Abbott Ex Rel. Abbott v. Burke

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

PORITZ, C.J.

Nineteen months ago, this Court accepted the commitment made by the Commissioner of Education to undertake, in good faith, broad-based educational reform in New Jersey’s poor, urban school districts (the “Abbott districts”). Abbott v. Burke, 153 N.J. 480, 710 A.2d 450 (1998) (Abbott V). In reliance on the Legislature’s “clear recognition of the need for comprehensive substantive educational programs and standards,” and on the Commissioner’s proposals for reform, we stated our expectation that twenty-eight years of “major judicial…