Governor Corzine, who has made ending the four-decade legal battle over school funding a top priority, realized his goal this week when the state's highest court upheld the constitutionality of the school funding formula he signed into law in January 2008.

“I am deeply gratified on behalf of the state and all of our children. This is a truly historic ruling that brings to conclusion decades of conflict and litigation that many thought would never end,” Governor Corzine said.

Click here to listen to the Governor's comments on the landmark decision

“By agreeing that the new funding formula is constitutional and that the prior Abbott remedies are no longer necessary, the court has allowed us to focus in a unified and predictable way on meeting our obligation to all of our children while in no way prejudicing those who have benefited from the Abbott rulings in the past.”

Governor Corzine's funding formula is the first in decades to be upheld by the state's top court. In a unanimous 5 to 0 ruling, with two justices not participating, the court said, the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 is "a fair and equitable means'' of providing a thorough and efficient education to school children throughout the state as required by the state constitution.

The formula allows state dollars to follow individual students based on their needs. Under the new system, districts are entitled to a base per-pupil amount for each child. In the 2008-2009 school year that amount was $9,649. Additional funds are added if the district is serving poor, handicapped or students with other educational disadvantages.

The added investments will help to stabilize property taxes as well. Increases in school aid coupled with a cap on spending has resulted in the average school tax levy increase going from 6.6 percent in 2006 to 2.65 percent in 2009 – the lowest increase in ten years.