Urban schools need to graduate students with the skills to keep the economy vibrant. We're doing that in New Jersey with the one-two punch of tough new academic standards and greater accountability. That wasn't always our state's approach to education. For nearly three decades, New Jersey's highest court kept telling administration after administration that they weren't doing enough for the poorest districts, most of which are in our cities. We weren't alone, of course.
Many states continue to face major court battles over school funding, including California .
They imposed a strictly fiscal solution that my predecessors followed through the 70s, the 80s and the 90s. The children deserve more. The court was right, of course. The children did, and do, deserve more. And as the court cases dragged on, our state spent more.