Much of the coverage of a judge's decision this week on Gov. Corzine's school funding plan rightly focused on the policy implications it could have on education throughout the state, but The Record's Alfred Doblin argues in a column that there was another meaningful impact: it provided a much-needed political victory for the governor.

The opinion largely backed Corzine's effort to tackle one of the most divisive, intractable and influential pieces of New Jersey government. In aiming to revamp the school funding formula, Corzine took on a long-festering problem that impacts schools and property tax bills throughout the state. And he did it in the face of opposition from urban leaders who normally make up his base. The result, if given a final Supreme Court OK, could help middle class suburban districts across New Jersey.

Members of both parties had long complained about a school funding system that sent billions of dollars to 31 historically poor, urban districts, often to the exclusion of the rest of the state. But it took Corzine to develop, and push through, a plan that essentially says that most of those urban areas have enough money already, and that the state should provide more help to other districts that also have needs to be met.

Doblin says Corzine is "trying to create something more equitable" and that "for once" New Jersey isn't just throwing money at a problem.

"What New Jerseyans should note is that "the unfixable" is improving and it's a liberal politician that is doing it," Doblin writes of Corzine's attempts to throw off the constraints of the Abbott v. Burke rulings that required sending more money to those 31 districts.

"Republicans will be hard-pressed to spin this court decision to their advantage. Liberal Corzine came up with an exit strategy out of Abbott," Doblin writes.

Indeed, Republicans praised the judge's ruling that essentially supported Corzine's plan. Advocates for urban schools, meanwhile, say they will be short-changed by the new plan.

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