Opinion ID: 1898472
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Description of the Issue

Text: Predictably flowing from our decision in Robinson v. Cahill, 69 N.J. 449, 355 A. 2d 129 (1976) ( Robinson V ), the issue now before us is whether the Act, declared facially constitutional, is constitutional as applied. Despite that declaration, we recognized the possibility that in fact some districts might not provide a thorough and efficient education. Indeed, three of the Court's members expressed serious reservations on that question  two of them dissenting. The positions of the parties suggest a delineation of that issue: the plaintiffs contend that the Act as applied is systemically productive of such financial and educational disparities as to render it unconstitutional in toto. A potential subsidiary issue, if that contention is rejected, is whether the Act as applied is unconstitutional for specific districts or for a specific class of districts. If either contention is accepted, plaintiffs' claims concerning remedies raise further issues. The State's position raises the issue of whether the Act, through its definition of a thorough and efficient education, its statement of goals and guidelines, its requirement of subsidiary goals at the district level, and its enforcement through the combined powers of the Board, Commissioner, and the district, has in fact resulted in the constitutional standard of education throughout the state. If not, the subsidiary question is whether the failure, if any, is systemic, requiring a declaration of unconstitutionality or is district-specific, requiring corrective action under the Act in a limited number of failing districts. Another statement of the issue is whether plaintiffs' demonstration of substantial disparity in expenditures and educational input between the poorest and richest districts compels the conclusion that the Act is unconstitutional; or whether, as the State contends, the actual substantive education provided to the students in the poorest districts is thorough and efficient or subject to being readily corrected; whether, as the State contends, thorough and efficient education under the Constitution requires a minimum level of education, and not equality. If plaintiffs are correct in their contention that the Constitution requires substantial equality in educational funding, one of several radical changes must result in addition to the change from the inequality that has always existed to the equality that plaintiffs say is mandated. The State would, through some means, have to assure  make certain  that practically all districts spend the same amount per pupil. If that figure were to be pegged at the level of the more affluent suburban districts, it would require a massive infusion of public funds. If, on the other hand, the equality level were to be pegged somewhere near the average, and if strict limits were to be placed on any district's ability to exceed that amount in spending, a significant number of suburban districts would be compelled to substantially decrease their educational expenditures, in effect, to diminish the quality of education now provided to their students. The implications of the former  a vast infusion of funds  are particularly pointed in view of the fact that New Jersey is already one of the highest spending states in the nation in terms of per pupil expenditures. [4] The implications of the latter  a uniform funding standard at the average rate requiring a leveling down  would be unusual in a state that has regarded home rule in the area of education, including gross disparity in expenditures between the rich and the poor, as an accepted part of the system. The implications of the State's position are similarly unsettling. The inadequacy of poorer urban students' present education measured against their needs is glaring. Whatever the cause, these school districts are failing abysmally, dramatically, and tragically. Poorer students need a special supportive educational effort in order to give them a chance to succeed as citizens and workers. Their educational needs are often dramatically different from those of students in affluent districts. They are getting the least education for the greatest need. The implications of that fact on their future and on the state's future is the central theme of plaintiffs' case.