PHOTO: Gov. Chris Christie was in Howell this afternoon, where he attended a Town Hall meeting. The meeting, similar to the ones recently held in Brick and other municipalities in New Jersey, gives residents the opportunity to interact with the Governor in a more casual setting.
The event, attended by residents from Lakewood and other surrounding towns, was held at the Howell Police Athletic League, formerly the Southard School.
I heard SCHI brought askonim to see him again
have three questions for the governor.
1) The School Funding Reform Act of 2008 (SFRA) gives the governor power to make changes in per student school funding on “September 1 of 2010 and by September 1 every three years thereafter.” In the Education Funding Report (EFR), submitted on February 23, 2012, Governor Christy decreased funding for at-risk children (defined as reduced or free lunch) and most other children. This is now law.
Lakewood funding will be lower this year (so don’t count on lower taxes) because 74% of our students are at-risk and also because the governor changed school funding from a formula based on the enrollment count to a formula based on average daily attendance, which of course, is low in Lakewood. What is the meaning of the clause in the SFRA, “every three years thereafter?”
2) Lakewood High School is now a priority school subject to new accountability rules and a possible closure. The Department of Education imposed these rules without hearings or a formal rule making procedure. Is this a violation of the NJ Administrative Procedure Act?
3) Lakewood has 4,250 children classified as special education. The SFRA assumes that a district classifies 14.69% of its school population as special education. Hence, under the SFRA, Lakewood has about 5,200 students, so it receives funding for only 778 students. What happened to the other 3,472 classified students that New Jersey is mandated under federal law to offer a Free and Appropriate Public Education?