by Israel Teitelbaum

January 1, 2009

The latest financial tragedy, resulting from a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, has severely impacted our community’s most generous charities, benefactors, and foundations. Coming on the heels of the financial collapse and following years of building pressure from rising taxes, this is placing an unbearable burden on New Jersey families.

Parents with children in private and religious schools are hurting beyond the breaking point. In addition to having to pay ever-rising property taxes for local public schools — $21,000 per child in West Orange — suburbanites are also required to fund the 31 Abbott districts at a cost of $4.1 billion per year. Day school tuition, ranging from $16,000 to $20,000, comprises their third payment for education. What are parents to do?

To address this issue, school choice advocates from a host of organizations representing religious, family, and taxpayer groups held several conferences in New York and New Jersey. Last January, at the headquarters of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education in Brooklyn, Chairman Rabbi Shea Hecht said, “In study after study, wherever school choice has been tried, it was of great benefit to all. Although the challenge is great, school choice has the support of many people, and we need to make the effort.”

Bob Schundler, leading school choice advocate and founder of SchoolChoiceVoter.org, spoke of the emphasis on liberty found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. “How is it ‘liberty’ when the government does not allow you to raise your own children? And how is it ‘pursuit of happiness’ when children are not graduating high school?”

One proposal that brings the blessings of free enterprise to education is the Civil Rights Act for Equal Educational Opportunity (CRA for EEO). The legislation would implement the school voucher plan of the late economist Milton Friedman by mandating equitable funding for children in nonpublic schools while respecting the liberty of schools in hiring and provision of services. Academic standards and means of funding would be left to the states, or to the people, in accordance with the 10th Amendment.

Support for this measure is now building at the grassroots level among Jews, Catholics, African Americans, and Hispanics eager for real change from a system that is failing their children. Kim Chorba, director of the New Jersey Network of Catholic School Families, has spoken of the need for every parent to become politically involved so that we can achieve better education choices for their children.

Unfortunately, universal school choice is a “third rail” issue due to the enormous political clout of the unions. The only way to turn this balance of power is by flooding our elected representatives with phone calls and e-mails urging them to do what’s right for the children and their families. They need to know that:

• Denial of parental choice in education is the greatest government-sanctioned violation of civil rights in today’s America. At an Independence Day rally in West Orange, Dan Gaby, director of Education Excellence for Everyone, the leading school choice advocacy group in New Jersey, told of his involvement in the early years of the civil rights movement. “The experts told us then that civil rights was impossible to achieve. Yet, we persevered and now it’s the law of the land. We can to do the same for parental choice in education,” he said.
• The CRA for EEO will fulfill what was omitted from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when our nation recognized the importance of equal opportunity in housing, employment, and public accommodations — but not for education.
• Parental choice is supported by Democrats, Republicans, liberals, and conservatives who desire improved educational opportunities for their children.
• The CRA for EEO will provide improved opportunities for every child, and bring innovative advancements in education by force of competition, while substantially reducing costs. Jerry Cantrell, president of the New Jersey Taxpayers Association, has asked, “When has legitimate competition been a dirty word in our society? Wherever we look, competition has created virtually all the good things in our lives. Would anyone still want to have a single telephone monopoly? So why not provide choices in where our children can receive their education?”
• If school choice can work in Sweden, it can work here, too.

President-elect Barack Obama has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to consider new ideas for improving education, most recently with his nomination of Arne Duncan as secretary of education. At the press conference, Duncan said, “Whether it’s fighting poverty, strengthening the economy, or promoting opportunity, education is the common thread. It is the civil rights issue of our generation, and it is the one sure path to a more equal, fair, and just society.”

The Office of the President-Elect, at change.gov, invites comments. The time spent in support of the CRA for EEO may be a far wiser investment than going out to buy a $100 million lottery ticket.

Residents of New Jersey’s 27th Legislative District also have the opportunity to turn the tide in New Jersey. A bill now in Trenton calling for a pilot scholarship program based on tax credits (S1607) is being blocked by the New Jersey Education Association. Senate President Richard Codey has the political clout needed to pass this legislation, but has not heard from the community.

The question is: Who will now place these phone calls and send these e-mails?

Israel Teitelbaum is cofounder of Parents for Free Choice in Education (973-267-4213 or Israel@SchoolChoiceVoter.org).

Comment: comments@njjewishnews.com

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