Jury seated for New Jersey bridge lane-closing trial

Gov. Chris Christie is asking the state Supreme Court to reopen the landmark Abbott v.

"We're exhausted of paying for failure".

"What we know now is, more money alone does not translate into a better education", Christie said. "He tried this strategy before in a 2010 challenge to the Abbott decision and it was rejected by the court".

The Abbott districts in South Jersey are Camden, Burlington City, Gloucester City and Pemberton Township.

Burke that the quality of the education that kids in the state's poorest districts were receiving violated the state constitution's guarantee of a "thorough and efficient system of education" for all New Jersey children.

In a filing to the New Jersey Supreme Court, the state sought permission for the education department to bypass laws and collective bargaining agreements as it sees fit.

"Any changes to teacher workforce rules and collective bargaining agreements between school districts and staff members can only be effectuated through legislation", said David G. Sciarra, the center's executive director. Burke case, which has yielded a series of rulings by the Supreme Court created to improve educational programs for children in the neediest districts.

The Christie administration said New Jersey has spent almost $100 billion in tax revenue on the 31 targeted districts since 1985, yet the students in those school districts continue to perform far below state education standards and the other districts in the rest of the state.

"This is not a legal strategy. It's a political ploy".

Robert Williams, a professor at Rutgers University School of Law, said it would be "pretty radical to say you could authorize the commissioner of education to ignore union contracts". Teachers must now undergo yearly evaluations based partly on their students' performance in standardized tests. The state was eventually forced to adopt a school-aid formula that alleviated that funding gaps between the state's rich and poor districts.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), meanwhile, supports increased school funding under the current formula. The measure hasn't been taken up in the Assembly.

Allowing the status quo to continue would be "criminal", Christie said.