Court Won’t Set Deadline for Abbott Construction

Court Won’t Set Deadline for Abbott Construction

The state Supreme Court last week declined to set a deadline for the state to provide the funds to restart stalled school renovation and construction projects in the state’s Abbott districts.

The Education Law Center, which represents the 31 Abbott districts, had wanted the court to compel the state to resume stagnant school construction programs in the Abbotts. But in a decision released Feb. 19, the court found the Education Law Center’s remedy to be “premature” in light of a letter sent to the court last month from state Attorney General Anne Milgram just before the court began its hearings on the lawsuit.

The attorney general told the court that the administration plans to borrow $2.5 billion to restart the construction. “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 during the month of February,” the attorney general’s letter said.

The construction requirement dates back to a 1998 ruling in the Abbott v. Burke cases, in which the state Supreme Court ordered the state to, among other things, fully fund construction and renovations of schools in the low-income Abbott districts. In response to that ruling, the Legislature enacted the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act of 2000, which allotted $6 billion in funds to pay all construction costs in Abbott districts. The act also provided another $2.6 billion to cover a minimum of 40 percent of school construction in all other districts, a funding source that was not required by the court.

However, the construction funds were largely depleted by late 2005, and numerous projects in the Abbott districts remain unfinished. The Newark-based Education Law Center has filed three lawsuits since 2005, asking the court to intervene to renew the school construction program.

In published reports, David Sciarra, executive director of the center, says he expects funding to be approved by the summer deadline for enacting a budget, and that his group will take further legal action if lawmakers don’t enact a funding measure by then.