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Comparative Constitutional Law Keyed to Sutton, 5th Ed.
Abbott v. Burke
Citation:
575 A.2d 359 (N.J. 1990), 710 A.2d 450 (N.J. 1998), 971 A.2d 989 (N.J. 2009)Facts
After nearly four decades of school funding litigation beginning with Robinson v. Cahill in 1973, New Jersey enacted the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 (SFRA) to replace the dual funding system that provided separate remedies for Abbott districts. The State employed consulting firm Augenblick, Palaich and Associates to conduct a Professional Judgment Panel process from 2002-2006, convening three rounds of educator panels to identify resources needed to meet Core Curriculum Content Standards. The process created a weighted student formula with a base per-pupil amount of $9,649 for elementary students, adjusted upward for grade levels, at-risk students (those eligible for free/reduced lunch), Limited English Proficiency students, and special education needs. The formula included a sliding scale for at-risk student concentrations that capped at sixty percent, concerning plaintiffs because twenty-four of thirty-one Abbott districts exceeded this threshold. SFRA provided various aid categories including Adequacy Budget, Equalization Aid, Categorical Aid, Adjustment Aid, and expanded high-quality preschool to all at-risk three and four-year-olds statewide. Under SFRA, Abbott districts would receive average per-pupil revenue of $17,325 compared to $14,046 in wealthy I and J districts, representing 23.3 percent higher funding, though this eliminated separate supplemental funding streams.
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