Biennial Report on the Cost of
Providing a Thorough and Efficient
Education
2002
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
| MAUDE DAHME, President | Annandale |
| RONALD K. BUTCHER, Vice President | Gloucester |
| DONALD C. ADDISON, JR | Trenton |
| JEAN D. ALEXANDER | Absecon |
| MARGARET F. BARTLETT | Pine Hill |
| DEBRA CASHA | Kinnelon |
| KATHLEEN A. DIETZ | Hillsborough |
| ANNE S. DILLMAN | Perth Amboy |
| ORLANDO EDREIRA | Elizabeth |
| ARNOLD HYNDMAN | Belvidere |
| SAMUEL J. PODIETZ | Lumberton Township |
| EDWARD TAYLOR | Somerdale |
| ROBERTA H. VAN ANDA | Rumson |
William L. Librera, Ed.D.
Commissioner
Secretary, State Board of Education
It is a policy of the New Jersey State Board of Education and the State Department of Education that no person, on the basis of race, creed, national origin, age, sex, handicap, or marital status, shall be subjected to discrimination in employment or be excluded from or denied benefits in any activity, program, or service for which the department has responsibility. The department will comply with all state and federal laws and regulations concerning nondiscrimination.
Biennial Report
on the Cost of Providing
a Thorough and Efficient Education
2002
William L. Librera, Ed.D.
Commissioner of Education
Richard Rosenberg, Assistant Commissioner
Division of Finance
Yut’se Thomas, Director
Office of School Funding
New Jersey State Department of Education
P.O. Box 500
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0500
2002
BACKGROUND
The Comprehensive Educational Improvement and Financing Act of 1996
T&E Amounts and Categorical Aid Cost Factors
The Comprehensive Education Improvement and Financing Act of 1996 (CEIFA) included a uniform per-pupil regular education spending amount based on a set of assumptions regarding the inputs needed to provide a "thorough" education (one that satisfies the Core Curriculum Content Standards) in an "efficient" manner. CEIFA established a T&E range to account for cost variations experienced in the districts and separate weights to incorporate the varying costs of providing educational services at different grade levels. CEIFA included cost factors for categorical aid provided by the department to school districts. Aid categories included in CEIFA were as follows:
1) special education aid;
2) early childhood program aid;
3) demonstrably effective program aid;
4) instructional supplement aid;
5) bilingual education aid;
6) county vocational education aid;
7) distance learning network aid;
8) adult and post-secondary education aid.
Updating the Cost of a Thorough and Efficient Education
CEIFA established a two-year process for updating the T&E amounts and categorical aid cost factors. In each even-numbered year, the Governor is required to present to the Legislature the Report on the Cost of Providing a Thorough and Efficient Education (Biennial Report). The Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act (EFCFA) also required the department to develop facilities efficiency standards for the 2002 and subsequent reports. The combined New York City and Philadelphia Consumer Price Index (CPI) is used to adjust the cost factors for inflation in the years between reports.
THE 2002 BIENNIAL REPORT ON THE COST OF PROVIDING A THOROUGH AND EFFICIENT EDUCATION
1. Summary
This document fulfills the statutory requirement of N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-4c to reexamine the factors used in CEIFA and recommend to the legislature any necessary changes as well as the requirement of N. J. S. A. 18A:7G-3 and N. J. S. A. 18A:7G- 4h to develop facilities efficiency standards and area cost allowances for this and subsequent reports.
We continue to hear concerns regarding the adequacy and fairness of CEIFA. To address these concerns, the department has begun a deliberate and collaborative process of meeting with a cross-section of stakeholders to explore options for revising the current funding system. It is our plan to have a final proposal completed in time for fiscal 2004-05. In the meantime, work is progressing on interim solutions for fiscal 2004 to address some of the more urgent concerns. Because of the need to complete this report to meet the statutory requirement, and because our work with the funding group is still in progress, none of those ideas is incorporated in these recommendations. Rather, in recognition of the almost universal desire to make fundamental changes to the CEIFA funding system in the near future, we suggest only inflationary changes to the current CEIFA cost factors. Consequently, all of the recommended changes reflect use of the current CPI to increase the 2001-02 cost factors, except for the T&E amount. In this case, the CPI was used to increase the cost factor included in districts’ FY 2003 budgets.
2. T&E Amount
|
2003-04 T & E Amount |
||||
| Category | Weight |
Range |
T&E Amount | |
| Kindergarten | 0.5 | $416 | $3,949 – $4,364 | $4,156 |
| Elementary School | 1.0 | $831 | $7,897 – $8,728 | $8,313 |
| Middle School | 1.04 | $865 | $8,213 – $9,078 | $8,645 |
| High School | 1.11 | $923 | $8,766 – $9,689 | $9,227 |
3. Categorical Aid Cost Factors
|
Special Education Cost Factors |
||||
| Year | Tier I | Tier II | Tier III | Tier IV |
| 1997 – 1998 | $150 | $2,945 | $5,945 | $8,250 |
| 1998 – 1999 | $154 | $3,024 | $6,104 | $8,470 |
| 1999 – 2000 | $300 | $3,155 | $4,207 | $12,620 |
| 2000 – 2001 | $305 | $3,207 | $4,276 | $12,827 |
| 2001 – 2002 | $310 | $3,260 | $5,975 | $13,037 |
| 2002 – 2003 | $310 | $3,260 | $5,975 | $13,037 |
| 2003 – 2004 | $317 | $3,329 | $6,101 | $13,312 |
|
Early Childhood Program Aid |
||
| Year | Factor (20-40%) | Factor (40% or Greater) |
| 1997-98 | $465 | $750 |
| 1998-99 | $477 | $770 |
| 1999-00 | $490 | $790 |
| 2000-01 | $498 | $804 |
| 2001-02 | $506 | $817 |
| 2002-03 | $506 | $817 |
| 2003-04 | $517 | $834 |
|
Demonstrably Effective Program Aid |
||
| Year | Factor (20-40%) | Factor (40% or Greater) |
| 1997-98 | $300 | $425 |
| 1998-99 | $308 | $436 |
| 1999-00 | $316 | $448 |
| 2000-01 | $321 | $455 |
| 2001-02 | $327 | $463 |
| 2002-03 | $327 | $463 |
| 2003-04 | $334 | $473 |
|
Instructional Supplement Aid |
|
| Year | Factor |
| 1997-98 | $339 |
| 1998-99 | $348 |
| 1999-00 | $357 |
| 2000-01 | $363 |
| 2001-02 | $369 |
| 2002-03 | $369 |
| 2003-04 | $377 |
1 Note that the March 2000 Biennial Report recommended a cost factor of $6,607 for FY 2002. This cost factor was decreased in the FY 2002 Appropriations Act.
|
Bilingual Education |
|
| Year | Factor |
| 1997-98 | $1,073 |
| 1998-99 | $1,102 |
| 1999-00 | $1,131 |
| 2000-01 | $1,150 |
| 2001-02 | $1,168 |
| 2002-03 | $1,168 |
| 2003-04 | $1,193 |
|
County Vocational Aid |
|
| Year | Factor |
| 1997-98 | $1,662 |
| 1998-99 | $1,706 |
| 1999-00 | $1,752 |
| 2000-01 | $1,781 |
| 2001-02 | $1,883 |
| 2002-03 | $1,883 |
| 2003-04 | $1,923 |
|
Adult and Post-Secondary Education Aid |
||
| Year | Adult Education Factor | Post-Secondary Education Factor |
| 1997-98 | $1,345 | $1,345 |
| 1998-99 | $1,381 | $1,381 |
| 1999-00 | $1,397 | $1,746 |
| 2000-01 | $1,420 | $1,775 |
| 2001-02 | $1,443 | $1,985 |
| 2002-03 | $1,443 | $1,985 |
| 2003-04 | $1,473 | $2,027 |
|
Transportation Cost Factors |
||||
| Year | CP1 | CD1 | CP2 | CD2 |
| 1997-98 | $280.24 | $28.75 | $1,192.69 | $80.12 |
| 1998-99 | $287.72 | $29.52 | $1,224.53 | $82.26 |
| 1999-00 | $371.06 | $10.16 | $2,590.12 | $4.94 |
| 2000-01 | $377.69 | $10.33 | $2,632.60 | $5.02 |
| 2001-02 | $383.88 | $10.50 | $2,675.77 | $5.10 |
| 2002-03 | $383.88 | $10.50 | $2,675.77 | $5.10 |
| 2003-04 | $391.98 | $10.72 | $2,732.23 | $5.21 |
|
Distance Learning Network Aid |
|
| Year | Factor |
| 1997-98 | $40 |
| 1998-99 | $41 |
| 1999-00 | $42 |
| 2000-01 | $43 |
| 2001-02 | $44 |
| 2002-03 | $44 |
| 2003-04 | $45 |
4. Facilities Efficiency Standards
Consistent with the other recommendations, the construction cost allowance is adjusted to recognize inflation. However, instead of the CPI, the cost construction index is used. Therefore, the current cost allowance is increased by 3.36 percent.
|
Recommended Facilities Efficiency Standards |
|
| Elementary Schools | 125 square feet per FTE |
| Middle Schools | 134 square feet per FTE |
| High Schools | 151 square feet per FTE |
|
Recommended New Construction Cost Allowances |
|
| Current | $138 |
| 2003-04 | $143 |
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