Governor Corzine's school funding proposal raises many issues. While some details have been released, many others have not. As of Dec. 17, there was still no funding bill introduced in the NJ legislature, yet the Governor has said he wants one passed by the end of the lame duck session January 7. Here are ten reasons why the Our Children/Our Schools campaign thinks this is not a good idea.

Concerns over Governor Jon Corzine's school funding proposal involve more than money. One under-reported aspect of the Governor's plan is his declared intention to seek Court approval for ending the "Abbott designation" given to 31 high-poverty, special needs districts. This designation not only brings needed funds to Abbott districts, it also puts special responsibilities on the State for ensuring educational quality and requires those districts to provide specific programs to students and families. Ending the Abbott designation would end both the dedicated funding for these programs and the mandate to provide them, leaving their continuation to the discretion and budget politics of each district.

On December 10, the Education Law Center announced the release of a new study of providing high quality preschool in New Jersey. The study, The Cost of The Cost of High-Quality Preschool in New Jersey (2007) by Dr. Clive Belfield and Heather Schwartz, documents the cost of delivering preschool under the rigorous quality standards already in place for children in the state's urban districts in the nationally acclaimed Abbott preschool program. The cost study is especially timely as Governor Jon Corzine is proposing his new school funding formula including possible expansion of the successful Abbott pre-K program.

The Governor's funding proposal, if adopted, would abruptly end the remedies ordered in the landmark Abbott v. Burke case, reforms that have made New Jersey a leader in educational equity for poor, urban school children. The Governor has not fully explained the implications of ending the "Abbott" designation or what the loss of the Abbott reforms would mean to the students and schools in those districts.

"Adequate time for public review and input of the full plan is essential, and under no circumstances should a funding formula be rushed through this lame duck session of the Legislature," declared a December 9 briefing paper from the Special Education Funding Coalition. The Coalition is comprised of nine statewide, not-for-profit organizations concerned with special education funding and policy. The briefing paper addressed what the Coalition called "a sea change for special education funding," contained in the Governor's proposal for a new school funding formula.

Our Children/Our Schools Campaign Reacts to Governor's Proposal, November 30, 2007

Don't rush school aid plan, The Star Ledger, Sunday, December 02, 2007

Advocates: NJ should wait on new school aid formula; The Star-Ledger, Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Is new school-funding proposal a bad apple? By David Sciarra, The Record, Sunday, December 9, 2007

Republican Legislators Call on Governor to "Tell the Truth About New School Funding Formula"

Not So Fast on School-funding Reform, by Lynne Strickland, The Record, 12-11-07

Delayed torpedo for Jersey City schools, The Jersey Journal, Tuesday, December 18, 2007