An Act establishing the New Jersey State Commission on Education Reform and supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

1. There is established the New Jersey State Commission on Education Reform which shall consist of 15 members to be appointed as follows: nine members appointed by the Governor; one member appointed by the President of the Senate; one member appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the General Assembly; one member appointed by the chairman of the State political party the gubernatorial candidate of which received the largest number of votes cast in the most recent general election for Governor; and one member appointed by the chairman of the State political party the gubernatorial candidate of which received the second largest number of votes cast in the most recent general election for Governor. The members appointed shall reside in school districts classified in a wide-range of district factor groupings. At least six of the members shall have experience in a professional capacity in a public school district in this State. The Governor shall designate the chair from among the members.

The members of the commission shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant to this act.

2. The chair shall retain and may remove at his pleasure an executive director and such other personnel as he may deem necessary for the performance of the commission's duties and shall fix their compensation within the amounts made available. The chair may also contract with outside experts and organizations as he may deem necessary within the amounts made available.

3. The chair may request and shall receive from any department, division, board, bureau, commission, or agency of the State or any political subdivision thereof such assistance, data, and cooperation as is necessary to enable the commission to carry out the powers and duties described in this act.

4. The commission shall study and recommend reforms to the public school education finance system in the State of New Jersey and to any other State or local laws, rules, regulations, policies or practices to ensure that all children in the State have the opportunity to obtain a thorough and efficient education in accordance with the requirements of Article VIII, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey. The recommendations of the commission shall be revenue neutral in that they shall not require the raising of additional State or local funds for the support of public education.

5. a. In carrying out its responsibilities pursuant to section 4 of this act, the commission shall study and make recommendations to the Council on Thorough and Efficient Education regarding the actual cost of providing all children with the opportunity to acquire a thorough and efficient education in the public schools of the State. The commission shall determine an academic outcome-based per pupil school funding amount which shall reflect the cost of providing all necessary programs and services to public school students other than special education programs and services and transportation services. The commission shall develop a range of per pupil school funding amounts which reflects the conditions in high needs through low needs school districts, based on the socioeconomic status of the students enrolled in the district and the socioeconomic conditions of the community in which the district is located. In developing each per pupil amount within the range, the commission shall study school districts with similar socioeconomic characteristics in which students demonstrate successful academic outcomes as measured on the Statewide assessments and through such other indicators of academic success as the commission determines. The commission shall forward its recommendations on the range of per pupil school funding amounts to the council.

b. The commission shall also develop and recommend to the Governor and the Legislature a plan for the distribution of State aid to school districts as necessary to fund the range of outcome-based per pupil school funding amounts developed by the commission pursuant to subsection a. of this section and to provide and finance special education programs and services and transportation services. The plan shall include recommendations on the percentage of the per pupil school funding amounts that should be supported by the local community and the basis on which a community's ability to support its education budget should be determined.

The plan recommended to the Governor and the Legislature shall include the following components:

(1) that the tax levy growth limitation of the spending growth limitation, as applicable, applied to a school district's net budget shall be the CPI and an adjustment to reflect increases in resident enrollment between the prebudget and budget years unless the voters of the district or the board of school estimate, as applicable, approve additional spending;

(2) that a public vote shall not be required on a school district's budget if the district's budget is within its tax levy growth limitation or spending growth limitation, as applicable;

(3) that the State aid of a school district which exceeds its spending growth limitation shall be reduced by 15% for that school year;

(4) that the State aid recouped through reductions in State aid shall be distributed as additional State aid to school districts which have demonstrated efficient operations and positive student achievement; and,

(5) that the election of members to a board of education shall be conducted in November of each year.

c. The commission shall also study and make recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature regarding improved accountability systems to ensure that all public schools are offering students the opportunity to acquire a thorough and efficient education and are operating in an efficient and effective manner. Such reforms may include:

(1) methods to improve the accountability of State and local officials and entities charged with overseeing and managing the State's public schools;

(2) methods to improve the accountability of school administrators, teachers, and other school personnel for the efficient and effective delivery of educational services; and

(3) methods by which to improve the accountability of students and their parents for regular attendance of classes, appropriate discipline, and adequate preparation.

6. a. The commission shall forward its recommendations to the Council on Thorough and Efficient Education pursuant to subsection a. of section 4 of this act and to the Governor and the Legislature pursuant to subsection b. of that section by July 1, 2011.

b. Four years following the submission of the commission's recommendations pursuant to subsection a. of this section and every four years thereafter the commission shall be reconstituted with new appointments made pursuant to section 1 of this act. The commission shall again undertake the study required pursuant to this act and shall revise its prior recommendations as it determines to be necessary. The commission shall forward its revised recommendations to the council and the Governor and the Legislature in accordance with the provisions of this act.

7. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes a 15-member New Jersey State Commission on Education Reform. The Governor will appoint nine of the commission members and the Senate President, Speaker of the General Assembly, Minority Leaders of the Senate and General Assembly, and the chairmen of the State political parties the gubernatorial candidates of which received the largest and second largest number of votes cast in the most recent general election for Governor will each appoint one member. The Governor will appoint the chair of the commission and the chair is authorized to retain an executive director and such other personnel as is necessary to conduct the work of the commission.

The commission is charged with studying and recommending reforms to the public school education finance system and to any other State or local laws, rules, regulations, policies, and practices necessary to ensure that all children in the State have the opportunity to obtain a thorough and efficient education. The recommendations of the commission are to be revenue neutral in that they will not require the raising of additional State or local funds.

The commission's main charge is to determine an academic outcome-based per pupil school funding amount which reflects the cost of providing all necessary programs and services to students other than special education programs and services and transportation services. The commission is directed to develop a range of per pupil school funding amounts which reflects the conditions in high needs through low needs school districts, based on the socioeconomic status of the students enrolled in the district and the socioeconomic conditions of the community in which the district is located. In developing each per pupil amount within the range, the commission is to study school districts with similar socioeconomic characteristics in which students demonstrate successful academic outcomes as measured on the Statewide assessments and through other indicators of academic success. The commission is to forward its recommendations on the range of per pupil school funding amounts to the Council on Thorough and Efficient Education which will be established under companion legislation upon the approval of the voters of this State.

The commission is also directed to develop and recommend to the Governor and the Legislature a plan for the distribution of State aid to school districts as necessary to fund the range of outcome-based per pupil school funding amounts developed by the commission and to provide and finance special education programs and services and transportation services. The plan must include recommendations on the percentage of the per pupil school funding amounts that should be supported by the local community and the basis on which a community's ability to support its education budget should be determined.

The bill stipulates that the plan for education reform recommended to the Governor and the Legislature must include the following components:

1) that the tax levy cap or budget cap, as applicable, used to calculate allowable increases in a school district's annual budget will be the CPI and an adjustment to reflect increases in resident enrollment between the prebudget and budget years unless the voters of the district or the board of school estimate, as applicable, approve additional spending;

2) that a public vote will not be required on a school district's budget if the budget is within cap;

3) that the State aid of a school district that adopts a budget which exceeds the tax levy cap or budget cap, as applicable, will be reduced by 15% for that school year;

4) that the State aid recouped through reductions in State aid will be distributed as additional State aid to school districts which have demonstrated efficient operations and positive student achievement; and,

5) that the election of members to a board of education will be conducted in November of each year.

The commission is also authorized to consider the following:

1) methods to improve the accountability of State and local officials and entities charged with overseeing and managing the State's public schools;

2) methods to improve the accountability of school administrators, teachers, and other school personnel for the efficient and effective delivery of educational services; and

3) methods by which to improve the accountability of students and their parents for regular attendance of classes, appropriate discipline, and adequate preparation.

The commission is directed to forward its recommendations to the council and to the Governor and the Legislature by July 1, 2011. Four years following the submission of its recommendations and every four years thereafter the commission will be reconstituted with the appointment of new members. The commission is to review its prior recommendations and to revise them as it determines necessary.