January 1.

����
c.� (1)� In developing the
Educational Adequacy Report to next be issued following the date of enactment
of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill),
the Governor, in consultation with the commissioner, shall engage a diverse
group of stakeholders, including school administrators, staff, students,
parents, and other community members, to identify the necessary school
resources and student supports that are not adequately funded through State
school aid determined pursuant to P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.).�

����
(2)� In updating the
information required to be recommended pursuant to subsection b. of this
section for the Educational Adequacy Report to next be issued following the
date of enactment of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill), the Governor, in consultation with the commissioner,
shall commission various school finance experts to recommend revisions to the
methodologies for the determination of the: base per pupil amount for grades
kindergarten through 12; per pupil amounts for full-day preschool; weights for
grade level, county vocational school districts, at-risk pupils, bilingual
pupils, and combination pupils; excess costs for general special education
services pupils and for speech-only pupils; and cost-coefficients for security
aid and transportation aid.� The recommended revisions to the methodologies for
determining these weights and amounts shall ensure that the weights and amounts
result in funding to school districts sufficient to adequately support students
in meeting the State�s current core curriculum content standards.� With respect
to the recommended revisions to the methodology for determining the per pupil
amounts for full-day preschool, the recommendations shall ensure that the per
pupil amounts are sufficient to assist school districts in meeting current
preschool program requirements across all settings, including district
programs, licensed child care provider programs, Head Start Programs, and mixed
delivery systems.� With respect to the recommended revisions to the methodology
for determining the cost coefficients for transportation aid, the
recommendations shall reflect actual district expenditures on pupil
transportation services.�

(cf: P.L.2007, c.260, s.4)

���� 2. This act shall take effect
immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the
upcoming Educational Adequacy Report to be developed in consultation with
certain education stakeholders

and school finance experts.�

���� Under current law, an
Educational Adequacy Report is required to be issued every three years by the
Governor, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education.� The purpose of the
report is to update the various parameters used to calculate State aid to
school districts, including the base per pupil amount, various grade level and
student characteristic weights, preschool education per pupil amounts, security
and transportation aid cost coefficients, excess cost and classification rate
assumption for census-based special education funding, and extraordinary
special education aid thresholds.�

���� The requirements established
under the bill would apply to the next upcoming Educational Adequacy Report
that is to be issued by September 1, 2025.� Specifically, the bill requires the
Governor, in consultation with the commissioner, to engage a diverse group of
stakeholders, including school administrators, staff, students, parents, and
other community members, to identify the necessary school resources and student
supports that are not adequately funded through the State school funding
formula. �In addition, the bill requires the Governor and the commissioner to commission
various school finance experts to recommend revisions to the methodologies used
for the determination of various cost factors that are required to be updated
under the Educational Adequacy Report. �