State News in Brief

New Jersey policymakers got a three-month extension last week when the state's highest court extended the deadline for revamping the state's unconstitutional school-funding formula.

In a 1994 ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court had given Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and the legislature until this month to come up with a plan to equalize spending in poor and wealthy school districts by next fall. Since July, lawmakers have indicated that they probably could not pass a bill by the Setember deadline.

The extension until Dec. 31 came as the high court denied a request by the plaintiffs in the 15-year funding saga. The plaintiffs asked the court to order the state to boost funding for poor urban schools this year by $141 million. While denying the request, the justices reserved the right to reverse their position if the new...