NJ Education Report

From the press release:

The New Jersey Education Funding Task Force will be chaired by Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks (Fair Haven, Monmouth), who previously served as Acting Commissioner of Education and will include: Common Sense Institute of New Jersey President and former Randolph Board of Education President Jerry W. Cantrell (Randolph, Morris); Former Paterson Public Schools Director of Early Childhood Education Anna Lugo DeMolli, Ed.D. (Little Falls, Passaic); Fort Lee Public Schools Interim Superintendent Steven Engravalle (Howell, Monmouth); Stern & Kilcullen Partner John P. Inglesino, Esq. (Rockaway, Morris); St. Benedict’s Prep Headmaster and Essex County Vocational and Technical Schools Board President Rev. Edwin D. Leahy, O.S.B. (Newark, Essex); and Former Absecon City Councilmember Charles Urban (Absecon, Atlantic).

These direct appointments do not require Senate confirmation and each member will serve without compensation. The Task Force will issue a final report to Governor Christie outlining its recommendations within 120 days after organizing and will expire after issuing their report.

Currently, the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA) distributes greater amounts of school aid to districts serving greater numbers of students who are economically at-risk and districts with less property wealth. The participation in the federal Free and Reduced Price Lunch Program serves as the proxy for classifying and counting economically at-risk students. Recent high levels of fraudulent enrollment in the program, which undercut the state’s ability to fairly and appropriately determine aid levels for schools, have been reported. A 2011 report by the State Auditor found that as many as 37 percent of the students in the program are enrolled fraudulently.