Judge
orders state to devise clear-cut plan for poor
schools
Wednesday, August 10, 2005 • BY
JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff
A Superior Court judge has ordered the
state Department of Education to better account for how it
oversees school reforms mandated by the landmark Abbott vs.
Burke case.
Under the state Supreme Court's 1998
Abbott order, the Education Department receives about $15
million a year to manage major reforms in the state's 31
poorest districts through a separate division devoted
exclusively to regulating and monitoring those schools and
their programs.
But Judge Neil Shuster, sitting in
Trenton, ruled Monday that the state has failed to provide a
budget and management plan for how it carries out that
function, apparently in violation of its own rules. He
ordered the state to have a plan in place within 45
days.
Shuster's order comes at a time of
increasing debate among politicians and educators as to the
merits of the Abbott decisions and how the 31 districts
spend hundreds of millions dollars in additional state
funding each year for mandated preschool and school
construction and a host of other reforms.
Monday's ruling raises the question of
how the state is minding its money in guiding those
reforms.
In his ruling, Shuster said the education
department, under Commissioner William Librera, issued its
own regulations last November that called for development of
a three-year monitoring plan. That plan was never
developed.
"It seems anomalous to allow the
commissioner to promulgate regulations requiring a
three-year plan and then ignore such regulations by failing
to create such a plan." Shuster said. "This would seem to be
the antithesis of what our Supreme Court has held over the
long years of Abbott."
Assistant Commissioner Gordon MacInnes,
who directs the Abbott division, said the department would
comply with the order, but he appeared disdainful of what he
described as largely a paperwork requirement.
"It's a three-year plan, a piece of
paper," he said. "We've had a plan, and anybody involved
with us knows we have a plan. Our plan ... was to focus on
student achievement, with a beginning emphasis on early
literacy, and I think it has worked pretty well."
Shuster's order was issued in response to
a lawsuit filed in June by the Education Law Center, the
longtime plaintiff in the Abbott case, which represents
schoolchildren in the 31 districts.
Koren Bell, attorney for the law center,
applauded Shuster's ruling.
"The court's order is very clear that
this is a substantive plan, a serious report," Bell said.
"It's clear what needs to be done, and we're here to monitor
and ensure that the kids get the accountability they
deserve."
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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