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Star Ledger - N.J. Supreme Court to rule on future of 'Abbott' school districts
May 28, 2009
TRENTON -- New Jersey's Supreme Court today will rule on whether a new school funding formula proposed by Gov. Jon Corzine is constitutional, which could potentially end the long-running, and controversial, Abbott vs. Burke school funding case that has sent billions of dollars to the state's poorest communities over the past three decades.
The state's highest court in April heard arguments on the new funding formula approved last year by lawmakers at the behest of Corzine, which would replace decades of court oversight. In a series of decisions since the mid 1980's, the court said the state's poorest districts -- the so-called Abbott districts, such as Newark, Paterson and Camden -- must be funded on par with the state's wealthiest. The new system distributes school aid based on enrollment, with a bonus for the number of students who are poor, handicapped or otherwise more expensive to serve.
Last month, New Jersey Attorney General told the court that Corzine's formula provides money based on "children's needs, not children's zip codes," Milgram said.
Supporters of the Abbott funding, lead by the Education Law Center in Newark, say the 300,000 children in these districts continue to suffer hardships and have already faced budget cuts this year.
The Supreme Court last fall refused the governor's request to scrap the Abbott program all together, but ordered fact-finding hearings before a "special master" on whether the new formula is constitutional. The special master, Superior Court Judge Peter Doyne, recently found the law "a thoughtful ... attempt to assist at-risk children throughout the state."
But Doyne ordered that supplemental funding -- extra money that has been court-ordered over many years to pay for programs such as nutrition services and dropout prevention in the Abbott schools -- be continued for at least three years. That way, he wrote, the state can see how the formula works in practice and ensure the Abbott districts are not short-changed.
The Record, North Jersey News ‘State's highest court to rule on Abbott funding today’
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Thursday May 28, 2009
The state Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on the mother of all school funding cases tomorrow: Abbott v. Burke.
Justices are scheduled to announce their decision at 10 a.m. on the Abbott case, which has brought billions of state tax dollars into poor school districts, including Paterson, Passaic and Garfield.
The court was asked to end the program by the Corzine administration in light of a new school funding formula that the state says offers a fair way to share aid dollars among all 600 school districts in New Jersey. Advocates for students in the Abbott districts challenged that move, arguing that the formula is flawed, untested and ignores the difficulties faced by communities with very high concentrations of poverty.
At stake for the 31 Abbott districts: special court-ordered treatment by the state as officials dole out school aid each year. Those districts enroll about one-quarter of New Jersey students and receive about half of all state aid.
TIMELINE
The Abbott case sparked nearly three decades of legal battles and a series of state funding initiatives.
1981: The Education Law Center files Abbott v. Burke, arguing that students in New Jersey's poorest districts are not receiving a “thorough and efficient” education.
1990: The New Jersey Supreme Court requires that school funding be equalized around the state and mandates extra programs to “wipe out” disparities in less-affluent districts.
1997: The court says existing funding plans are unconstitutional and orders state officials to provide more money to the Abbott schools.
1998: The court orders an unprecedented series of entitlements and reforms for the Abbott districts, including full-day kindergarten and preschool, major building and technological upgrades and other programming.
March 2008: A state judge agrees with the Corzine administration that its new school funding formula fairly shares aid among all school districts, eliminating the need for the special Abbott designation. But the judge recommends a three-year trial period to ensure that Abbott districts get enough money under the new rules.
Source: The Education Law Center
BY THE NUMBERS
Abbott districts in Bergen and Passaic counties – Paterson, Passaic and Garfield
22: approximate percentage of New Jersey students who live in Abbott districts
$4 billion: amount of state aid for Abbott districts, roughly half of what New Jersey sends to all of its 600 public school districts
$16,628: average per-pupil spending in Abbott districts
$13,539: statewide average of per-pupil spending
Source: New Jersey Department of Education
Under the new funding formula, Abbott districts would still receive the lion’s share of state aid, because districts with poor students qualify for more aid than higher-income communities. But the Abbott districts would lose their legal status and be lumped in with all other districts in aid decisions should the program end.
— Kathleen Carroll
BACKGROUND
The Abbott suit was filed more than 30 years ago and is based on the New Jersey constitution, which guarantees all students access to a “thorough and efficient” education. Advocates for poor students argued they were being denied that right because of low property tax collections and a school funding formula that provided insufficient state aid.
The state Supreme Court agreed in a series of decisions that declared the state’s school funding formula unconstitutional. In the absence of a fair distribution of resources, the court prescribed extra state funding so districts could spend as much per student as New Jersey's wealthiest districts.
Justices also required that the state pay for special programs such as preschool to close a gap in academic achievement between children in rich and poor districts.
The state is continuing to follow the court’s orders, in the absence of a funding formula that justices agree meets the state’s obligation to provide a “thorough and efficient” education to every New Jersey student.
Corzine officials are seeking the court’s approval of the new funding formula, signed by the governor last year as part of a property-tax reform effort. The new method assumes “adequacy” spending goals for each district, calculated by assigning a base cost for each student and adding money for every student who is poor, has limited proficiency in English or receives special-education services.
Under the new law, every low-income 3- and 4-year-old in New Jersey would receive state-funded, all-day preschool, just like current programs for about 40,000 Abbott students. The state also claims new education regulations will ensure that needy students receive needed attention, such as a rule capping full-day kindergarten classes at 21 in low-income schools.
— Kathleen Carroll
