Newark, NJ – February 19, 2008

The Supreme Court has announced it will review a December 11, 2007 Appellate Court decision ordering the NJ Department of Education to release to the public a 2003 memo containing alternative formulas for funding New Jersey’s public schools.

The announcement sets up a showdown before the Supreme Court over the "deliberative process privilege" – a tactic used by the administration of Governor Jon Corzine to shield documents from public disclosure under the State Open Public Records Act (OPRA). "Deliberative process" refers to a claim that public release of agency documents containing research, data or other information would "chill" the ability of state officials to make policy decisions.

The 2003 memo containing the school funding alternatives has been at the center of a lawsuit – filed by ELC on behalf of urban school children – to obtain public access to a research study undertaken by DOE to develop the recently enacted formula. Both the trial judge and Appellate Court ordered the memo released, citing the strong public interest in education funding. In rejecting the Corzine administration’s claim that release of the memo would impair the ability of state officials to make decisions on school funding policy, the Appellate Court stated:

The Department's argument against disclosure of the Simulation Memo at this point is, at bottom, a concern that it would stir controversy and discussion. That concern, however, should not, in our judgment, outweigh the benefit of a free and informed discussion of how to meet the pressing public need for adequate funding for our State's schools. The desire to withhold the document at this time bespeaks a lack of confidence in the ability of our citizens to digest and analyze the potential consequences of the choices this State must make. We decline to adopt such a posture.

For the full Appellate Court decision, click here.

In view of the controversy over the new formula – it passed the Legislature by the narrowest of margins – and the complaints already surfacing about negative impacts on various districts, ELC is calling on Governor Corzine to short circuit further legal proceedings by releasing the memo and the all other documents, studies, expert analyses and data related to the development of the new formula.

"The entire process of developing and enacting the new school funding formula has been cloaked in secrecy, from start to finish" said David Sciarra, ELC Executive Director. "It makes no sense to waste more tax dollars on further litigation, especially now that two courts have ruled in favor of the public’s right to know. We're asking the Governor to bring the entire record into the light of day."

ELC is represented in this case by Eric Alan Stone and Koren L. Bell of the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York, along with ELC Senior Attorney Elizabeth Athos.