Suit Attempts to Restart School Construction

Suit Attempts to Restart School Construction

The Newark-based Education Law Center filed suit Oct. 2 to force the state to fund construction and repairs to schools in the 31 Abbott districts. The motion asks the court to set Dec. 31 as the deadline to provide funding for stalled construction projects.

In 2000, under an order from the state Supreme Court, New Jersey’s Legislature appropriated $6 billion to fund all school construction in 31 poor cities, and it added another $2.5 billion to assist with funding school construction in all other districts. But the funding was quickly depleted, and the Abbotts now face a backlog of more than 350 projects, including 59 the state identified as high priority.

Last year, a state report recommended an additional $3.25 billion to restart more than two dozen Abbott-district projects. That amount included $750 million for non-Abbotts. However, no action has been taken by the Legislature.

NJSBA is a member of Building Our Children’s Future, a coalition of education and business organizations that is urging the administration and the Legislature to provide educational facilities funding to both Abbott and non-Abbott school districts.