Gov asks court to revisit Abbott rules

Corzine: New school funding formula needed for all students

BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer

BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

State officials have asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to curtail the increase in state aid to Abbott school districts, including Long Branch.

Acting on behalf of the state Department of Education, Attorney General Zulima V. Farber filed an application seeking the court’s approval of Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s recommended school aid budget for fiscal year 2007.

The governor’s budget would distribute $4.25 billion in aid to Abbott school districts.

According to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office, “The application before the court makes note of Gov. Corzine’s efforts to bring the state’s budget into balance without one-shot fiscal gimmicks, and his decision to hold state aid to all school districts relatively level compared to the current fiscal year.”

Farber said in the release, “In light of the dire fiscal circumstances of the state and the high per-pupil spending already in existence in the Abbott Districts, the governor could not permit another year of open-ended increases for Abbott Districts.”

Corzine requested that the attorney general submit the application to the state’s highest court in order to “get a clearer definition of how Abbott Districts can be funded,” according to a spokesman for the state Department of Education.

“We want to change the formula for how Abbott Districts are funded,” said Jon Zlock in an interview this week. “We have been looking at this for four years. We are looking at spending and looking at results. We want to find a correlation between funding and the success of students.”

Zlock added that the state wants “the amount of money that Abbott Districts get to show a direct result in how students and districts perform.”

In a press release Friday, Corzine said, “I have asked the attorney general to make the appropriate application to the Supreme Court in the Abbott case to restrain the growth in state aid to Abbott Districts.”

He continued that filing the application “in no way signals a change in my strong and passionate support for the constitutional right to a thorough and efficient system of public education. Rather, the application is a necessary part of this year’s budget process given prior court rulings in the Abbott case.”

Long Branch Superintendent of Schools Joseph M. Ferraina said Tuesday that the state has to “work as a society. It is our job to give our children a high-quality education.”

Corzine said in the press release that he is “committed to a review of the entire school funding system – one that will meet the needs of all students, including those in the Abbott Districts.”

“Ultimately,” he said in the release, “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.”

“Districts must be accountable for the receipt and use of public funds and for the progress of our children in passing assessments, graduating and becoming productive adults of the state, Corzine said. “Only through the imposition of accountability protocols can the tools for productivity management and outcome measures be properly utilized.”

The Long Branch school district was identified as one of the state’s 28 original Abbott Districts in 1990, a determination made by the Legislature, the state Board of Education and the commissioner of education. It remains one of the state’s 31 Abbott Districts today.

Abbott Districts are the product of 13 Abbott v. Burke decisions of the New Jersey Supreme Court that identified school districts as “poorer urban districts.” The court mandated special funding and programs be created to reflect a judicial posture “that given sufficient attention in an adequately financed system using the best knowledge and techniques available, a thorough and efficient education is achievable,” said state Commissioner of Education Dr. William L. Librera.

The Long Branch school district, which contains 11 school facilities and more than 5,000 students, received $17.9 million in Abbott funds for its 2006-07 $83.7 million spending plan, according to Ferraina, who added that the district lost $2.2 million in Abbott money for next year’s budget.

Local officials in eight of the state’s Abbott Districts – including Long Branch – will be required to raise the general fund tax levy to generate additional support for educational services, according to a press release from the state Department of Education, which also stated, “The increase is to be accomplished in a manner that will limit the average household tax increase to $125.”

But Ferraina said the funding formula for education is not the problem.

“Money is the problem,” Ferraina said. “The funding formula for Abbott Districts is good and should be done with all districts. [School districts] should be funded on an as-needs basis. The governor is trying really hard to do what he has to do and we need to remain committed to funding education.”

In the release, Corzine said he has “called upon all state officials at all levels to reduce expenditures and to find ways to do more with less. They have been fully responsive to this call. I expect nothing less from local municipal and school officials.”

Zlock said the court will make a decision on whether to hear the application.