Committee members made brief statements and then listened to a presentation by the Office of Legislative Services (OLS) on the legislative and judicial history of school funding in New Jersey.

ELC sent a letter last week to the chairs of the joint committee, Senator Adler and Assembly member Conaway, outlining concerns about the data presentation made by the OLS. In an earlier conversation, OLS agreed to address some of these concerns, although no new materials have been generated by them yet. Chief among them were the need to adjust absolute dollar amounts by inflation to provide a more accurate picture of school spending and include student enrollment figures as an important context.

The letter also calls for greater transparency about data sources and definitions, and the inclusion of comparative state data. ELC urged the legislators to ensure that all committee presentations meet the research standards outlined in the letter.

The committee’s schedule through October 31, its members and background materials can be viewed at njleg.state.nj.us. It is likely that live proceedings of the committee will be available through this website. Interested persons may also submit comments, questions or information directly to the committee through the website. A copy of the OLS presentation may also be viewed at njleg.state.nj.us.

The legislative charge to the committee is as follows:

• It is the duty of the committee to review and formulate proposals that address the manner in which government provides for the maintenance and support of a system of free public schools for the instruction of the children of this State. The committee may consider proposals to: provide State support based on student needs rather than geographic location; eliminate disincentives to the regionalization of school districts; control school district spending, particularly administrative spending; and improve the effectiveness of the current law limiting increases in school district spending.

Each of the committee members received a set of resources to help them understand the complicated issues of school finance. Click the following for a list and description of these resources. Links to many of the documents are included.

The members of the committee are:

• Senator John Adler - Co-Chair. Senator Adler is a Democrat from the 6th District, with an office in Cherry Hill. He is a lawyer by profession with his degree from Harvard Law School. He also serves as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• Assemblyman Herb Conaway - Co-Chair. Assemblyman Conaway is a Democrat representing the 7th District with an office in Delran. He is trained as both a physician and a lawyer and currently practices medicine. He received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and his law degree from Rutgers Law School. He served in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Air Force retiring with the rank of Captain. He also serves as chair of the Health and Senior Services Committee.
• Senator Gerald Cardinale. Senator Cardinale is a Republican from the 39th District with an office in Cresskill. He practices dentistry and earned his degree from New York University. He has experience on his local board of education.
• Senator Joseph Doria, Jr. Senator Doria is a Democrat serving the 31st District with an office in Jersey City. He holds an Ed.D from Columbia Teachers College and also serves as the Mayor of Bayonne. He is the Vice Chair of the Senate Education Committee, a member of Joint Committee on Public Schools, and has served on his local school board.
• Assemblyman Brian Stack. Mr. Stack is a Democrat serving the 33rd district with an office in Union City where he also serves as the mayor of Union City.
• Assemblyman David Wolfe. He is a Republican from the 10th District with an office in Brick. He holds an M.Ed from the University of Delaware and is currently a professor at Ocean County College. He is a member of the Assembly Education Committee and the Joint Committee on Public Schools.

Prepared: August 23, 2006

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