State
looks to shrink needy schools list
Abbott districts gear up to fight
proposal revising criteria for who gets aid
Wednesday, May 18, 2005 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
The list of New Jersey school districts
getting millions in additional state aid under the Abbott
vs. Burke mandates could be significantly shorter under a
proposal to go before the Legislature.
Next month state Education Commissioner
William Librera will send the proposal he said would tighten
rules ensuring schools that benefit from the landmark
mandates are the most in need.
A legislative analysis of the proposal
has found nearly half of the current group of 31 districts
could fall off the list. Most of those 13 districts would be
smaller ones, but also included would be two of the state's
largest in Jersey City and Elizabeth.
The sole school district to be added
would be Penns Grove-Carneys Point Regional in Salem County,
according to the report by the Office of Legislative
Services. The status of most of the largest districts,
including Newark, Paterson and New Brunswick, would be
unchanged.
But state policymakers, legislators and
others called the list premature in what is sure to be a
heated and prolonged debate in a legal battle that dates to
the 1970s. District officials are already lining up their
arguments against the state plan, and one leading advocate
said the proposal, if approved, would immediately be
challenged in court.
Librera conceded as much in refusing to
even discuss the potential districts affected by his
proposal, saying only that some districts would likely be
cut but that it would be fewer than 13. Acting Gov. Richard
Codey's office also wouldn't comment.
"As soon as you start putting lists
together, you only talk about the lists and not about the
criteria and the reasons for the lists," Librera
said.
Under statute, the state is required to
update who qualifies for Abbott aid every five years, and
members of both sides of the legislative aisle agree the
revisions are warranted in light of the changing fortunes of
many communities.
"The districts should not be placed in
concrete," said Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon), the Senate
minority leader and staunch critic of the existing system.
"Obviously, districts will fall in and out of the
formula."
The decision will be monumental for many
communities. Abbott districts this year alone received an
additional $1.6 billion in state aid for instructional
improvements and universal preschool, as ordered by the
court in its seminal 1998 ruling. That does not include
billions more due the districts in school construction aid,
also ordered by the court.
The court set the initial list in 1990
using the state's categories of socioeconomic status and
requirements of a constitutionally required "thorough and
efficient" education, as gauged by test scores and other
measures.
Since then, much has changed in some of
the communities. Most notable has been the case of Hoboken,
which was added in 1990 when it was in the state's second
lowest socioeconomic category, which is known as a District
Factor Group and ranges from A to I.
But Hoboken has since seen its economy
improve with the housing boom. Based on the 2000 Census, it
was lifted to a category of FG, the state's fourth highest.
Even staunch Abbott proponents began to question its place
among the neediest.
Librera's proposal would go well beyond
Hoboken and look at all Abbott districts. In addition to the
court's requirement that the districts each be in the lowest
DFG categories of A and B, Librera's plan would make several
other requirements, including:
At least 40 percent of their students
must be poor enough for free-lunch programs.
A tax rate at least 30 percent above the
state's average.
A per-capita tax base at least 3 percent
below the average.
Librera said he would look to test
scores, dropout rates, course offerings and other measures
among the academic indicators, although the precise
requirements were unclear.
If a district no longer qualified, its
aid would be phased out over four years, he said.
"Abbott is a remedy, not a reward, and
implicit in that is one's status changes as a result of
Abbott," Librera said. "You don't stay permanently in
Abbott. ... That's very important."
Librera used the same criteria in
deciding an administrative law case in 2003 that led to
Salem City to become the most recent Abbott district, a
decision that also rejected four other
applicants.
With the package to go to the Legislature
next month, the report by the Office of Legislative Services
only heightens the attention as districts begin to see their
potential fates.
For instance, Elizabeth would drop off
under the analysis because the community's tax rate is
within range of the state's average, presumably not
overburdening taxpayers. If dropped from the list, Elizabeth
would have to make up more than $60 million lost in state
aid, almost a quarter of its overall budget.
"I would fight this to the end," said
Rafael Fajardo, president of Elizabeth's board of education.
"Our kids are finally going to be up to par with the rest of
the state, and the state would do this to us?"
State Sen. Joseph Doria (D-Hudson) also
contested the analysis, saying that dropping Jersey City
from the Abbott list would be folly. The city has seen
tremendous growth on the waterfront, he said, "but that's
not where the children of Jersey City schools
live."
He said the state needs to revisit the
Abbott designations in the context of revising the funding
formula for all schools, saying that at the current rate,
"we're only going to see a lot more Abbotts."
The school superintendent in Long Branch,
another to possibly drop from the list, said the brighter
economy in his city also hides the disadvantages of the
poverty that still persists among his students.
"Yes, there has been a rebirth in Long
Branch, but that doesn't reduce the number of low
birth-weight children or those like that who we still serve
here," Superintendent Joseph Ferraina said.
The head of the Education Law Center,
which has spearheaded the Abbott cases, sharply contested
Librera's proposal and said it neglects the education needs
of the communities.
"Abbott is not just about school
funding," said David Sciarra, executive director of the law
center and chief counsel in the Abbott cases. "It's really
about education quality, which the commissioner
ignores."
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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