Advocates file suit for Abbott funds N.J. lawmakers want program reforms first Friday, April 13, 2007 • BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL • Star-Ledger Staff Nine years after the state Supreme Court ordered New Jersey to repair "crumbling and obsoles cent" school buildings in 31 poor communities, thousands of children are still attending classes in substandard facilities with leaky roofs, broken boilers and falling walls, lawyers said in a petition seeking new construction funds yesterday. David Sciarra, lead attorney in the long-running Abbott v. Burke lawsuit over public school funding, said lawmakers have failed to replenish a $6 billion fund set up to bankroll the repair work the court ordered in 1998, despite a 2005 court order to address the problem. "Relief from deplorable, antiquated, overcrowded and unsafe facilities for this state's poorest schoolchildren has only slipped farther away," yesterday's court filing says. Sciarra, in the filing, seeks a court order demanding the Legislature authorize additional construction spending by June 30. The new court action is the latest development in the Abbott v. Burke case, a case that has already prompted court orders that steered billions of dollars in state aid and school building funds to Newark, Camden and other needy districts. At issue in the new filing is the future of the state's $6 billion school construction program that was set up in response to the court's original construction mandate nine years ago. In 2005, the state Schools Construction Corp. announced all but $1.4 billion of the original funding had been earmarked for projects already under way, and the balance of the funding would cover only 59 additional jobs. As a result, hundreds of additional school projects awaiting funding were shelved. At the same time, the corporation underwent a management shakeup after a series of audits and reviews by the state inspector general found that millions of dollars from the original funding had been wasted through mismanagement and potential "fraud and abuse." Later this month, corporation officials are scheduled to announce the list of 59 previously-approved projects is going to be further reduced, and no new projects will be initiated until lawmakers authorize additional funding. A task force assembled by Gov. Jon Corzine last year recommended authorizing another $3.25 billion for the construction program, including $2.5 billion to start new jobs in the communities covered by the court order. But lawmakers have not acted on the proposal, saying they want to see the construction program reformed before they endorse new spending. Yesterday, Scott Weiner, chief executive officer of the schools corporation, said the latest court filing highlights the need for new construction funding. "There is general agreement that new, modernized school facilities are needed throughout the state," he said. "Today's filing clearly will have the effect of drawing increased attention to this im portant issue for the children of New Jersey." A spokesman for Corzine said the governor supports additional school building, but said the state will not be able to afford new spending unless new revenue is found through plans to lease or sell operating rights to major state as sets, such as the New Jersey Turnpike. Lawmakers, meanwhile, said they remain reluctant to give new funds to the corporation until proposed reforms have been put in place. "Before we got to the next phase, we want to make sure the abuses have been weeded out," said Assemblyman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden), chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee. "I would suggest that one of the things that went wrong is we rushed into a program; I think it's important to take our time." Since it was formally established in 2002, the SCC has built 30 new schools and 20 major addi tions, and has completed repairs on 400 school buildings covered by the court order. Another 315 projects have been suspended pending additional funding, the corporation said. In its filing, the Newark-based Education Law Center asks the court to order lawmakers to authorize additional borrowing so construction work can continue while reforms are implemented. "Without this court's immediate intervention, thousands of disad vantaged schoolchildren will not be educated in the foreseeable future in facilities that are safe and educationally adequate," the court brief says. © 2007 The Star-Ledger. Used with permission.