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Education Law Center study finds 18.3% jump in funding disparity

Just as the experts predicted, the gap in per pupil funding between urban and suburban school districts in New Jersey has widened in only the first year under the State’s new school funding formula.

An analysis of K-12 per pupil revenue by Education Law Center (ELC) shows that the gap in overall funding between wealthy, suburban districts (District Factor Groups I & J) and poor, urban (“Abbott”) districts rose from $901 to $1066 in just one school year. That’s an 18.3% jump in funding disparity.

Parents and equity advocates have warned that the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA) will recreate one of New Jersey’s most tragic legacies of the past: the unequal playing field between poor students in urban districts and more affluent students in suburban districts. As a result of the landmark N.J. Supreme Court rulings in Abbott v. Burke, that sad legacy ended in 1997.

"The NAACP is convinced that the current SFRA will lead to backward steps in our press for justice and equality," said James E. Harris, President of the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP. "The NAACP continues to insist that Abbott is New Jersey's equivalent to the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision. We believe that if fully implemented, the Abbott mandates hold the greatest promise for equal educational opportunity for all children, which is in the best interests of all citizens of the state."

The SFRA formula reinstates the urban-suburban funding gap. If the gap continues to widen at an 18% annual clip, it won’t take long before students in urban districts once again find themselves far behind their more affluent peers when it comes to educational resources and opportunities.

Bottom line: the SFRA means that spending and achievement levels in suburban districts will continue at high levels, while urban districts will be forced to cut those programs, services and staff needed to raise achievement among the state’s most disadvantaged children.

The ELC analysis also shows that in the 2009-10 school year Abbott districts will spend slightly less per pupil than middle income districts, though both groups will spend approximately $1,000 less than the I & J districts.

A district-by-district analysis carried out by ELC shows that more than two-thirds of urban districts will spend less per pupil next year than suburban districts. For example, Newark will spend $10,492 per pupil, with Paterson spending $10,151, and Jersey City spending $10,467, while I & J districts will spend, on average, $11,535.

“The SFRA has already begun to take its toll,” said David G. Sciarra, ELC Executive Director. “The formula seriously under-funds urban students and schools, and this will reverse the historic and measurable educational progress made under the Abbott rulings.”

For an explanation of the determination of per pupil revenue in Abbott districts, read Busting the Abbott Myths – Myth#1: Abbott Districts Spend the Most Per Pupil.

For more on how the SFRA formula is already failing New Jersey’s public school children, see New School Aid Formula Underfunded by $300 Million.

— ANDY LAGOMARSINO, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM