Court lets some New Jersey districts take control of their own construction projects

News release: An appeals court has ordered the New Jersey Schools Development Authority to let local urban school districts take charge of designing and constructing new schools and repairing existing schools. That means the districts could design, construct and complete their own school facilities projects in a more cost-effective and timely fashion, instead of the State, through the development authority, doing the work. Districts have not been allowed to undertake any school facilities projects directly, but had to wait for the development authority to decide when to carry out the projects. The Education Law Center, which initiated the legal action, says that since Gov. Chris Christie took office in January 2010, the development authority has not started any new, major school replacement and renovation projects.