New Jersey Newsroom is reporting that the NJ State Supreme Court has just appointed Superior Court Judge Peter Doyne as a “special master” to determine if last year’s billion dollar school aid cuts violated the state constitution’s mandate for “a thorough and efficient education system.”

Judge Doyne’s report is due on March 31st.

In March of 2009 Judge Doyne also served as a special master to determine if former Gov. Corzine’s School Funding Reform Act was constitutional. He ruled that it was, but ordered the State to maintain current funding levels for three years. Counsel for Gov. Christie argues that NJ’s fiscal emergency necessitated cutting school aid anyway, and funding levels were still sufficient to meet the constitutional mandate. Education Law Center, long-time Abbott advocates, is arguing that, in fact, that the lowered funding levels were insufficient and violated Judge Doyne’s original ruling.