New Jersey high court: No deadline for construction funds
The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to set a deadline for state government to provide money to continue a court-mandated program to upgrade school facilities. The 6-0 decision came in the form of a court order. The order allowed the poor children and districts to return to the court if they are dissatisfied with the response of the governor or Legislature. In rejecting the request made on behalf of some of the state's poorest children and school districts, New Jersey's high court determined it could wait and see if promised legislation provides the funding. The court said it relied on a pledge that Gov. Jon S. Corzine intends to seek passage of legislation that would be introduced by the end of February allowing the state to borrow $2.5 billion to pay for more school building in the so-called Abbott districts. The children and districts are represented by the Newark-based Education Law Center, whose executive director, David G. Sciarra, said this was the third time it has asked the court to restart the school construction program.
In a series of rulings in a case known as Abbott v. Burke, the court has generally found that it is the state's responsibility to improve the public schools in 31 low-income districts so the state can meet its constitutional obligation to provide a "thorough and efficient" education. One of those rulings, in 1998, ordered the state to improve the school facilities in the districts. Two years later, the Legislature agreed to start by spending $6 billion. The money was not expected to fix or rebuild every school that needed it, but because of rising costs and waste in the Schools Construction Corp., a state agency that was set up to manage the project, the money was spent faster than expected. By 2005, the fund was nearly drained. By then, 560 school projects had been completed, most of them to fix health and safety problems. But 315 other major building projects that had been approved were not completed. The state decided to move ahead with 59 projects and put the rest on hold. Last year, the state changed course again and put all but 32 on hold. The price of upgrading all the schools that need work is probably more than $10 billion, according to Scott Weiner, the chief executive officer of the School Development Authority, which has replaced the Schools Construction Corp.
Source: Newsday, 2/19/08, By Jeffrey Gold (Associated Press)
[Editor’s Note: The court’s order is below.]
Abbott v. Burke, No. M-2983 (N.J. Feb. 19, 2008)