New formula for funding N.J. schools ruled legal

A Superior Court judge declared the state's school-funding formula constitutional yesterday, ruling in favor of the Corzine administration and against advocates for poor students. The decision could abolish the controversial Abbott program, which has sent billions of state tax dollars to 31 low-income districts including Elizabeth, Perth Amboy and Newark.

A new funding formula that treats all districts the same "represents a thoughtful, progressive attempt to assist at-risk children throughout the state of New Jersey, and not only those who by happenstance reside in Abbott districts," Superior Court Judge Peter E. Doyne wrote in his decision, agreeing with the major argument of the Corzine administration.

However, he said that Abbott districts should be allowed to ask for additional aid for at least three years, to see if, in the end, they receive less state money than they need. Doyne, sitting in Hacknsack, noted that Abbott districts may face exceptional challenges due to their low local tax collection and high concentrations of poverty, agreeing with the major argument made by Abbott districts.

Gov. Jon Corzine called the ruling "a significant victory for all school children," but said he would challenge the judge's recommendation that Abbott districts have access to extra state funding for at least the next three years. The Education Law Center, which represents the Abbott districts, said its lawyers support extra funding for the districts but will continue to fight against the funding formula, because it will "shortchange our neediest and most disadvantaged students."

The matter now returns to state Supreme Court, which mandated the special state aid as part of the landmark Abbott v. Burke school-funding case. In the class-action suit, lawyers for poor children successfully argued the school funding formula failed to ensure enough money was spent in low-income communities to provide the "thorough and efficient" public education guaranteed by New Jersey's constitution.

The Corzine administration last year asked the Supreme Court to void Abbott mandates, arguing that a new school funding formula fairly shares state aid among New Jersey's 616 districts. The case landed in Hackensack after justices asked Doyne to review it and make a recommendation.

The "Abbott" designation has brought small class sizes, new buildings, preschool and full-day kindergarten to the 31 districts. But it also has pitted them against their suburban neighbors, who serve half of the state's low-income students and have watched their local taxes skyrocket over the last decade.

In Perth Amboy, school superintendent John Rodecker said being declared an Abbott district had made a big difference to the schools, allowing officials to initiate technology address class size, and purchase a site for a future school, which has not yet been built. The city has about 9,000 students, in 11 schools.

Rodecker said Perth Amboy did well this year under the new funding formula, because spending there is still below the "adequacy" level, but he did not know what would happen going forward if the Supreme Court ultimately sided with Doyne's decision.

"Once we do reach adequacy there is a concern about being able to support the programs we now offer," Rodecker said. "It could mean less money for us in years to come, but at present time we don't know that."

In Elizabeth, also an Abbott district, school district spokesman Donald Goncalves said officials are hopeful that when the state Supreme Court will note side with Doyne's recommendation.

"We're of the strong belief that the Abbott versus Burke decision created positive academic achievement in Elizabeth schools," Goncalves said. The district has about 20,000 students.

"Elizabeth has been successful in using Abbott funds for reducing the achievement gap. We feel we are a high-performing district as a result of the commitment of the taxpayers of New Jersey," he said.

The new school funding formula awards aid based on enrollment, and then adds extra money per student for every student who is poor, has limited proficiency in English or receives special-education services. State officials have said it is superior to the current system, which calculates aid for Abbott and non-Abbott districts separately. But that special, separate status also shielded Abbott districts from the freezes in state school aid that the 585 non-Abbott districts had to contend with earlier this decade.

The decision is a "a quantum change from the longtime tradition of how the Abbott schools have been treated via the Supreme Court and the state, said Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, an advocacy group of about 100 suburban districts in New Jersey.

"It signals a new horizon in how school funding can be looked at by the Supreme Court and the state of New Jersey," she said. Strickland was cautiously supportive about Doyne's decision.

"For many years we've been living under a bifurcated system of school funding -- one for the Abbotts and one for everybody else. We are no longer divided by the semantic of Abbott and non-Abbott. We can talk about an agenda for poor kids no matter where they live," she said.

Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), who chairs the Assembly Education Committee, said Judge Doyne "has validated the approach the Legislature and Gov. Corzine took to ensure every child gets the educational help they need, no matter where they live.

"I hope that the state Supreme Court will act quickly to accept Judge Doyne's findings and reiterate the simple truth that with the right tools every child can succeed. Providing every child with a quality education should not just be something called for in a written formula, but something that is backed-up with actual dollars."