Volume 1 of a two-volume series, this case study tells the story of the events and decisions associated with the 1976 court-ordered shutdown of schools in New Jersey. It also analyzes the state educational decision-making structure. The school closing was undertaken because, according to the New Jersey Supreme Court, the state had not properly enacted the school finance reform measures that were ordered in Robinson v. Cahill in 1973. Although the legislature had passed the Public School Education Act in response to the court mandate, it had failed to appropriate funds for the act. Closing of the schools for eight days resulted in the legislature passing a statewide income tax. Following the introduction, chapter 2 presents background information on the national finance reform movement, the legal context of school reform in New Jersey, the state economy and fiscal base, and the state's politics of education. Chapters 3 and 4 make an effort to identify major actors and events and convey their complex interactions in the decision-making process. Chapter 5 contains the analysis of events involved in the educational decision-making process. (Author/JM)