NATION : Public School Financing Ruled Unconstitutional by N.J. Court
New Jersey’s Supreme Court today declared the state’s 15-year-old system of financing public schools unconstitutional because it hurts poorer, urban school districts.
In the unanimous ruling, the court said the system leaves such districts without the money and resources they need to give their children the education that the state Constitution requires.
“The dilemma is that while we spend so much, there is absolutely no question that we are failing to provide students in the poorer urban districts with the kind of education that anyone can call thorough and efficient,” said the ruling, which was written by Chief Justice Robert N. Wilentz.
The ruling caps a decade-long legal battle and is expected to force lawmakers to raise taxes to pay for more school education aid.
The court also deemed unconstitutional the politically popular “minimum aid” program that gives money to affluent districts regardless of their need.
New Jersey is one of a dozen states where courts have overturned school finance systems in recent years. The others are California, Texas, Kentucky, Kansas, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, Arkansas and Montana.
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