Education Funding News in Brief

N.J. Advocates Ask Court to Restore School Funding

By The Associated Press — June 15, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The Education Law Center, a Newark, N.J.-based group that represents children in the state’s poorest communities, filed a motion with the New Jersey Supreme Court last week in an attempt to restore millions of dollars in school funding that the governor has proposed cutting.

The center says first-year Gov. Chris Christie’s budget proposal is contrary to a school funding plan approved last year by the court.

Education funding has been before the state’s top court for decades. The justices have repeatedly found that the state has an obligation under its constitution to do more for the poorest schools. As a result, those districts are among the best funded in the state. Still, several of the poorest districts lag far behind wealthier districts in test scores and graduation rates.

In his proposed state budget, Gov. Christie, a Republican, called for schools to get $820 million less for the coming school year than they did this year. He said the cuts were necessary to balance a state budget battered by increasing debt and decreasing tax revenue.

The New Jersey Education Association argued that the budget cuts would lead to thousands of teacher layoffs. Mr. Christie said layoffs could be avoided if teachers and other school workers would agree to voluntary wage freezes.

A version of this article appeared in the June 16, 2010 edition of Education Week as N.J. Advocates Ask Court To Restore School Funding

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding States Are Pulling Back on K-12 Spending. How Hard Will Schools Get Hit?
Some states are trimming education investments as financial forecasts suggest boom times may be over.
6 min read
Collage illustration of California state house and U.S. currency background.
F. Sheehan for Education Week / Getty
Education Funding Using AI to Guide School Funding: 4 Takeaways
One state is using AI to help guide school funding decisions. Will others follow?
5 min read
 Illustration of a robot hand drawing a graph line leading to budget and finalcial spending.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding A State Uses AI to Determine School Funding. Is This the Future or a Cautionary Tale?
Nevada reworked its funding formula hoping to target extra aid to students most in need. What happened could hold lessons for other states.
13 min read
Illustration of robotic hand putting coins into jar.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Education Funding How States Are Rethinking Where School Funding Should Go
There's constant debate over the best way to allocate state money to schools. Here are some ways states are reworking their school funding.
7 min read
Conceptual illustration of tiny people is planning the personal budget, accounting, analysis.
Muhamad Chabibalwi/iStock/Getty