OU applauds, NJEA criticizes N.J. scholarship bill
Lauren Matthew
June 20, 2008
A bill that would raise scholarship funds from corporations so lower- and moderate-income families living in certain failing public school districts could attend an out of district public school or a nonpublic school will soon be up for vote in the N.J. State Senate.
The bill, called the Urban Enterprise Zone Jobs Scholarship Act (S.1607), was introduced April 7. It is sponsored by Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-20) and Sen. Thomas H. Kean Jr. (R-21), with co-sponsorship from Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-13). It would, if approved, establish a pilot program in the Department of the Treasury to provide tax credits for contribution to programs that provide scholarships and tuition breaks to children in "certain urban enterprise zone municipalities." The bill would allow businesses to get a 100-percent tax credit for funds they donate to designated private school scholarship funds.
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America submitted testimony before the Economic Growth Committee supporting the bill early last month, and OU Deputy Director of Public Policy Howie Beigelman said that the bill would be a boon not only to the Jewish community, but to all communities.
"Jews have always valued education above all else ... Whether in the Warsaw Ghetto under the Nazi boot or newly liberated in displaced persons camps across Europe, and even behind the Iron Curtain, on the KGB's watch, Jews risked their lives to teach their children," Beigelman said. "While we are a synagogue-based movement, we say unashamedly that nothing is as crucial to families that move in -- or out -- of any community as the educational opportunities afforded their children."
The program would begin with a five-year pilot program in
Put simply, Beigelman said, the bill would help lower- and moderate-income people educate their children outside of failing inner cities schools and it would save taxpayers money they would otherwise be spending on those failing schools. The State Senate, he said, chose the pilot districts based on educational studies done to determine which needed the most help right away. The legislation is based on similar programs in
Beigelman said that some of those districts are places "where the Catholic schools are going to close and it will be a drain on the public school system already." The bill has support not only from the Jewish community, but also from supporters of parochial schools and, Beilgelman noted, from the Latino Leadership Alliance of N.J., the Black Minister's Council, and public housing residents.
The bill, which defines low-income as 2.5 times the poverty rate, or about $50,000 for a family of four, does not provide aid to schools directly, he said. The aid is family-focused.
Opponents of the bill -- among them the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) -- have said this is a "back-door voucher program" for private and parochial schools that will take millions from the state treasury over five years. "With the state facing a multi-billion-dollar deficit, it's irresponsible to even consider a proposal that would drain $360 million from the public schools and our communities, and divert it to private and religious schools," said a statement on the NJEA Web site.
Beigelman disagrees.
"[It's] aid to parents who are low income and who struggle mightily to pay their taxes and their tuition," Beigelman said. "There's no greater burden on the community, I think, than the burden of tuition on lower-income families."
The State Economic Development Committee approved the bill already, Beigelman said, and it will be up for a vote soon, although no date has yet been set.
Senators Lesniak, Kean, and Kyrillos did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story by press time; the NJEA's Department of Government Relations also did not return a call seeking comment.