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Court ends Abbott program Thursday, May 28, 2009
BY KATHLEEN CARROLL NorthJersey.com,The Record, Herald News
The controversial Abbott program, which brought billions of dollars of state taxpayer money into the schools in low-income communities, will end under a state Supreme Court ruling issued this morning.
Justices ruled that Governor Corzine's new school funding formula, which will still send the lion's share of state aid to the 31 Abbott districts, meets constitutional muster. In doing so, they agreed with the Corzine administration's argument: that a new funding formula fairly shares state aid among all 600 of New Jersey's school districts because it targets extra money to any district with high numbers of poor students.
Justices rejected a counter-argument made by the Education Law Center, which represents students in Abbott districts. Lawyers had countered that the new formula is flawed and unproven, and fails to take into account the difficulties faces by communities with very high concentrations of poverty.
The court also ruled that "supplemental funding," a special funding source available only to Abbott districts, should end. That was a clear win for the Corzine administration. In an earlier remand hearing on the matter, a special court master had recommended that the court accept the new funding formula but continue supplemental funding for three years. Justices declined to follow that suggestion.
The Abbott program has brought billions in extra state aid and special programs to 31 poor school districts, including Paterson, Passaic and Garfield. It began with a class-action lawsuit filed in the 1980s alleging that an unfair state aid formula and low property tax collections in poor cities prevented students from getting a "thorough and efficient" public education, which is guaranteed in the state constitution.
In earlier rulings, the Supreme Court had ordered the state to send enough aid to the 31 districts so they could spend as much money as New Jersey's wealthiest suburbs. Justices over the years also ordered special programs, such as preschool, small class sizes and school-management techniques intended to help low-income students do better in school.
The Abbott program also prevented those districts from being included in state school aid freezes, because New Jersey was under court order to provide funding and programming. Today, Abbott districts enroll about one-quarter of all students and receive about half of all state aid.
Find this article at:
http://www.northjersey.com/education/educationnews/Court_ends_Abbott_program.html
May 28, 2009
N.J. court approves major shift in school funding
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Jersey's Supreme Court has ruled the state's new system for funding schools is constitutional.
Thursday's 5-0 ruling is the closest the court has come in 39 years of litigation to saying the state has found a way to provide a proper education for all children without special treatment for urban schools.
There is one catch: The court says New Jersey must continue to make some extra money available to the 31 urban districts for at least three more years.
The new funding system set up by the Corzine Administration seeks to subsidize all schools based largely on how many low-income students they have.
That could eventually lead to lower spending in the poorer districts.
