SENATE COMMUNITY AND URBAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1977

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 10, 2015

      The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 1977.

      As amended by the committee, this bill would establish a five-year pilot program to provide State funding for certain students enrolled in adult education programs.  Beginning in the 2016-2017 school year, a school district that operates an approved adult high school program will receive $1,500 in adult education aid for each eligible pupil enrolled in the program.  An eligible pupil is defined as one who resides in a municipality that is: 1) in a county of the second class, and 2) part of a school district that, in the 2013-2014 school year, ranked in the bottom 20 percent Statewide with respect to the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate.  The bill also requires the Commissioner of Education to submit a report summarizing the outcomes of the pilot program.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to adjust the dates referenced in the bill in the following manner:

      the school year in which the program would begin from 2014-2015 to 2016-2017;

      the school district in which an eligible pupil must reside from one that ranked in the bottom 20% Statewide with respect to the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate in 2012-2013 to 2013-2014; and

      the date by which the Commissioner of Education must report the outcomes of the pilot program to the Governor and the Legislature from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2021.