The Ruins of Trenton

Gov. Jon S. Corzine proposed $2.5 billion in additional state funding mandates Thursday to provide money to build schools in the urban districts that got burned when a state school construction agency frittered away $6 billion in original funding, amid allegations of corruption and waste.

Trenton's school district was among the many poorer urban school systems that saw funding for their own massive projects - like Trenton Central High School renovations - disappear because of project overruns and accounting errors.

As one Trenton school board member said last week, "We woke up the next day, and our money was gone."

Well, hopefully now Trenton's schools will get the attention they so desperately need in the form of the additional state funding.

The funding proposal will still have to pass muster in the state legislature, where officials are sure to push for funding not just for the many poor urban districts that missed out on the last state gravy train, but also for the more wealthy neighbors of New Jersey's cities.

Already Republican legislators are rushing to judgment on the measure, which seems to fly in the face of the governor's asset monetization plan.

What looks like a major contradiction comes from the measures included in the plan that severely restrict the ability for the state to spend money, in the same kind of manner that Gov. Corzine now asks for billions more in school construction funding.

But promises were made to the many needy urban districts, and God knows that districts like the one here in Trenton have a desperate need for the money.

Whether the money turns into a renovation of Trenton's historic high school or the construction of a new facility remains to be seen, but the need of Trenton students for updated learning spaces is clear.

They need to learn somewhere.