Newark, New Jersey - October 6, 2005

In response to an order by Superior Court Judge Neil Schuster, the NJ Department of Education has prepared a draft plan for the Department’s Abbott Division to manage implementation of the reforms mandated by the landmark Abbott v. Burke rulings. The plan, "Closing the Achievement Gap: Two-Year Plan on Instructional Priorities", is available on the DOE website, and was written by Assistant Commissioner Gordon MacInnes.

ELC is currently reviewing the plan and urges Abbott stakeholders and advocates to do so as well. At a minimum, the plan must:

• address the "recruitment, retention, professional development, and effective deployment of [Abbott] Division staff and consultants"
• include "annual goals and objectives with benchmarks to permit assessment of progress" in implementing Abbott
• provide an estimated budget to carry out all the Division’s responsibilities

In formulating the plan, the NJDOE is required to "solicit the advice of Abbott stakeholders" and the final plan must be approved by the Commissioner and disseminated to "interested parties."

Judge Schuster issued the order to prepare the plan in response to a lawsuit filed by ELC on behalf of the Abbott school children. The lawsuit sought to enforce a provision in last year’s Abbott regulations requiring the NJDOE to prepare a "three year plan for the transformation of the [Abbott] Division to enable it to successfully lead the State’s efforts to improve teaching and learning in the Abbott school districts."

Please send comments on the plan to Acting Commissioner Lucille Davy and Assistant Commissioner Gordon MacInnes.