NJ Supreme Court Leaves School Construction Funding to Governor and Legislature — For Now
On Tuesday, the New Jersey Supreme Court denied a motion filed by Education Law Center on behalf of plaintiff students in the landmark Abbott v. Burke school funding litigation. The motion, filed in February 2021, asked the Court to compel Governor Phil Murphy’s administration to comply with prior Abbott rulings mandating state funding of all needed building improvements in the 31 Schools Development Authority (SDA) districts, home to New Jersey’s most intensely segregated and poorest schools.
When ELC first filed the motion with the Court, little funding was left in the school construction program because no new money had been allocated since 2008. With the case pending before the Court and a special master appointed to oversee fact finding, the Governor and Legislature authorized a total of $1.85 billion for school construction and capital maintenance projects in the SDA districts during the last two state budget cycles. As a result, 19 new schools are now slated for construction, and hundreds of building repair projects are underway.
“Consistent with its past practice, the Supreme Court left the door open by denying the motion ‘without prejudice,’” said ELC Senior Attorney Theresa Luhm. “This means if the Governor and Legislature again allow the program to run low on funds, ELC will not hesitate to go back and ask the Justices to remind our elected officials of their constitutional obligation to provide safe and adequate school facilities.”
It is clear from the documents produced by the SDA in response to the special master’s requests that there is significant remaining need in the SDA school districts. Beyond the schools already slated for construction, there are an additional 16 districts with serious overcrowding and another 50 school buildings that need to be replaced due to age and condition. In 2022 dollars, the rough cost estimate generated by the SDA to provide additional capacity and alleviate overcrowding is $2.128, and at least another $5 billion is needed to replace the 50 aging buildings.
“This is a call to action. We need to continue our advocacy efforts to ensure all remaining facilities needs in the SDA districts are met because too many children are still going to school in buildings in desperate need of repair and replacement,” said Our Children/Our Schools Coalition facilitator Kaleena Berryman. “We have an immediate opportunity for the Legislature to meet its constitutional obligation and improve the learning experience of students considerably by adding SDA funding in the FY25 budget as they did in the two previous years.”
“There is overwhelming evidence, even provided by the Murphy Administration itself, that tens of thousands of children throughout the state are being forced to attend school in facilities that are shockingly unsafe, unsanitary, overcrowded, and detrimental to learning,” said ELC Executive Director Robert Kim. “ELC will remain vigilant – and is committed to pressing the Governor and Legislature to meet their legal obligations by allocating sufficient funding for critical school facilities improvements, repairs, and construction and to returning to the Court if they fail to do so.”
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STATE’S REFUSAL TO FUND SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION FORCES STUDENTS BACK TO COURT
Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 240
Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x240