New Jersey Department of Education

2004-05 State Aid Summaries

1. Total Formula State Aid Increased by 3% for all districts with the exception of Abbott districts and Choice districts.

2. Total increase in formula aid to all districts is $200 million

3. Non Abbott Districts - $100 million increase

1. $90 million Additional Formula Aid provided to all non Abbott districts.

2. An additional $10 million provided to non Abbott districts and is to be distributed later through 2 new programs – Higher Expectations for Learning Proficiency (HELP) and Positive Achievement and Cost Effectiveness (PACE) and are not currently reflected in the DOE summary.

4. Choice Districts:

1. Choice aid in 2004-05 is calculated based on projected October 2004 enrollments.

2. Choice aid may increase or decrease based on the new enrollment numbers

3. The increase in overall aid for these districts consequently is greater or less than 3%.

4. However no district loses aid relative to 2004.

5. Abbott Districts - $100 million increase

1. A new funding category designated as Education Opportunity Aid will be provided to Abbott districts in 2004-05 for parity and discretionary resources.

2. Therefore Parity Aid and Additional Abbott v. Burke Aid are not provided in the 2004-05 budget as separate categories.

3. The 2004-05 State budget includes a total of $1.1 billion for Education Opportunity Aid while the 2003-04 State budget included $1.0 billion in combined Parity Aid and Additional Abbot v. Burke Aid. This $100 million difference is the size of the total recommended increase in aid to Abbott districts.

4. The DOE state aid summary shows an increase for Abbott districts that is a result of the comparison between the initial 2004-05 formula driven portion of Education Opportunity Aid ($907.0 million) and 2003-04 actual parity aid payments ($697.7 million), also formula driven. This is a $209.3 million increase that is offset by a decrease in the amount of discretionary awards.

5. The additional discretionary awards that will be provided through Education Opportunity Aid are not reflected in the $907 million because those awards have not yet been distributed to each district.

2004-05 State Aid Summaries