Bipartisan Panel to Hold First of Four Public Hearings to Gain Input on School Aid Formula
First Hearing of Senate Select Committee on School Funding Fairness
The first public hearing of the special Senate committee examining the state’s school funding formula will be held in Woolwich on Friday. The eight-member Senate Select Committee on School Funding Fairness, co-chaired by Senate President Steve Sweeney and Senator Joseph Pennacchio, will hold the first of four hearings in different regions of the state to gain input on the fairness and equity of the formula that distributes funding to all of New Jersey’s school districts. The bipartisan committee also includes Senator M. Teresa Ruiz, who also serves as chair of the Senate Education Committee, Senator Sandra Cunningham, chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, Senator Paul Sarlo, chair of the Budget Committee, Senator Steven Oroho, Senator Michael Doherty and Senator Samuel Thompson.
The hearing will be held at the Kingsway Regional High School, Cafeteria East, 201 Kings Highway, Woolwich at 11:00 a.m., Friday, January 27th. The hearings will help generate more input from educators, local officials, residents, advocacy groups and others on the flaws and resulting problems caused by the funding formula and the best way to make needed reforms.