New Jersey Department of Education

2014-15 State Aid Summaries

Additional School Funding Scenarios – FY2015

During this budget season, the Department has received inquiries from school leaders, legislators, and education organizations seeking more information on possible alternative funding scenarios.  To assist in informing that conversation and for informational purposes only, the Department is making available two additional funding scenarios.  Below is a detailed description of each of the funding models and the Governor's funding proposal.

Spreadsheet with District level detail of funding scenarios.

Governor's Proposed Funding for FY2015

In February 2014, the Governor released his FY2015 budget proposal that included additional funding to all school districts in the state.  In this proposal, each school district would receive the same amount of funding as the prior year (FY2014) plus an additional $20 per student that the district is projected to have for the upcoming school year.  Choice districts that accepted more students may see an additional increase for those students.  In total, the Governor's proposal ensures that each district in the state would see an aid increase for FY2015.

Legislature's SFRA Model

The calculations under this model result in an estimate of what funding would look like for each district, if the SFRA model requested by the Legislature was fully funded.  This model is determined using the base amount, weights, and all other adjustments to the SFRA included in the Educational Adequacy Report (inflated by CPI, where applicable), and the weights for at-risk, limited English proficiency (LEP), and combination at-risk and LEP, as requested by the Legislature.  Further, the attendance adjustment that has been used over the last two years was not applied under this model.  This scenario would require an additional $1 billion dollars in state funding compared to the Governor's proposed FY2015 state aid figures. 

FY2014 State Aid Model

To provide even further information, the Department has estimated the results if aid were to be provided in a manner similar to FY2014.  In the FY2014 budget, state aid was provided over a five-year phase-in up to the model's full funding amount, with FY2014 being the first year of the phase-in.  The Department is providing estimated figures if this phase-in were to be restarted.  Under this model, state aid is estimated using all the parameters as outlined in the Educational Adequacy Report (and inflated by CPI, where applicable).  As in the case of the Legislature's SFRA model, the enrollment used is not adjusted for attendance. In comparison to the Governor's proposed FY2015 budget, the vast majority of districts (420) would receive less aid than under the Governor's proposal. 

Summary of Fiscal Year 2015 Funding Scenarios

	Governor's Proposed Budget	Legislature's SFRA Model *	Fiscal Year 2014 Model *
Total K-12 Aid for Fiscal Year 2015	$7,959,498,040	$8,967,612,550	$7,964,370,924
Districts that would see an aid increase	N/A	555	160
Districts that would see an aid decrease	N/A	25	420

*Scenarios are compared to the Governor's Proposed Budget.