Here’s a data point for you: in the south end of my town where Lawrence bumps up against Trenton, if you live on the west side of the Brunswick Avenue your children are zoned for Lawrence schools where 46% of students read at grade level and 40% pass state math tests. If you live on the east side of the street your kids are zoned for Trenton schools where 10.5% of students read at grade level and somewhere between 0%-10% can pass math tests.

Why don’t those Trenton parents move a few blocks?

In Lawrence the median home price is $400K and the median rental is $2,297 a month. In Trenton the median home price is $300K and the median rental is $1,746. That’s home rule for you, as unprogressive as it gets, your children’s school district assignment inextricably tied to what you can afford to pay for a mortgage or rent.*

That’s why Senator Jon Bramnick issued a press release yesterday to boost his proposal for a constitutional amendment, SCR-67, that “would prohibit any student from being compelled to attend a public school other than the one nearest to their residence.: His amendment, first proposed in 2019, is in response to a lawsuit filed by the Latino Action Network and the NAACP that alleges New Jersey’s school system is unconstitutionally segregated due to our culture of home rule. The state, the plaintiffs say, must remedy this by consolidating school districts and creating more magnet schools that would enroll students from various ZIP codes.

From the press release:

“Students must be allowed to attend their local schools. It is very important that the Legislature pass my constitutional amendment, SCR-67, to protect this right for New Jersey families. Mediators working on a settlement for the State should not compromise the right of students to attend their neighborhood schools.”

What explains Bramnick’s renewed push for his amendment, languishing in legislative purgatory for half a decade?

Last week the plaintiffs in the segregation lawsuit filed a motion with Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy to put a hold on rulings while they try to mediate the dispute with the defendants, who include the State of New Jersey, the state Board of Education, the state Department of Education, and Acting Education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan. Things weren’t going the plaintiffs’ way: While Judge Lougy agreed the state was responsible for NJ’s highly-segregated schools, he said the plaintiffs had only proven this was true in 23 school districts, not 600. Yet,

“Neither municipal nor school district boundaries are impermeable in the fight against segregation. In meeting the constitutional obligation, and notwithstanding the residency statute, the commissioner is vested with the authority to cross district lines to avoid segregation in fact.”

Translation: maybe one day Trenton students, regardless of parent income, can cross the street to better schools.

* One exception: in NJ public charter schools can cross district boundaries, depending on their charter with the state. That’s why NJ Public Charter Association president Harry Lee issued this statement: “We should be exploring the creation of new charter schools in key districts that are geographically positioned to draw upon a racially and economically diverse student body from surrounding geographies. The public charter school community stands ready to work with the state and the plaintiffs to increase the number of intentionally diverse public schools in the Garden State.”