Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman (R-Somerset/Morris) issued the following statement today after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that an additional $500 million must be spent on chronically failing urban school districts:

“We need to wrest control of education funding from the courts, which have continuously decided the only way to lift up our needy children is to pump vast sums of money into urban districts with little or no accountability for results. This process diverts resources from equally deserving students in other districts, as well as overburdens state taxpayers.

“Governor Christie and my Republican colleagues have put forth numerous educational reforms including tying teacher tenure to students’ academic performance, and expanding charter schools in order to change the status quo in chronically failing schools. These proposals are a better solution than throwing more money at the problem which has been the failed choice over the past 30 years.”