Another hotly debated issue that did get a hearing today in Trenton revolved around the state's school funding formula, which has been contested for years because the method of dividing up the state aid means some districts have gained funding for each of the past several years, while others continue to see cuts.

As Melissa Rose Cooper reports from the State House.

That's still the case even after Governor Murphy proposed a record investment for New Jersey's education system in his most recent budget.

One of the few constants that I have seen throughout education is the chaos that comes every March as numbers are released, and we're unsure as to what our budget will look like.

Education leaders gathering in Trenton to discuss New Jersey's school funding formula.

The formula calculation has been raising concern for years over the way the money is dispersed.

With two essentially coming to an end with the reconfigurations of the numbers this year and more than a decade's worth of data on how the formula has impacted districts, I think it's critical we start taking the steps to modernize the formula.

Leaders say the unpredictability of the formula results in a negative impact on school districts.

As well as to sought to compel districts to meet their fair share.

The 2% cap prevented them from doing so and created a perpetual cycle of funding loss for these districts.

This, combined with the manner in which the funding formula assesses property valuations, have put districts in a position where property taxes may decrease, but so do the supports for their students, their overall staff and the course offerings in conjunction with increased class sizes.

These factors threaten to undermine the quality of public education offered in these districts and compromise the future success of the students.

Four years ago and fiscal year 21, there were 21 school districts in the state that saw an increase in their equalized valuation of 10% or more.

21 school districts statewide last year, at fiscal year 24, that number skyrocketed to 322 school districts that saw an increase in their equalized valuation of 10% or more.

So that significant impact of increasing property values, driving up the local share and turn driving down equalization aid as we're seeing it more widespread and more significant around the state.

While education leaders agree at its core, the school funding formula aims to create equity.

They say it doesn't always get things right.

In my hometown of Long Branch, they gained about $600,000 last year and lost 10 million this year.

That's a $10.6 million swing in one year.

And to get that information in early March and to be told you have to do a budget to cut $10 million, 20% of your budget in a couple of weeks, I think is very not practical at all.

So I think there's a lot that we need to do.

We need to take a holistic look at the formula and make the adjustments as a package.

I agree already with what I've heard today, and I suspect I would leave here agreeing with all the recommendations.

We do not believe that they should be done piecemeal.

However, because there's inputs, there's outputs and there's expectations placed upon the formula of what it should provide for education.

And each time you change one piece, you change the impacts of the other.

And so our strongest recommendation is not to do individual bills fixing a little bit here and a little bit there, but to take the time to do a holistic evaluation, come forth with comprehensive recommendations, understanding the way one piece impacts the other and put forth solutions that will set us up for success for the next decade or 15 years.

Governor Murphy recently proposed an increase of $908 million in school funding for fiscal year 2025 for a record total of $11.7 billion.

It's now pending review by the legislature.

Education leaders are hopeful the formula can be adjusted so all districts will truly get their fair share.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Melissa Rose Cooper.