NJ Spotlight published the following article on March 28, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
Motion Filed in State’s Top Court Challenges Christie Over School Aid
John Mooney | March 28, 2014Education Law Center, citing Abbott v. Burke mandates, says governor can’t ignore funding formula stipulated by statute
Gov. Chris Christie has gotten plenty of heat for short-funding the state’s school-finance formula in previous budget years, but what he decided to do this year may land him in hot water — in court.
The Education Law Center yesterday filed a motion with the state Supreme Court, under the landmark Abbott v. Burke ruling, taking Christie to task for failing to use the School Funding Reform Act’s (SFRA) formula at all in determining school aid for fiscal 2015.
The court, in its last Abbott decision in 2011, ordered that the formula continue to be operated at its “optimal level,” but the ELC says Christie instead has all but abandoned it.
The motion doesn’t ask that additional funding be provided, as yet, although that option is still on the table. But it does ask the state’s top court to order the Christie administration to at minimum provide in public state-aid notices how much money each school district should be getting under the law.