Educating disadvantaged kids always costs more, state is told Wednesday, September 20, 2006 • BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL • Star-Ledger Staff As they wind down work on a new formula to distribute billions of dollars in state school aid, state legislators heard yesterday from two experts who warned that meeting the needs of poor students will always be pricey. "We know that school districts with many students who are economically disadvantaged or have English as a second language have to spend more to achieve the same performance," said John Yinger, a Syracuse University professor who has prepared school cost estimates for New York, Maryland and other states. "That's a very well-documented fact." In New York, for instance, Yinger said studies found it costs twice as much to provide the same level of public education for typical students in disadvantaged communities as it costs in wealthier suburbs, where students have fewer economic or social disadvantages. Driving the higher costs, he said, are expenses for health care, special tutoring and incentives to attract and retain teachers, which wealthier communities do not face. Jay G. Chambers, senior research fellow and managing director of the education program at the American Institutes for Research in California, echoed Yinger's projections. Chambers' study of public school costs in New York last year found the $31 billion spent on public schools there in 2001 was at least $6 billion less than was needed to give every school the resources needed to achieve state education standards. The two experts have not analyzed spending in New Jersey and offered no particulars for members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Public School Funding working on a new state aid formula. The state Department of Education three years ago conducted a study of necessary costs that found the $16 billion being spent at that time fell about $500 million short of what was needed to support all schools, but officials have refused to release the study. Sen. John Adler (D-Camden), a co-chair of the legislative committee who is directly involved in the effort to rewrite the school funding formula, said he recognizes it will likely require additional spending. But he said the goal will be to ensure more state aid is sent to suburban communities -- whose school aid has been frozen for five years -- and slow the growth of the overall cost of public schools. The new formula is scheduled to be unveiled next month, he said. "We have to spend it more intelligently," he said. "We may find that some districts are spending more than they really should." Dunstan McNichol covers state government issues. He may be reached at dmcnichol@starledger.com or (609) 989-0341. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.