Robert Schwaneberg, The
Star-Ledger, October 25, 2004
One sweeping requirement in the state Supreme Court's effort to get New
Jersey to help its poorest kids was the order establishing preschool
programs in 30 needy school districts.
Supporters say it has helped kids in poor areas increase their chances of
succeeding in school and in life.
David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, whose
lawsuit prompted the court decision, called the program "phenomenal" and
said the state is "now recognized as a national leader in the provision of
preschool, especially to poor children."
But now that the program is up and running with 43,000 students, a battle
has emerged on whether the state should pay the full cost. The issue is
joined in the state Supreme Court on Wednesday when justices hear an
appeal by five needy districts claiming they were shortchanged on state
aid for preschool programs.
In part, it is a case about money.
As calculated by the nonprofit Education Law Center, 21 of the state's
neediest school districts were shortchanged $39.4 million in state aid
during the past school year. Five of those districts -- Phillipsburg,
Pemberton, Passaic, Neptune and Millville -- sued to recoup a total of
$14.7 million.
But it also raises larger questions about the state's responsibility to
fund education in poor districts and the constitutional limitations on the
Supreme Court's power to give disadvantaged kids the same educational
opportunity other kids receive.
Richard Shapiro, a lawyer for the districts that are suing, said students
who have gone through preschool programs have higher test scores and are
less likely to drop out or turn to crime once they get to elementary and
high school. "Preschool is the most important formative period in the
child's educational life," he said.
The case is the latest offshoot of a long-running lawsuit, Abbott vs.
Burke, that has prompted the court to order the state to pay billions of
dollars to improve educational quality and facilities in the poorest
districts.
In 1998, in an effort to ensure that children in the poorest districts
enter kindergarten as well-prepared as their peers in more affluent towns,
the justices mandated half-day preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds
in the 30 so-called Abbott districts. The state Department of Education
subsequently required the Abbotts to provide full-day preschool programs.
In May 2003, a state administrative law judge said the state must pay the
entire cost of those preschool programs. But Education Commissioner
William Librera rejected that recommendation and ruled the state can
require needy school districts to pay part of the cost. In March, a
three-judge state appeals court said Librera was right.
Here's where the constitutional question comes in.
New Jersey's constitution requires all public school students receive a
"thorough and efficient" education -- a clause that is the legal basis for
the Supreme Court's Abbott rulings. But Appellate Division Judge Clarkson
Fisher Jr. said this guarantee "is expressly limited to the instruction of
all children in the state between the ages of 5 and 18 years."
Preschoolers usually are 3 and 4.
Fisher said because the preschoolers are "arguably beyond the scope" of
the constitutional mandate, the Supreme Court's 1998 decision had to be
"carefully" examined. He said the justices "simply imposed an obligation
on the commissioner to "ensure that such funding is provided" and did not
require the state to pay the full cost.
The Attorney General's Office contends the ruling allows the commissioner
to base preschool aid on a district's ability to pay.
Shapiro said if the districts don't get the money from the state, they
must raise it through local taxes. But he said "there's a Catch-22." By
law, he said, all of the money an Abbott district raises through local
taxes is already counted in determining how much state aid is needed to
bring its per-pupil spending in kindergarten through 12th grade up to the
level of the state's wealthiest districts.
Sciarra said districts that lost preschool aid took the money from their
elementary and high school programs. "It's a kind of 'robbing Peter to pay
Paul' situation," he said.
Some districts were spared. Sciarra said nine Abbott districts, including
Newark, Orange, New Brunswick and Perth Amboy, got full state funding for
preschool programs last year.
But Shapiro said the state's approach opens the door to further erosion of
state aid to the poorest schools, both for preschool and other programs.
