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Friday, March 23, 2012

Jersey Jazzman: How Conservatives Co-Opt Racial Justice

Jersey Jazzman: How Conservatives Co-Opt Racial Justice:


How Conservatives Co-Opt Racial Justice

Yeah, it's a provocative title for a post, I'll admit; but what happened yesterday in New Jersey was awfully provocative.

As Blue Jersey reported, Chris Christie's nominee to the state Supreme Court, Phillip Kwon, was voted down by the Senate Judiciary Committee along party lines. This is a very big deal in the NJ education debate, because Christie has made it clear he wants to overturn the court's ruling that mandated adequate funding for the poorest districts in the state. These are the famous "Abbott Districts," named for the landmark case brought by theEducation Law Center. The original ruling has since been superceeded by the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA).


Christie has made no secret that he wants to stack the court with nominees that will overturn SFRA; that would