Other people's children the battle for justice and equality in New Jersey's schools - Yaffe, Deborah (Rivergate Books, 2007)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Jersey city's tax war -- Celebrating the bicentennial -- The true believer -- Son of Robinson -- The families -- "The system is broken" -- The twenty-one/forty-one rule -- The children of Abbott -- A constitutional right to astroturf -- "We do not run school systems" -- The children grow up
In 1981, when Raymond Abbott was a twelve-year-old sixth-grader in Camden, New Jersey, poor city school districts like his spent 25 percent less per student than the state?s wealthy suburbs did. That year, Abbott became the lead plaintiff in a landmark class-action lawsuit demanding that the state provide equal funding for rich and poor schools. Over the next twenty-five years, as the non-profit law firm representing the plaintiffs won ruling after ruling from the New Jersey Supreme Court, Abbott dropped out of school, fought a cocaine addiction, and spent time in prison before turning his lif