by The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
Thursday May 28, 2009, 5:30 AM

TRENTON — New Jersey’s Supreme Court today will rule on whether a new school funding formula proposed by Gov. Jon Corzine is constitutional, which could potentially end the long-running, and controversial, Abbott vs. Burke school funding case that has sent billions of dollars to the state’s poorest communities over the past three decades.

The state’s highest court in April heard arguments on the new funding formula approved last year by lawmakers at the behest of Corzine, which would replace decades of court oversight. In a series of decisions since the mid 1980’s, the court said the state’s poorest districts — the so-called Abbott districts, such as Newark, Paterson and Camden — must be funded on par with the state’s wealthiest. The new system distributes school aid based on enrollment, with a bonus for the number of students who are poor, handicapped or otherwise more expensive to serve. MORE>>