State Will Borrow $2.5 billion for Abbott Construction

State Will Borrow $2.5 billion for Abbott Construction—WEB EXTRA

The state is proposing to bond $2.5 billion to continue school construction projects in Abbott districts, the attorney general said in a letter this week to the state’s high court.

The letter was sent the day before the state Supreme Court began hearings on a request by the Education Law Center that it set deadlines to compel the state to complete school construction in the communities. The ELC represents students in the 31 Abbott school districts. In her letter, Attorney General Anne Milgram told the court that deadlines were not needed because the state intends to borrow $2.5 billion to re-start construction projects in the Abbott districts.

“The Governor intends to seek passage of legislation that would raise the bond limitation for school facilities in the Abbott districts by a minimum of $2.5 billion and anticipates the introduction of that legislation next month,” the attorney general’s letter said.

David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, expressed skepticism that the state would keep its promise, according to news reports.

The court did not indicate when it might rule on any deadlines for Abbott construction.

The construction requirement stemmed from a 1998 ruling in the ongoing Abbott v. Burke case, in which the state Supreme Court ordered the state to, among other things, fully fund construction and renovation of schools in the low-income Abbott districts. To meet the court’s requirement, the state enacted the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act of 2000, which allotted $6 billion in funds to pay 100 percent of construction in Abbott districts (as well as another $2.6 billion to cover a minimum of 40 percent of school construction in all other districts).

However, those state funds were largely depleted by late 2005, and numerous projects in the Abbott districts have remained unfinished.

The proposed $2.5 billion “reflects the recommendation of the [governor’s] Interagency Working Group as to the amount needed to finance the next phase of school construction, including addressing needed health and safety concerns,” the attorney general wrote.