Asbury Park Press

Earlier this year, after the new school aid figures for 2019-20 were released, we urged school districts that took the biggest hits — a disproportionate number of them in Ocean and Monmouth counties — to closely scrutinize the state's new funding formula to determine whether they were, as many strongly suspected, getting the shaft.

Toms River Regional, other school districts that saw major reductions in aid and every major education organization in the state have since tried to find out exactly how the new school aid formula is calculated through a series of OPRA requests. But all of the requests have been rejected — first by the state Department of Education and subsequently by the administrative law court. That's unacceptable. How can you determine if the formula is indeed fair and devoid of partisan taint if the exact methodology behind it isn't divulged. Answer? You can't.

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The formula was changed last year, ostensibly to make the distribution of school aid more equitable. But you would have a hard time convincing the two of every three school districts in Ocean County and half in Monmouth County that lost aid that they haven't gotten a raw deal. Statewide, about 60 percent of school districts received increases in state aid.

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Broadly, the state has argued that the cuts were necessary to compensate for the inequities arising from districts' shrinking or growing enrollments over the years. Because the formula previously had failed to adequately take changing enrollment into account, some districts received more than their fair share, and others received less. So now, the state is making districts that may have been overfunded in the past — through no fault of their own — to pay the price. In many cases, a very heavy price.

But enrollment is only part of the equation. So-called equalization aid, which accounts for 75 percent of all state education aid, is based on a community's ability to pay — its equalized residential property valuation and its total income. The problem, as spelled out in litigation challenging the formula by Toms River Regional and seven other school districts, is that the valuations do not include PILOTs (payment in lieu of taxes), which can be significant, and the wealth figures are unreliable in the 30 or more municipalities — many of them New Jersey's largest cities — that have not had legally required property revaluations in more than 25 years. Both could dramatically skew the fair share calculus.

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The OPRA requests filed by Toms River Regional and others to determine how the state arrived at the aid allocation figures were rejected on the grounds that the software used to crunch the numbers was "proprietary," even though it had been developed in-house, at taxpayer expense. The challenge to the formula, which includes the denial of the OPRA request, now will proceed to the appellate court.

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In the meantime, the districts hurt by the new formula are left dealing with the consequences and dreading what's to come if the formula isn't revised. Under the school funding reforms, the aid formula will be phased in annually through 2025. The districts that had aid reductions this year will face even deeper cuts over the next five years.

Toms River Regional, for instance, stands to lose $18.5 million by 2025. according to figures released by the NJ Office of Legislative Services. This year its aid was cut by $2.8 million, forcing it to lay off 77 staff members — most of them teachers — increase class sizes and eliminate extracurricular and coaching stipends.

In subsequent years, without any adjustments to the formula, things will get worse. The district is projected to lose $5.7 million next year and $7.2 million the following year, requiring additional staff layoffs of 80 or more each year. In short, it will decimate the district and significantly weaken the education it offers its students. Its hurt to justify that level of cuts in a district that has the second-lowest per-pupil costs in the state.

Toms River is by no means alone in having to confront potential calamity. This year, the districts in Ocean and Monmouth counties with the largest reductions in state aid included: Ocean Township (Waretown) (10.1%), Brick (8%), Freehold Regional (7.5%), Plumsted (7%), Asbury Park (6.4%), Manalapan-Englishtown (5.2%), Howell (5%), and Jackson (4.1%). For most of those districts the cuts were painful. Without relief, they will becoming increasingly harsh over the next five years.

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The state says the revised funding formula was all about restoring fairness to the distribution of school aid. But there is good reason to suspect it has led to new inequities. One thing is certain: It will cause undue harm to many school districts and the children they are charged with educating.

If the state is sincere about wanting to make the aid formula fair, it must begin by drawing back the curtain on the calculations, allaying any concerns that the Democratic leadership may have had its thumb on the scale. Further, as a way to eliminate any unintended inequities, it must re-examine the way it measures a community's wealth.