Christie forms state-aid task force

TRENTON — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is looking for a new way to count students who qualify for additional school aid because they are considered at-risk. Christie says the current method of calculating at-risk students based on whether they get free or reduced-price school lunches is a method fraught with fraud. A 2011 audit found that tens of millions of dollars in school aid may be misdirected because of fraudulent enrollment in the school lunch program. Christie has convened a task force and given it four months to come up with a new measure to count impoverished children. The governor says the task force is part of his initiative to bring more accountability and equality to the distribution of state aid to schools.