Proposes amendment to Constitution to describe manner in which Legislature will provide for maintenance and support of thorough and efficient system of free public schools.

SCR80

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 80

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 2, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� JON M. BRAMNICK

District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� Proposes amendment to Constitution to describe manner
in which Legislature will provide for maintenance and support of thorough and
efficient system of free public schools.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

A
Concurrent Resolution
proposing to amend
Article VIII, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the State of New
Jersey.

����
Be It
Resolved
by the Senate of the State of New
Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):

���� 1.��� The following proposed
amendment to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey is agreed to:

PROPOSED
AMENDMENT

���� Amend Article VIII, Section
IV, paragraph 1 to read as follows:

���� 1.��� The Legislature shall
provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of
free public schools for the instruction of all the children in the State
between the ages of five and eighteen years.�
Maintenance and support shall
be provided through the enactment, from time to time, of laws prescribing the
components of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools.� These
laws shall also provide for the funding of a system of free public schools in a
manner and to the extent the Legislature determines to be appropriate
including, but not limited to, the amount of funds to be provided by the State
and by the local school districts, the purposes for which these funds are to be
expended, the formulas pursuant to which these funds are to be allocated, and
the manner and means by which these funds are to be raised.� These laws shall
provide for equitable funding, considering variations in student and community
need, as demonstrated by recent and relevant data, and shall not result in significant
disparities in the amount of State funding provided per student in different
communities. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as requiring any
minimum or establishing any maximum amount of funds to be provided by the
State, requiring the State to provide funding based on any level of funding
provided in a prior year, or in any way restricting, limiting, or otherwise
affecting the right of the Legislature to regulate the funding of a thorough
and efficient system of free public schools in the manner and to the extent the
Legislature determines to be appropriate.

(cf: Art. VIII, Sec. IV, par. 1)

���� 2.��� When this proposed
amendment to the Constitution is finally agreed to pursuant to Article IX,
paragraph 1 of the Constitution, it shall be submitted to the people at the
next general election occurring more than three months after the final
agreement and shall be published at least once in at least one newspaper of
each county designated by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
General Assembly and the Secretary of State, not less than three months prior
to the general election.

���� 3.��� This proposed amendment
to the Constitution shall be submitted to the people at that election in the
following manner and form:

���� There shall be printed on each
official ballot to be used at the general election, the following:

���� a.���� In every municipality
in which voting machines are not used, a legend which shall immediately precede
the question as follows:

���� If you favor the proposition
printed below make a cross (X), plus (+), or check (
a
) in the square opposite the word "Yes."� If you are
opposed thereto make a cross (X), plus (+) or check (
a
) in the square opposite the
word "No."

b.

In every municipality the following
question:

CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENT TO HAVE THE LEGISLATURE DETERMINE THE COMPONENTS OF A THOROUGH AND
EFFICIENT SYSTEM OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

YES

Do you approve amending the
Constitution to state that the Legislature will decide how to provide for a
thorough and efficient system of free public schools?� The Legislature would
also decide how to fund public education.

INTERPRETIVE
STATEMENT

��

��� NO

This amendment provides that the
Legislature will decide how to provide public education in New Jersey.� The
Legislature would pass laws to identify the components of a thorough and
efficient system of public schools.� It would also determine how public
schools will be funded.

Funding for public schools would
be equitable and would use recent data to take into account the needs of
students and school districts.� The laws would provide for similar State
per-pupil funding in different school districts.� The amendment explicitly provides
that there is no minimum or maximum amount of required State school funding
in a given fiscal year.� It also provides that State school funding does not
have to be based on the amount provided in a prior year.

STATEMENT

���� This proposed amendment to the
Constitution states that the Legislature, through the enactment of laws, will
determine the components of a thorough and efficient system of free public
schools, and how such a system will be funded.� The financing mechanism would
include the amount that should be funded locally, as well as by the State.�
State funding provided for education must be equitable, take student and
community needs into consideration, and not result in significant disparities
in per student funding across different communities.� However, the
constitutional provision is not to be construed as establishing a minimum or
maximum funding level.� Additionally, the State would not be required to
consider the amount of funding provided to a community in prior years when
determining State funding in subsequent years.�