Opinion ID: 1562623
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Plaintiffs' objections to SFRA

Text: Plaintiffs mount numerous challenges to SFRA. Generally stated, plaintiffs' argument is that the funding formula is based on unproven models and is not based on the actual needs of Abbott districts. They object to the State's failure to produce evidence that it considered the Court-prescribed criteria for Abbott-district designation when developing the SFRA formula and assert that SFRA essentially abandons the Abbott-district designation, without prior Court approval. Thus, plaintiffs contend that, under SFRA, funding to Abbott districts will decline in coming years, undoing the accomplishments achieved in the past. More specifically, plaintiffs assert that the SFRA is inconsistent with the remedies previously ordered by this Court for the Abbott districts, most especially the parity remedy, the Abbott K-12 supplemental programs remedy, and municipal overburden. They contend that it is the State's burden to demonstrate, as to the parity remedy for example, that the legal standard for supplanting that specific remedy has been met. That standard, they contend, requires that the State first show that spending in the I and J districts is inefficient before any reduction in parity can occur. As for supplemental programs, the plaintiffs similarly argue that the State must show that the SFRA will enable the Abbott districts to meet the needs that currently are met through supplemental needs-based funding. And, as for municipal overburden, plaintiffs contend that the State must demonstrate that municipal burden no longer cripples the Abbott districts' ability to increase tax levies before requiring the districts to raise those levies to the extent SFRA requires. According to plaintiffs, all those proofs must be made, and convincingly so, before the State may discontinue implementation of the Abbott remedies. Thus, plaintiffs contend that the State's application should be denied or, in the alternative, the matter should be remanded for development of a proper evidentiary record.