Chris Christie Dives to New Low with Proposal to Cheat New Jersey’s Poorest Children
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has just proposed an absurd school funding reform plan that has united advocates left and right. All agree that it is immoral.
Joe Hernandez of Newsworks explains Christie’s new idea: “Gov. Chris Christie is proposing major changes to the way New Jersey doles out education funding to school districts. Departing from a decades-old policy in which the state sent more aid to low-performing urban districts, Christie is recommending a funding formula that gives every district $6,599 per student.”
Here is the response of the editorial board of the NY Times: “(A) flat amount would make it impossible for poor communities to provide a sound education for disadvantaged children who need classrooms with more resources. The state is required by law to send more money to those communities because they simply don’t have the tax base or property values to raise additional revenues on their own. The New Jersey Supreme Court mandated this approach inAbbott v. Burke, a case named for Raymond Abbott, a student in Camden who received no services for a learning disability and was barely literate at the age of 15. The court ruled in 1990, and in many rulings since, that New Jersey was bound by the State Constitution to fund districts at a level that allows all children to receive an education that enables them to participate in the economy and a democratic society… The 31 New Jersey school districts…known as ‘Abbott Districts’ educate nearly a quarter of the state’s students, more than 40 percent of its poor children and 56 percent of its English language learners.”
Dana Goldstein, writing for Slate, describes the plan: “In fact, if enacted, Christie’s proposal would amount to a huge giveaway to the children and families who are already thriving in Chris Christie Dives to New Low with Proposal to Cheat New Jersey’s Poorest Children | janresseger:
