Opinion ID: 1537676
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: remand case to trial court for development of a factual record

Text: Although I find that the 1975 Act is now in a proper posture for review, I nonetheless would defer such review by this Court and would instead remand to the trial court for development of a factual record as to the operational effect and constitutionality of the Act. This course of action, which would include a timetable to facilitate consideration of the remand, is one which I have previously advocated in our efforts to adduce the content and meaning of a thorough and efficient education. Robinson IV, supra, 69 N.J. at 162-65 (Pashman, J., dissenting). I find such a remand to be necessary if the Court is to avoid rendering a hypothetical and fragmentary decision based on an outdated and sketchy record. A combination of the passage of time, the paucity of factual data and the new subject-matter of this litigation contribute to the need for an updated factual record. When the constitutionality of this State's system of financing public education first came before this Court in 1973, we were presented with both a voluminous factual record and a concise but comprehensive summary of factual findings. Robinson v. Cahill, 118 N.J. Super. 223 (Law Div. 1972). These findings concerned, among other things, levels of state funding, the ability of local districts to provide additional funding, deficiencies in the system, disparities in local expenditures per pupil, and ultimately, the constitutional infirmities which were inherent in the State's school financing scheme. The record which was thus compiled, afforded a factual basis for the resolution of the pertinent legal issues. While the data which was analyzed in that early decision may still provide a starting point for transitional studies, its continued usefulness is mitigated by factors of timeliness and relevance. If nothing else, the passage of so many years casts a pall of antiquity on the 1971 statistics and the conclusions which can be drawn from them. Due to the unavailability of certain statistics at the time, much of the evidence originally presented to the trial court was not even current when first submitted. 118 N.J. Super. at 236. More importantly, the very relevance of the 1971 information has been undermined by the introduction of an entirely new legislative scheme. The information which was compiled to evaluate the Bateman Act is not only outdated, but is of limited use in evaluating those provisions and formulae of the 1975 Act which differ from the earlier legislation. In short, the inability of this information to reflect changed circumstances undermines its utility in the present proceedings. Finally, without a remand, our evaluation of the 1975 Act may be effectively frustrated due to the lack of available information concerning the costs involved in satisfying the constitutional standard for public education. Of the statistical data before the Court, only that presented by the Commissioner of Education can even pretend to be current. This information, however, is itself fragmentary and lacks the probity necessary to be persuasive. Furthermore, while the figures which the Commissioner has presented represent an impressive array of statistics, their relevance has gone unexplained and their accuracy unchallenged. In addition, other information which might be of equal importance may have been overlooked. I would therefore remand for a plenary hearing on the constitutionality of the 1975 Act. The plenary hearing which I recommend would perform the following functions: 1. It would be supplementary in the sense of augmenting the factual record which was developed in 1972. This would, of course, necessitate the presentation of revised figures for such items as the equalized non-school and total (school and non-school) tax rates, current Statewide and local per pupil expenditure levels, the ratios of teachers, other staff, facilities and programs to pupils in each district and the cost of providing essential services and programs. It would also require an assessment of the steps which have been taken to cure the deficiencies which were previously recognized. 2. The hearing would perform an evidentiary function by eliciting information particularly related to the operations and implementation of the 1975 Act. This would permit the collection of data concerning provisions of the Act which were either absent from its predecessor or altered to some degree. 3. At the heart of the hearing would be an evaluative function, which would determine whether the 1975 Act comports with the constitutional mandate to provide a thorough and efficient system of education. While the imagination can suggest numerous avenues of inquiry, at the very least, the trial court should consider whether the level of funding and State aid formulae under the 1975 Act are sufficient to assure adequate per pupil expenditure levels; whether local tax resources per pupil are sufficiently equalized; whether the implementing regulations sufficiently define the content of the constitutional educational opportunity; whether the Act proves an effective mechanism for compelling deficient or recalcitrant districts to comply with statewide standards; and whether specific problems, such as municipal overburden, the absence of weighting factors, use of the prebudget years, and the State support and spending increase limits, undermine the Act's constitutionality. See infra Part III. I should note that the majority is not blind to the considerations that I have listed which impel me to remand for an evidentiary hearing. On the contrary, it explicitly states: We hesitated to entertain the motions. No lower court determination of this underlying issue was before us for review; the parties had had no opportunity to avail themselves of an evidentiary hearing at which a record could be made ... [ Ante, at 454] Nevertheless, the majority proceeds to review the constitutionality of the Act, on the ground that these considerations are outweighed by the desirability of reaching a speedy decision as to the constitutionality of the enactment. Ante, at 454. Judge Conford agrees with the majority on this point, adding in his separate opinion that a great amount of work, study, consultation and money has been invested, that the public educational establishment ... has been in a state of tension and uncertainty ... during the period of this litigation and that [p]lanning has periodically been disorganized and frustrated. Ante, at 499, 500. While these considerations may be legitimate, I cannot agree that they justify a hasty review of the Act, in a partial and intermittent fashion and on the basis of an incomplete and seriously outdated record. Nor do they justify prematurely placing this Court's imprimatur on an unfunded, incomplete and constitutionally suspect act. As I have noted on another occasion, the possibility of administrative confusion, tension and uncertainty does not warrant acceptance of a less-than-adequate legislative scheme for the financing of public education: A certain amount of confusion and a great deal of dissatisfaction would undoubtedly result.... [But] the real question is: Can this Court, consistently with its obligations to uphold and to enforce the Constitution, trade the constitutionally guaranteed rights of hundreds of thousands of children to an equal educational opportunity for the possibility of avoiding some difficulties in meeting local budget-making deadlines. I do not see how this question can be answered in any way but in the negative. [ Robinson III, supra, 67 N.J. at 43]. See also Robinson IV, supra, 69 N.J. at 167-168 (Pashman, J., concurring and dissenting). Cf. Cleveland Bd. of Ed. v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632, 646, 94 S.Ct. 791, 39 L.Ed. 2d 52 (1974); Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 690, 93 S.Ct. 1764, 36 L.Ed. 2d 583 (1973). Moreover, as I stated in Robinson IV, when a legislative scheme does not fully comply with the constitutional mandate, it should not be sustained by this Court no matter how much work, study, consultation and money has been invested: The obligation [of providing a thorough and efficient system of education] is not met by unsuccessful efforts by the legislative and executive branches to devise a plan to achieve the results demanded by the Constitution, however arduous and bona fide those efforts may have been. To the children of New Jersey it matters not at all whether the State's failure to provide the constitutional opportunities guaranteed by the Constitution is the consequence of a deliberate policy of intransigence or merely the by-product of deadlock within the coordinate branches of government. [69 N.J. at 173]. I do not believe that the majority has acted in the best interest of the school children of this State by finding the 1975 Act to be facially constitutional, in the absence of a full evidentiary examination of its operational effect. I cannot see how sanctioning an act which is constitutionally questionable will serve the interests of those children. Were the Act to be held unconstitutional after a plenary hearing or were there to be insufficient time in which to fully review the Act prior to the upcoming school year, the Court could still protect the interests of New Jersey's school children by issuing a remedial order to continue in effect until such time as the Legislature corrected the deficiencies in the Act or the Court completed its review of the Act, respectively. Issuance of interim, remedial orders to redress the violation of constitutional rights is undeniably within the power of this Court. Robinson IV, supra, 69 N.J. at 146-147, 152 (and cases cited therein). In light of this alternative course of action (see infra Part IV), ill-considered and premature approval of the 1975 Act seems both unnecessary and conceivably detrimental to the very pupils whom the majority wishes to help. Nevertheless, I too believe that the matters before us should be resolved as expeditiously as possible and that a constitutionally adequate system of public education should be implemented at the earliest possible date. Therefore, I would propose that the evidentiary hearing and all subsequent review should proceed in accordance with a strict timetable which would assure completion of the review in a fairly expeditious fashion. Accordingly, I would schedule the plenary hearing to begin on or about February 16, 1976 and to be completed by March 1. The hearing would solicit presentations by the parties and amici now before the Court, as well as others should the trial court determine the necessity or relevance of additional information. The hearing would result in a decision by the court which should be filed by March 10. On the basis of the decision, this Court could then properly consider and hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Act on or about March 22 and a decision would be rendered on or about April 15. The timetable which I have proposed is admittedly one which places a premium on expeditious action and a burden on the parties who must make factual presentations. The first of these can be ameliorated by diligence on the part of the State and local officials. Robinson III, supra, 67 N.J. at 43 (Pashman, J., dissenting). That the timetable would still permit State and local school officials to prepare their 1976-77 school budgets has been acknowledged by the majority itself which has also selected April 15 as a date for concluding judicial review in the event that the 1975 Act is not fully funded. Timetables for budget deadlines were pushed back last year. Robinson III, supra, 67 N.J. at 42. If necessary, this may be done again this year.