As part of the 2008 Appellate Division decision in Bacon v. NJ Department of Education, the Court directed the Department of Education to assess “the unique set of circumstances” confronting students of the poor, rural Bacon districts that “distinguish them from their urban counterparts,” and to determine if the newly enacted SFRA funding formula would provide the resources necessary to meet their needs.
In response, the Department of Education conducted individualized needs assessments of the Bacon districts, issuing the results in 2009. The assessments detailed numerous and serious deficiencies across the districts and examined whether school aid and other resources provided to the districts through implementation of the new SFRA formula would address those educational deficiencies.
The assessments determined that formula funding and high quality, full-day preschool under the SFRA would give Bacon districts the “necessary tools” to address their educational deficiencies and would, therefore, remedy the constitutional violation found by the State Board and upheld by the Appellate Division in the litigation.
Click on the district name below to read the Needs Assessment: