N.J. appeals court upholds Gov. Christie's order forcing school surplus spending

Appellate panel said order was within governor's authority, during an 'unprecedented fiscal emergency'

Patti Sapone/The Star Ledger In a file photo, Gov. Chris Christie signs executive orders during his first day of work in Trenton. Kim Guadagno, Lieutenant Governor, right, watches.

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie was within his authority when he ordered school districts to spend millions of dollars in surplus money this year, to make up for cuts in state aid, a New Jersey appeals court ruled today.

In February the governor dealt schools the first in a series of financial blows, by ordering the freeze of $475 million in school aid payments this year, and requiring districts instead to use excess surplus funds. Christie said the executive order was necessary to help plug a budget deficit.

The Perth Amboy Board of Education, which had $15 million cut, challenged Christie’s order as violating constitutional principals of separation of power.

Today a state appellate panel disagreed with Perth Amboy, however, saying the order was within his authority during what the governor called an "unprecedented fiscal emergency."

The judges also rejected the district’s argument that excess surplus funds must go toward the following year’s budget — and that it is unconstitutional to do otherwise.

Perth Amboy School Superintendent John Rodecker said he was disappointed.

"I question the way (the cuts) were done, whether it was equitable," he said. "Because we were diligent in our spending, we were penalized."

Christie’s press secretary Michael Drewniak said in a prepared statement, the governor was pleased that the court "recognized his significant responsibilities and executive authority during a fiscal and financial crisis."

"We know using surplus balances was a difficult step for school districts, but it was an urgent and necessary step," the statement said.

The $475 million statewide cut was equal to an amount schools had above a 2 percent surplus level. An analysis by the Associated Press found that on average, schools lost 13 percent of their total 2010 annual state aid.

Christie sent school districts reeling again in March with an $820 million cut in state aid for the coming year. That has also been challenged in the courts; the Newark-based Education Law Center filed a motion in state Supreme Court halt those cuts, and maintain the state’s school funding formula.

That case has yet to be heard.

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