Abbott
revamp sought
Doherty wants funding change. But
assemblyman says Corzine is "taking the wrong tact" on
issue.
Monday, April 17, 2006 • By TERRENCE DOPP • The Express-Times
TRENTON | Assemblyman Michael Doherty is
hopeful Gov. Jon Corzine's plan to freeze funding for
so-called Abbott school districts will signal a wider shift
in how the controversial program is funded.
In a series of court decisions over two
decades, the state Supreme Court ruled the Legislature
needed to funnel extra money into the poorest 31 school
systems to ensure they are funded on a par with the state's
richest.
According to estimates used by both
Republicans and Democrats, about two-thirds of all state
education funding goes into those schools. In his proposed
$30.9 billion 2007 budget, Corzine has budgeted $7.5 billion
for local aid.
Many lawmakers have since argued the
scheme hurts the middle class and creates a never-ending
series of tax hikes.
Doherty, who said he supports Corzine in
offering the flat funding, said he is in favor of abolishing
the Abbott system. But Doherty said he was left unconvinced
Corzine is truly attempting to solve the issue because the
administration does not need the court's permission to enact
the freeze.
"I'm glad the governor is looking at this
issue but he's taking the wrong tact," said Doherty,
R-Warren/Hunterdon, whose district includes the Abbott
district of Phillipsburg.
He said an attempt to re-engineer the
Abbott program would save taxpayers in all suburban and
rural districts, who now fund their own schools through
property taxes and Abbots via the income tax. In all, the
special needs schools take up 80 percent of state funding to
educate 20 percent of New Jersey's students, according to
Doherty.
"That's the reason taxes are so high," he
said. "I think at the end of the day, maybe the governor is
looking for an easy way out. Elected officials like to say
they had no choice."
If followed through, the frozen aid would
mark the second consecutive year for Abbotts to deal with
flat funding. In 2003, Gov. James E. McGreevey also froze
Abbott funding. All other schools in the state have endured
flat funding for the past five years despite student
growth.
In addition, Corzine has called for some
poor districts with low local tax levies to increase their
share of education funding through raising property
taxes.
"I have called upon state officials at
all levels to reduce expenditures and to find ways to do
more with less," Corzine said in a statement issued when the
ruling was appealed. "They have been fully responsive to
this call. I expect nothing less from local municipal and
school officials."
Along with the affected districts,
advocates, such as the Education Law Center -- which sued to
secure the original Abbott decision -- called for Corzine to
give more aid to schools.
Terrence Dopp is Trenton correspondent for The
Express-Times. He can be reached at 609-292-5154.
© 2006 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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