In In re Charter School Application of Englewood, 320 N.J. Super. 174, 222, 727 A.2d 15 (App.Div.1999), several school districts challenged the Charter School Program Act of 1995, N.J.S.A. 18A:36A-1 to 18, based upon equal protection grounds. The Court decided the case on the merits only "because of the public interest and continuing controversy over the validity of the Act. . . ." In re Charter School Application of Englewood, supra, 320 N.J. Super. at 238, 727 A.2d 15. However, the Court noted that we "could decline to reach appellants' equal protection theories" based on the premise that "while a political subdivision may be able to challenge the validity of a statute on some other constitutional grounds, it may not claim a denial of equal protection as to itself." Ibid. The Court concluded that a local district had standing to contend that the Charter School legislation thwarted its ability to comply with T & E requirements: Franklin Township reasonably argues that as the delegate of the State Board, it is constitutionally charged with the "t & e" duty, and that the funding portion of the Charter School Program Act threatens to impair its ability to perform that duty by reducing its available funds. Moreover, Franklin Township also points out that the Act confers upon local districts the "exclusive" right to comment on an application and to appeal a grant. Hence, a local board should perforce be deemed to have standing to challenge the underlying statute. We recognize Franklin Township's standing to allege that the Act will thwart its "t & e" efforts. Id. at 223, 727 A.2d 15. Recognizing some authority for the proposition that a municipality may not challenge legislation affecting municipal budgets, Judge King wrote for this court that we would nevertheless follow decisions that had "taken a less formalistic approach, in the interest of reaching the merits of a public-policy controversy." Id. at 234, 727 A.2d 15.