By The Staff | The Save Jersey Blog
State Senator Michael Doherty (R-23) has long been a proponent of “fair” school funding reform, Save Jerseyans, which would tie state aid to the student rather than the district.
Doherty was happy to receive what he considers a long-overdue endorsement of the concept by Chris Christie on Tuesday when the Governor rolled out his brand new “Fairness Formula” proposal.
“After years of being the lone voice calling for a new school funding formula that treats every student and every taxpayer fairly, I’m glad that Governor Christie has joined my call for reform,” said Doherty. “Every child deserves an equal opportunity, and every taxpayer deserves fair treatment.”
Doherty’s S-563 would also provide every K-12 New Jersey student with an equal share of state education aid, regardless of geographic location, but while Doherty’s ‘Fair School Funding’ proposal applies to $14 billion of state income tax revenues, Christie’s ‘Fairness Formula’ applies approximately $9 billion of direct school aid that is currently budgeted by the state.
“The Governor is on the right track with his proposal to return billions of tax dollars to rural and suburban districts that have long been underfunded,” added Doherty. “A fairer distribution of school funding would cut thousands from most property tax bills and help make the state affordable for many struggling families.”
New Jersey’s current formula is court-ordered. The result? High property taxes since “58% of the aid from state taxpayers goes to 5% of the school districts,” the Governor explained on Tuesday, “while 42% of the aid goes to the remaining 95% of school districts.”
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