State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > New-jersey > Title-18a > Section-18a-7d > 18a-7d-28-5

18A:7D-28.5. New budget increase for supplemental State aid      4.   Each regional school district formed after the effective date of this act shall, for the purposes of calculation of its maximum permissible net budget pursuant to the provisions of section 85 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-28), have its net budget for the prebudget year increased by an amount equal to the supplemental State aid received by the district pursuant to section 3 of this act plus the amount of any start-up costs incurred by the district in the regionalization process including, but not limited to, the costs to the district of a regionalization study, program expansion, transportation expansion, and modifications to collective bargaining agreements. 

   L.1993,c.67,s.4. 
 
18A:7E-1.Findings, declarations on school report card programs
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. The State of New Jersey has invested more resources than virtually any other state in the nation in its students, teachers and schools, yet parents and other interested members of the community have a difficult time determining the educational results of the expenditure of their tax dollars;

b. Obtaining complete and accurate information on the performance of local schools can be a difficult and confusing task and concerned individuals have no place to turn to get an objective and authoritative evaluation of their local schools;

c. The establishment of school report cards would provide a simple and uniform mechanism for measuring the return on the investment which the people of this State are making in the education of their children;

d.Nationally, a school report card program is recognized as an important component of the current educational reform effort; and

e.The Commissioner of Education is encouraged to seek continued financial and technical support from the business and nonprofit communities for the preparation and dissemination of the report cards.

L.1995,c.235,s.1.
 
18A:7E-2.School Report Card Program
2. The Commissioner of Education shall develop and administer a School Report Card Program.  The program shall provide for the annual preparation and dissemination of a school report card to parents and other interested taxpayers within each local school district. In order to avoid duplication and minimize the expense of this program, the commissioner shall coordinate the school report card program with other State and federal programs that require school districts to collect and publish data.  The commissioner is authorized to collect the data and to define the terms as necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

L.1995,c.235,s.2.
 
18A:7E-3.Report card information3. Report cards issued pursuant to section 2 of this act shall include, but not be limited to, the following information for:

a. the school district and for each school within the district, as appropriate:

(1) results of the elementary assessment programs;

(2) results of the Early Warning Test;

(3) results of the High School Proficiency Test;

(4) daily attendance records for students and professional staff;

(5) student graduation and dropout rates;

(6) annual student scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test;

(7) total student enrollment, percentage of limited English proficient students, percentage of students in advanced placement courses, and any other school characteristics which the commissioner deems appropriate;

(8) instructional resources including teacher/student ratio, average class size and amount of instructional time per day, as calculated by formulas specified by the commissioner; and

(9) a written narrative by the school principal or a designee which describes any special achievements, events, problems or initiatives of the school or district; and

b.the school district, as appropriate:

(1) per pupil expenditures and State aid ratio;

(2) percent of budget allocated for salaries and benefits of administrative personnel;

(3) percent of budget allocated for salaries and benefits of teachers;

(4) percentage increase over the previous year for salaries and benefits of administrative and instructional personnel;

(5) the number of administrative personnel and the ratio of administrative personnel to instructional personnel;

(6) a profile of the most recent graduating class concerning their educational or employment plans following graduation; and

(7) any other information which the commissioner deems appropriate.

For the purposes of this section, the Commissioner of Education shall establish a uniform methodology for the reporting of the data concerning administrative personnel on a full-time equivalent basis.

L.1995,c.235,s.3.
 
18A:7E-4.Statewide, district averages included
4. The school report card shall include, for purposes of comparison and review, the Statewide average for each element reported by school and a comparison of the district averages for each element reported by district with the averages of school districts which have similar characteristics as defined by the commissioner.

L.1995,c.235,s.4.
 
18A:7E-5.Rules, regulations
5. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

L.1995,c.235,s.5.