The State content and performance standards comply with "the constitutional guarantee of a thorough and efficient education for all New Jersey school children." However, "the standards themselves do not ensure any substantive level of achievement. Real improvement still depends on the sufficiency of educational resources, successful teaching, effective supervision, efficient administration, and a variety of other academic, environmental, and societal factors needed to assure a sound education."

Abbott v. Burke, 1997

     The wealthiest districts in the State "are achieving at high levels, and it is thus eminently reasonable that the Court continue to focus on their recipe for success until experience under the new standards dictates otherwise…We reject the State's invitation to turn a blind-eye to the most successful districts in the State."
Abbott v. Burke, 1997

     In the 1990 Abbott II ruling, the NJ Supreme Court ordered that per-pupil funding be equalized between New Jersey's urban districts and the most successful, affluent suburban districts. The Court also ordered urban schools to implement rich and rigorous curricular and instructional programs comparable to those offered in the suburban schools. This order was modified in the 1997 Abbott IV decision when the Court accepted the State content and performance standards as the substantive definition of an adequate education for all New Jersey children, including those in urban districts. A year later in Abbott V, the Court ordered a series of specific reforms to further implementation of standards-based education consistent with the "recipe for success" of high achieving suburban districts.

The Abbott Mandates for Standards-Based Education and Reform

• Alignment of district curriculum and instruction with State Core Curriculum Content Standards
• Improvement of curriculum and instruction to close the achievement gap using data and needs assessments
• Adequate music, art, science and all other curricular programs based on student need and comparability with suburban schools
• A focus on literacy in grades K-3
• High quality, intensive and continual professional development
• Class size limit of 15 for preschool, 21 for grades K-3, 23 for grades 4-5, and 24 for grades 6-12
• Accountability to assure improvement at the classroom, school and district levels

The Supreme Court Mandate for Parity Funding

     In Abbott II, the Supreme Court ordered the State to increase aid to ensure equalization of the foundation funding level between urban and suburban school districts. The Court reaffirmed this order in the 1994 Abbott III decision, and again in the 1997 Abbott IV ruling. Following Abbott IV in the 1997-98 school year, New Jersey became the first state in the nation in which per pupil foundational funding was equalized between urban districts and the most affluent suburbs in the State. Abbott further requires the State to maintain this equalized -- or "parity" -- funding level by annually re-calculating the average amount spent in the suburban districts and ensuring that the urban districts receive that same amount.