O'Toole Co-Sponsors 'Fair School Funding Act'

After making his rounds in Bergen County's wealthier districts, Sen. Michael Doherty (R-23) picked up a key endorsement in his quest to change the school tax formula.

Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-40) will join Doherty as a co-sponsor of SCR-162, better known as "The Fair School Funding Act," state Republicans announced Wednesday.

According to the proposed resolution, a constitutional amendment would reverse New Jersey Supreme Court decisions dating back to the early 1980s that require low-income districts provide a certain level of funding per student, which proponents of the bill claim comes at the expense of subsidizing suburban districts.

Doherty proposes taking the total income tax revenue received by the state every year and dividing that figure into the total number of enrolled students in the state. Each student would  receive about $7,500 in state aid, regardless of what district they're in, Doherty says.

“I am pleased that Senator O’Toole agreed to join me in seeking a more equitable school funding formula by co-sponsoring the ‘Fair School Funding Plan,’” the Morris County senator said in a news release.

“With Senator O’Toole’s sponsorship, the resolution enjoys unanimous support among the Republican members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.”

Democrats have criticized attempts to reverse the court rulings, which have heaped billions of dollars on chronic underperforming school districts in places like Jersey City, Paterson, Hoboken, Camden and others.

The state's top court ruled this year that Governor Christie's move to cut state aid to the urban "Abbott" districts was unconstitutional.

“Like anyone else, the state is not free to walk away from judicial orders enforcing constitutional obligations,” Justice Jaynee LaVecchia wrote in the ruling.