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Attorney General Zulima Farber has filed a brief with the Supreme Court asking for the Court's permission to flat fund the Abbott districts for FY07. Significantly, the brief cites compelling statistics to underscore the validity of its request and the brief also notes the intent of the Governor to devise a new school funding formula that works appropriately and equitably for all of New Jersey's public schoolchildren. See related articles- Asbury Park Press/Gannett“Gov asks for pass on school funding ..No increase for poor districts”...New York Times“Corzine Wants Poor Schools to Make Do With Less Aid”...Star-Ledger “Court to hear Abbott case
Gov asks for pass on school funding
No increase for poor districts
Front Page, banner headline
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/8/06
BY GREGORY J. VOLPE
The application asks the state Supreme Court to approve Gov. Corzine's budget proposal, which doesn't increase funding for the 31 districts covered by the Abbott vs. Burke funding-equity case. The court papers say flat funding is necessary this year because of the state's fiscal troubles. In the application, Corzine pledged to find a new funding formula that focuses on children, not school districts.
"Ultimately, a new school funding formula needs to be developed that will ensure that state and local resources are applied not only in an equitable manner, but in such a way to maximize the potential of all students to achieve success," Corzine said in a statement.
David Sciarra, executive director of the
"It's unfortunate that the governor's chosen to spend time and energy in court litigating, when what we need to do is provide an appropriate aid increase for all school children in the state and find a way to get that done," said Sciarra, who said Corzine's proposal would require 4 percent to 6 percent cuts in staff and programs in the state's poorest districts.
The application revealed new oversights to ensure fiscal accountability, including hiring outside auditors to assist the state Department of Education in reviewing proposed budgets in Abbott districts, as well as comprehensive audits in selected districts, starting with Camden, Jersey City, Newark and Paterson.
"I have called upon state officials at all levels to reduce expenditures and to find ways to do more with less," Corzine said. "They have been fully responsive to this call. I expect nothing less from local municipal and school officials."
While per-pupil spending has soared in Abbott districts, local tax rates have remained low and student performance hasn't increased, according to the application.
On average, Abbotts spend about $3,000 more per pupil than the state average, with a local school tax rate one-third the state's average. Annually since 1998, local taxpayers in Abbott districts have contributed about $2,000 per child, while local per-pupil support in other low-income districts rose from $4,792 to $7,126 in that span, according to the application.
The filing also notes that Abbott school districts have received more than 80 percent of the $900 million increase in state aid the last three years.
"The present Abbott funding process has resulted in a significant funding inequity," the application says.
The application notes that Abbotts have closed some of the student achievement gap but are still well below state averages.
"While gains in achievement in Abbott districts are evident, and the achievement gap is decreasing, collectively Abbott districts are still lagging behind the state average passing rates on these assessments," the application says.
Sciarra said officials are discounting the progress that has been made in just a few years.
"The data is clear, these are very high-poverty districts that have been neglected for 50 years," Sciarra said. "And the last three or four years that we have been really working hard, there is substantial evidence that the state's investment is paying off for these kids."
Abbott districts get $4.2 billion of the $7 billion budgeted for direct formula aid to school districts in the 2006-07 funding plan. Most saw no, or nominal changes, from the year before.
Corzine's budget proposal also called for eight of the Abbott districts to raise local property taxes by as much as $125 per household or find ways to trim their budget without affecting education.
The eight districts — Asbury Park, Garfield, Jersey City, Long Branch, New Brunswick, Neptune, Newark and Perth Amboy — were selected because their property tax rate is less than half the state average.
Public education spending would increase by more than $1 billion under Corzine's plan — most of which, $743 million, comes from an increased payment to the teachers' pension fund. Even that doesn't fund what's fully required.
New York Times, Metro Section Front Page
April 8, 2006
Corzine Wants Poor Schools to Make Do With Less Aid
The amount of aid in dispute, roughly $160 million, is not that significant in a budget of $30.9 billion. But the significance of Mr. Corzine's move was not lost on anyone with a legislative, legal or an educational role in the long-running school-financing lawsuit, Abbott v. Burke.
At the behest of the court, the state must give 31 so-called Abbott districts, which include large cities like
In recent years, as fiscal woes have mounted, the state has essentially frozen the level of financing for those districts not covered by the decision. Abbott districts, meanwhile, have had a little more flexibility.
But now, with the state facing a deficit of more than $4 billion, Mr. Corzine, a liberal Democrat who took office in January, is asking the Abbott districts to essentially live by the same guidelines now hemming in suburban districts — at least until a new school-financing formula can be created.
"I have called upon state officials at all levels to reduce expenditures and to find ways to do more with less," Mr. Corzine wrote in a statement, which was released late Friday afternoon. "I expect nothing less from local municipal and school officials."
To Mr. Corzine, the decision was a politically risky one that demonstrated his determination to tame the state's finances, no matter how unpopular. His budget calls for an increase in the sales tax, a new tax on hospital beds and more than $2 billion in spending cuts. His poll numbers have plummeted as a result.
But in the wake of the Abbott brief filed by Attorney General Zulima V. Farber on Friday, Mr. Corzine was hailed by Republicans who have long criticized the Abbott system as being outdated, unfair and in need of an overhaul.
"He absolutely deserves credit," said Assemblyman Bill Baroni of
Assemblyman Joseph R. Malone III offered a similar opinion, saying, "I have to applaud him for having the courage to do this."
But to Democrats and advocates for the poor, particularly in urban districts, Mr. Corzine's action was bitterly disappointing and almost tantamount to a betrayal.
"What Governor Corzine is doing is unprecedented," said David G. Sciarra, executive director of the
Mr. Corzine's move was not shocking, because he had said in his budget address that he would keep education aid flat. Still, the reality of a 41-page brief, replete with blunt language about the state's dire fiscal condition, and the problems besotting the Abbott system, resonated loudly.
And the fact that the Corzine administration released the brief late Friday — a slot usually reserved for grim or bad news — did not escape notice among supporters and detractors, as well.
Whether the application actually passes muster with the State Supreme Court is another matter altogether: The Abbott lawsuit is one of its signature decisions in the last two decades.
So from a legal perspective, both Mr. Baroni, who is also a law professor, and Paul L. Tractenberg, a
"I believe that the governor has made it pretty clear he is taking a pretty hard line across the board on his various budget proposals," he said. "And if you get beyond the budget politics, the state doesn't have a very strong argument. But the court reads the newspapers like everybody else and knows that the state is in very serious trouble."
Court to hear Abbott case
Saturday, April 08, 2006
BY JOHN MOONEY
Star-Ledger Staff
With state dollars only growing tighter, the battle over how to pay for the landmark Abbott vs. Burke school equity ruling is headed back to the state's highest court.
Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday said his administration would seek approval from the state Supreme Court to freeze overall funding to the 31 Abbott districts, as he has proposed to do for all school districts under his $30.9 billion proposed budget.
The move had been expected, as the 31 districts -- including
"
The governor's budget would provide more than $4 billion to the Abbott districts for K-12 programs, which is more than a third of all state aid to public schools. But while most districts statewide have seen little or no additional aid for the last five years, this is the first time the Abbott money would be held steady since the 1998 ruling.
In addition, the Corzine administration has demanded a handful of Abbott districts with relatively low municipal tax rates to start sharing in some of the costs.
Advocates and Abbott school officials were told of the impending court filing this week, and they criticized Corzine last night for seeking to roll back Abbott programs that they said were starting to bring gains in student performance.
Districts had sought 4 percent to 6 percent increases to maintain programs now in place, they said.
"In this application, the governor is asking for permission to significantly cut programs and services for the poorest students in the state," said David Sciarra, executive director of the
