At the December 18, 2006 public hearing on a report on a 2003 education cost study performed by the NJ Department of Education, the study’s methods and cost determinations were roundly – and overwhelmingly -- criticized by education associations, advocacy organizations, legislators and other stakeholders.

Every segment of the state’s public education community weighed-in against using the study’s cost determinations to revise the state school funding formula, with many urging Commissioner Lucille Davy to join in efforts to get the Legislature to authorize a new, independent cost study, similar to the state-of-the-art studies now underway in Pennsylvania and New Mexico.

Highlights from the public hearing include:

• Serious concerns by the Garden State Coalition of Schools that the proposed base or foundational education cost is far too low, was not determined using real-world inputs and costs, and will cause a "leveling down" of excellence in suburban school districts.
• Objections by the NJ Education Association to the use of "median" salary levels in the NJDOE cost calculation, thereby reducing the proposed foundational education cost well below current districts’ costs, and far below costs in successful suburban districts.
• Substantial questions from NJ Principals and Supervisors Association concerning the validity of the cost study, especially the recent claim by NJDOE that it used "professional judgment panels" in 2003 to determine costs.
• Call for a new cost study that, as stated by Paterson Education Fund, takes into account "the needs of every child, particularly the needs of those children who live in concentrated poverty."

On the heels of this blistering criticism, Commissioner Lucille Davy announced on January 4th that she had hired three more experts to "review and comment" on the NJDOE cost study. They are Allan Odden of the University of Wisconsin; Larry Picus of the University of Southern California; and Joseph Olchefske of the California-based American Institute of Research. These experts were given three weeks, or until January 19th, to complete their reviews.

Following the Commissioner’s announcement, Professor Paul Tractenberg of Rutgers sent a letter to these experts providing background on the NJDOE study, offering his assistance in their review, and inviting them to New Jersey to meet with education and advocacy groups to discuss the state’s unique educational and legal requirements for equitable and adequate school funding. The experts have yet to respond.

Prepared: January 15, 2007

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