Lakewood, NJ — Assemblyman Avi Schnall is co-sponsoring new legislation that would fix one of the biggest problems in New Jersey’s school funding system: how the state pays for special education.

According to Schnall’s office, under the current system, the state funds special education by assuming that 16 percent of students in any district need special education services. But in Lakewood – the 30th District’s largest municipality – the public school census lists only about 5,000 students, even though the town is home to more than 60,000 school-aged children. Thousands of these children receive special education services funded by the public school system while attending specialized nonpublic programs such as the School for Children with Hidden Intelligence (SCHI) and the Special Children’s Center. Because the formula only counts public school enrollment, these students were left out completely.

“For years, school districts across New Jersey have been shortchanged by a formula that never reflected reality,” Schnall says. “Districts with large and diverse student populations were hit especially hard. In the 30th Legislative District, no community has felt this more acutely than Lakewood. The result has been devastating underfunding year after year.”

The effects became clear last year when Governor Murphy temporarily fixed the formula and counted Lakewood’s full student population. That adjustment resulted in an additional $10 million for the district.

“That wasn’t a bonus,” Schnall says. “That was a restoration of what our students should have been receiving all along. It demonstrated how urgently this fix is needed.”

The new legislation, introduced in the Senate by Senator Vin Gopal and in the Assembly by Assemblywomen Margie Donlon, Luanne M. Peterpaul, and Verlina Jackson-Reynolds, would make this correction permanent. Rather than relying on the limited public school census, the state would fund special education based on real enrollment numbers.

“By funding based on real school counts, we ensure that districts are no longer penalized simply because their public school census fails to capture the full scope of their student populations,” Schnall said after signing on as a co-sponsor of the bill.

Beyond fixing the formula, the bill also increases transparency by requiring clear public explanations of how state aid is calculated. It strengthens the Educational Adequacy Report process, which guides school funding statewide, and creates a Special Education Funding Review Task Force to recommend future improvements.

Assemblyman Schnall expressed his appreciation for the bipartisan coalition behind the effort. “I thank Senator Gopal for his leadership, and I am grateful to my Assembly colleagues for championing this legislation. Our students, families, and educators deserve nothing less than a funding system that is accurate, fair, and sustainable.”