July 9, 2009

Last year, NJ Jewish News asked Jewish community leaders what issues they hoped the presidential candidates would address in their hard-fought campaign. With New Jersey facing an important gubernatorial race between the incumbent Democrat, Gov. Jon Corzine, and his Republican challenger, former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, we are again asking leaders and experts to focus on issues of critical importance to citizens of the state and members of the Jewish community.

“What’s at Stake” will be a regular feature between now and Election Day, featuring writers from a wide variety of backgrounds and diverse political camps.

This week we start off with views on two issues: health care and school funding.

To offer your own ideas on “What’s at Stake,” send your thoughts (no longer than 300 words) to editorial@njjewishnews.com and write “Stake” in the subject line.

Marsha Atkind is executive director of The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

Taking charge of health

At the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, we see every day the casualties that lack of an equitable, affordable, accessible health-care system inflicts upon people’s lives. What’s at stake in this election? Nothing less than the shape of health care in New Jersey and the well-being of everyone who lives here.

The time has clearly come for significant change in the delivery of health care. It is time to eliminate disparities and give everyone, no matter how rich or how poor, access to compassionate, quality care.

It is time to make sure that those in the cities and suburbs alike have access to primary care, appropriate screenings, and affordable medications.

Time to provide seniors with the supports and transportation they need to continue to live at home as long as possible.

To increase the availability of mental health services and remove the stigma surrounding their use.

To launch a health literacy campaign so that everyone can understand what must be done to take charge of their own well being.

And time to invest in young children’s health — both physical and emotional — understanding that this is not only right, but smart as well. To do so would go a long way toward preventing the violence, addiction, chronic disease, and self-destructive behaviors that plague our society.

We all know that when we don’t have good health, little else matters. What’s at stake in this election? Everything! And time is running out.

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Israel Teitelbaum is a cofounder of Parents for Free Choice in Education. He can be reached at Israel@SchoolChoiceVoter.org.

A choice of schools

It is exciting to see that educational funding for children attending non-public schools is now a major issue in New Jersey’s gubernatorial campaign. Chris Christie supports the Urban Enterprise Zone Jobs Scholarship Act (S1607) that would provide up to 20,000 school vouchers, funded by tax- credited corporate contributions. Gov. Jon Corzine is aligned with the New Jersey Education Association that opposes this bill.

It’s very important for voters to realize that funding for children in nonpublic schools is more than a matter of education. The right of parents to raise and educate their children with minimal government interference is a civil right that should be protected by the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law…prohibiting the free exercise thereof (religion).” Once government has taken your educational dollars, you are no longer free to exercise the liberty to provide your children with the education consistent with your religious practices and ideals. You have to pay again for education — not unlike paying a fine for parking at a fire hydrant, only this punishment is automatic, and there is nowhere to appeal.

Furthermore, government’s monopolistic control of education has led to runaway costs and a severe decline in quality. As clearly shown in the recently released documentary The Cartel, “For at least a generation American public schools have been growing progressively worse. According to the U.S. Department of Education, only 35 percent of American high school seniors are proficient in reading, and a mere 23 percent proficient in math. On the global stage, America ranks last in educational effectiveness among large industrialized countries despite the highest spending per student…Only 39 percent of New Jersey eighth graders test proficient in reading.”

The time has come for us to allow the magic of free enterprise to do for our educational system what it has done for the economy of China. Every step we take toward parental choice in education takes us closer to the realization of true freedom and improved educational opportunities for all our children.

Comment: comments@njjewishnews.com

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