by Gabe Donio, Gazette Staff Writer

TRENTON—On January 7, Governor Jon S. Corzine issued a statement regarding passage of the school funding formula bill by the New Jersey Legislature. The funding formula still does not have a funding source.
“I want to applaud those members who participated in today’s historic bipartisan effort on behalf of New Jersey’s children. I would like to especially thank Senate President Codey and Speaker Roberts for their leadership on this issue. Today’s passage of the School Funding Reform Act represents a significant shift away from the ad hoc, patchwork system of state aid that has been used over the past decade. The new law replaces a flawed system with an equitable, balanced, and nonpartisan formula that addresses the needs of all students, regardless of where they live. This formula puts the needs of all children on an equal footing, and will give them the educational resources they need for success.
“We believe, and the Attorney General has confirmed, that this School Funding Formula meets the constitutional requirement of providing a thorough and efficient system of education for the children of our state. I again thank those who helped to ensure that this fair school funding system is implemented for all children in all communities throughout New Jersey.” Corzine said in the statement.
If a funding source is obtained by the state for the formula, the Hammonton School District would receive an additional 20 percent, or $2.1 million, in state aid funding.
Hammonton Board of Education President Loretta Rehmann remained cautious about the potential for additional funding.
“I don’t know that they have funding. Until that happens, I’m not going to get excited about it,” Rehmann said.
Rehmann said the school district would not know exactly how much state aid it would be receiving until the final numbers were received from the New Jersey Department of Education later this year.
“Until we get the disk that says this will be your allotment for this year, we’re not going to make any assumptions,” Rehmann said.
In addition, Rehmann said it remains unclear whether the funding will last more than one year, if any additional funding from the state is received at all.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions. Is this going to be one year, two years, forever? The last thing we want to do with any additional monies is to allocate them to a recurring cost if we don’t know it is going to be recurring funding. If it’s a one-time windfall, then you shouldn’t be spending it on things that are going to be funded from now on,” Rehmann said.