Gov.+Christie+to+continue+battle+against+court-ordered+school+funding

= Christie Pledges School Aid Battle = = New Jersey Governor Seeks to Remake Supreme Court in Effort to Change Education Funding for Poor and Urban Districts = = = = = = = =By [|HEATHER HADDON]= =Published by the Wallstreet Journal= =1/9/12= = = = = =TRENTON—Gov. Chris Christie plans a new challenge to a court-ordered state education funding formula that has provided billions of dollars in extra funding to poverty-stricken schools within the so-called Abbott districts.= =While he didn't discuss specifics of how he would continue the fight, Mr. Christie said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he would nominate two state Supreme Court judges this spring who won't "grossly" overstep their powers—as he argues the court has by ordering more school funding.= ="Eventually, the court is going to admit it was wrong or I'm going to be able to change the court so that the new members are not as tethered to the Abbott decision," Mr. Christie said during a 45-minute interview with the Journal ahead of his State of the State speech Tuesday. "They will be able to admit on behalf of their predecessors that they were wrong."= =Mr. Christie was referring to a 3-2 decision in May by the state Supreme Court that the governor's cuts to education funding were unconstitutional. The court ordered him to send about $500 million more to 31 of New Jersey's poorest and most underfunded school districts.= =The Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Christie's budget violated the state constitution by shortchanging the school funding plan adopted by the Legislature in 2008 and affirmed by the court in 2009. The case, Abbott v. Burke—a legal challenge filed more than three decades ago—has led to the state pouring billions of additional dollars into some of its poorest districts over the years.= =Last year, Mr. Christie wasn't shy in expressing his disappointment in the court ruling, but said he would comply with it. He said it was up to the state Legislature to fund the mandate.= =Still, the issue has continued to simmer for Mr. Christie, and he told the Journal Friday that the ruling was "a bad decision."= ="I'm not going to back off," he said. "This is going to be a continuing fight between me and the Supreme Court."= =Mr. Christie will have to address school funding again in his 2012-13 budget, which he will unveil in February.= =Mr. Christie hinted Friday that some districts protected by the court could feel shortchanged again, even if it means another legal showdown. "I'm going to continue to look for ways to bring a greater sense of fairness to school funding, and if I wind up getting sued again, we'll see what happens," he said.= =David Sciarra of the Education Law Center, the Newark-based advocacy group that brought the lawsuit against the state, said the court has already upheld the school spending plan, and Mr. Christie's energies would be better directed toward providing "adequate and equitable funding" to all New Jersey public schools.= ="We need to move past this kind of discussion about the courts. That's over," he said.= =Still, Mr. Christie stands to have new power to shape future decisions made by the state's highest court. Mr. Christie could nominate two new Republicans to the court in March to fill seats held by Democrats, potentially tipping the traditionally liberal-leaning court toward a GOP-majority.= =The seven-member court currently has three Democrats, an Independent and two Republicans, one of whom Mr. Christie appointed last year. The seventh seat is vacant, but was previously held by a Democrat, former Justice John Wallace.= =Mr. Christie has the power to change the direction of the judiciary for years to come with his two appointments, said Brigid Harrison, professor of political science and law at Montclair State University.= ="The ramification of changing the composition of the court is enormous. It will be felt well beyond his tenure in office," Ms. Harrison said.= =Three of the current justices, for example, won't have to retire until 2022.= =A more conservative court could provide a check on the state Legislature—controlled by Democrats—on a broad array of issues, Ms. Harrison said. The state's highest court routinely handles cases on sensitive issues such as abortion, the environment and labor law.= =Mr. Christie said that, in addition to education funding, the Supreme Court overstepped its role in mandating that municipalities build affordable housing. The cost of the decision to taxpayers, he said, is almost "incalculable."= ="I'm hopeful that I'll be able to appoint justices who understand their job is to interpret the law, not to make the law, and to interpret the constitution, and not amend the constitution from the bench. That's what the Supreme Court has done over and over again," he said, referring to education spending and affordable housing.= =Mr. Christie's judicial nominations must be approved by Senate Democrats, who have been in an escalating battle with the governor over other state appointments.= =Asked about the governor's future nominations, Sen. Raymond Lesniak, a Union County Democrat on the Senate's Judiciary Committee, said the governor "doesn't object to the Supreme Court making policy, as long as it's his policy it's making."= = = = = = = =news= =home=