(TRENTON) – Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex/Passaic) released the following statement Tuesday on the state Supreme Court school funding ruling:
“This ruling confirms that this governor unfortunately failed to properly provide a proper education to at-risk children in our poorest school districts. The governor breached his responsibility to protect at-risk children, and I applaud the court for recognizing it.
“It’s important to note that had the governor followed state law to begin with, the majority of additional school funding would have been awarded to suburban and rural districts. In fact, more than 70 percent of additional funding would have been sent to suburban and rural schools, providing a proper education and property tax relief to districts throughout the state.
“We must be committed to finding a way to help all school districts, as the governor should have done in the first place. I’m committed to doing that and am hopeful others will work cooperatively to accomplish that goal in the weeks ahead.
“This much is clear – everyone must now put the rhetoric aside and begin working together. The time for political sound bites and devotion to partisan ideology must finally be over. We have waged this fight for far too long. We have a problem here that needs to be fixed, and it won’t be fixed with over-the-top speeches and blame.”