In May, 1998, the Supreme Court released its Abbott V decision concerning entitlements for disadvantaged children. The series of entitlements were unprecedented in history in terms of scope and cost. New Jersey’s urban students now have the most comprehensive set of educational rights in America. As one justice writing for a majority of the Court wrote “The plaintiffs in this action are children attending public schools in various poor urban school districts” (Supreme, 1997, 1). Immediately advocates of state funding for education for disadvantaged children hailed the decision while opponents of Abbott cried foul.
The Supreme Court decision showed that urgency, collaboration, equity, and cooperation are considered by the High Court as fundamental to redressing the lack of opportunities for education for disadvantaged children in New Jersey, and should form the basis for any school-funding system. The Court’s decision in Abbott V included:
Whole school reform, full-day kindergarten and preschool for all 3 and 4 year olds; and a comprehensive state managed and funded facilities program to correct code violations, to eliminate overcrowding, and to provide adequate space for all educational programs in the Abbott schools. Other supplemental programs are also required such as health and social services, school-to-work programs, after-school and summer school programs.
This analysis will discuss the history of education reform for disadvantage students in New Jersey and how it played a role in shaping the current ruling from the Court in Abbott V. The current status of education and educational infrastructure development in the Abbott district in New Jersey will also be discussed in light of the Court’s decision. A final section of analysis will be devoted to assessing the impact of the Abbott decision on public school financing in general.
The history of education reform and public school financing dates ba...