Proposed end to Abbott Property tax reform committees recommend distributing aid to schools based on students. Thursday, November 16, 2006 • By Martin C. Bricketto • The Express-Times TRENTON | The "Abbott District" label would be erased for school districts such as Phillipsburg under the outline of a new school funding formula unveiled Wednesday. Recommendations released from one of the committees that investigated the state's property tax problem outlined a formula that would distribute state aid to districts based on students rather than geography, increasing funding to suburban school districts. The reports issued by all four of the panels after three months of study laid out 98 recommendations, several of which overhaul the ways local schools have operated in New Jersey. Other proposed changes include new reporting requirements, moving school board elections to November, eliminating school budget votes unless the spending plan exceeds state caps, and creating "super" county superintendents that would have the power to veto line items in the budgets of individual school districts. The recommendations now go before the full Legislature for consideration. School levies make up more than half of the $20 billion in property taxes collected in New Jersey each year. More than $10 billion of the state's last budget was allocated for public school funding. The committee on school funding reform is proposing a formula that would take into account at-risk students, special education students and students with limited English proficiency in all districts. The wealth of a district would also be a factor in its share of state funding. Some of the state's 31 poorest school districts, a group known as Abbott Districts that includes Phillipsburg, might see comparatively less money over time, according to committee staff. The committee recommended a provision guaranteeing that districts at least maintain past levels of aid immediately following the formula's adoption, as well as a base level of funding. Officials acknowledge it's going to take more money to implement the new funding scheme but how much remains unknown. Republicans on Wednesday blasted the lack of specifics. Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance, R-Hunterdon/Warren, said the outline of the formula might be a step in the right direction, but he had to see more to determine "if it goes far enough in the right direction." Lance's district includes both Phillipsburg and wealthier suburban districts that have struggled with rising costs and flat state aid in recent years. He said he did not think the formula would prove to be a boon for some districts at the expense of Phillipsburg. "As I understand it, this is additional money for middle-class districts," Lance said. A new school aid formula is not anticipated to be in place by the end of this year because of the details involved, according to staff. A more realistic deadline might be before the budget season for local school districts early next year. Gordon Pethick, the superintendent of the Phillipsburg School District, said he didn't have enough details yet to weigh in on the proposal. State money accounts for 68 percent of Phillipsburg's $59 million 2006-07 budget. "We would have to take a look at what those numbers mean to get a better handle on it," Pethick said. "We would look at whatever came out. I want to make sure that my kids have the programs they need to succeed." "I am concerned not only for Phillipsburg but what it means for the state, for everybody," Pethick added. Also under the recommendations, a pilot program would be established in one of the state's 21 counties to test the kind of a county-based school systems established in nearby Maryland. Martin C. Bricketto is Trenton correspondent for The Express-Times. He can be reached at 609-292-5154. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.