Courts: NJ Town Can't Withdraw from School Dist., Students would suffer from the reduced diversity

North Haledon must remain in the Manchester Regional School District, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, but the district's funding formula must be retooled.

The ruling ends the borough's attempt to withdraw from the district, but it portends lower school taxes for its residents.

The court's decision, written by Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, found that while North Haledon's attempt to withdraw was not racially motivated, students from all three sending districts would suffer from the reduced diversity that would result from North Haledon's departure.

"This decision's going to have a statewide impact," said Vito Gagliardi Jr., the attorney who argued the case for North Haledon. "North Haledon is not the only community in the state in a regional district that is being asked to shoulder a greatly disproportionate tax burden."

Paul Tractenberg, professor of law and founding director of the Institute on Education Law and Policy at Rutgers University Law School in Newark, said the ruling recognized both the importance of racial diversity in education and the fact that New Jersey is failing to provide that diversity in its public schools.

"The court seems to be running out of patience with the gap between the constitutional requirements and the reality on the ground," Tractenberg said.

"It would appear from reading the opinion that everybody ended with something," Manchester Superintendent Ray Kwak said. "Hopefully, now we can move beyond this."

North Haledon residents have overwhelmingly supported withdrawal from the district since the mid-1990s, and some said they were let down and discouraged by the ruling.

"It's disappointing, obviously," said Melissa Markham, a North Haledon parent and co-president of the Parent-Teacher Organization.

"I'm sorry that they went with the racial issue of it. That was never an issue for our town. It was the tax issue."

Markham said she and her husband will have to make a hard decision when their 4- and 8-year-old sons are ready for high school.

"I think a lot of people will be putting up [For sale] signs because of this," she said.

Details about how North Haledon, Haledon, and Prospect Park will divide the funding burden will be determined by the state education commissioner in consultation with the towns.

The court gave no directions about how or when a new funding formula should be developed, but the Education Department will "act as the court directed," spokesman Jon Zlock said.

Before the ruling, North Haledon's share of the tax levy to support Manchester's budget was 43.8 percent, while Haledon's was 36.2 percent, and Prospect Park's was 19.8 percent. North Haledon students make up about a quarter of Manchester's student body.

The case is not the only one in which residents and officials from richer towns are questioning whether per-pupil costs for regional school district are fairly split.

The issue has boiled over in Oradell, which sends its high school students to River Dell High School. In June, a council vote urged the school board to put the funding issue to voters in a referendum next spring. Oradell pays $18,750 per student, and neighboring River Edge pays $12,250.

Similarly unequal bills are sent to taxpayers in Franklin Lakes, Carlstadt, and Upper Saddle River.

North Haledon Mayor Randy George said he will push for a system in Manchester in which each town pays the same amount for each student.

"As far as I'm concerned, [the ruling is] a victory for the residents of North Haledon because the funding problem will have to be addressed," George said. "I'm willing to meet, and I think we should go back to the original funding formula, which is per-pupil."

Haledon and Prospect Park officials said they supported a fairer apportionment system for North Haledon and will work together to find an equitable formula.

"We're glad to have North Haledon as part of [the district] ... and we'll try to work out a settlement with the commissioner to settle a more equitable funding formula," said John Vander Molen, president of Manchester's board.

However, Prospect Park Mayor Will Kubofcik said a new funding formula must take into account incomes in Haledon and Prospect Park, not just tax relief for North Haledon.

Census figures show that in 2000, the median household income in North Haledon was $74,700. In Haledon, it was $45,599; in Prospect Park, $46,434.

Kubofcik said the ruling will result in higher taxes for his borough. He questioned why the court did not ask the Legislature to change the way school funding is apportioned statewide.

"I'm OK with the state commissioner [determining a new formula for Manchester], but at the same time we're going to be applying a different standard than the rest of the state," he said.

Jeffrey Fischer, a member of Manchester and Haledon school boards, said Haledon is likely to ask for more state aid to make up for the loss of funds from North Haledon if the district reverts to funding on a per-pupil basis.

Staff Writers Kathleen Carroll and Whitney Kvasager contributed to this article.

Florida (where I moved to in High School) pretty much sprinkles the kids from the ghetto at high schools througout the county, meaning you can't exactly flee to another school district unless its in Georgia. The concept of "local schools" is foreign down there. If your kids are in a Florida public school, you better push them into the honors program, otherwise its English 101 with the Bloods and Crips.

Of course they abolished the honors programs in Maplewood/South Orange, as it turned out that those classes were overwhelmingly white, while the regular track kids were black. After abolition, Maplewood's schools lost nearly all of its white students and the black kids who's parents pushed them into the honors program.

"Is diversity now a religion? "

Diversity is the next battleground for Homeschoolers. Now that they can't say Homeschoolers are not scoring well on tests, they are saying that it's not good because they are not exposed to the diversity of the pubilc school system.

There was a thread on this recently which started when some NEA clown wrote about Homeschoolers but I can't seem to find it right now.

Anybody ever quantify the benefits of diversity? Test scores, health, financial, anything? Anyone? Bueller?

Thanks for the ping!

As you certainly know, New Jersey is owned and operated not only by the regular old NY/North Jersey Mafia, it is also controlled by the entrenched education mafia. There is not a more corrupt judiciary, including the state's Supreme Court, than New Jersey's. And I have no idea what, if anything, can ever be done about it.

Good luck!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.