TRENTON — In a report released today by Gov. Chris Christie, a study commission on non-public schools found that private and parochial schools save New Jersey $2.7 billion annually, while providing "expanded educational options" for children. The report also recommended that some form of tax scholarships or tax credits be enacted in the state, which would help parents choose...
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in this file photo at the Statehouse.TRENTON — In a report released today by Gov. Chris Christie, a study commission on non-public schools found that private and parochial schools save New Jersey $2.7 billion annually, while providing "expanded educational options" for children.
The report also recommended that some form of tax scholarships or tax credits be enacted in the state, which would help parents choose to send their children to nonpublic schools.
Christie, who has backed a controversial bill that would allow school choice, said "the section of the report supporting tax credits for scholarship programs is especially important.
"Many states provide such tax credits, and we support providing them in New Jersey, as well," he said in a press release. Christie said he would take the recommendations under consideration.
The Governor’s Study Commission on New Jersey’s Nonpublic Schools was created by former Gov. Jon Corzine in December 2009, and chaired by Assemblyman Gary Schaer, (D-Passaic.)
There are 24 members listed on the commission report, 15 of them affiliated with private or parochial schools.
Steve Baker, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, said "their findings are hardly surprising.
"The commission is made up largely of people who represent organizations with a financial interest directing public tax dollars to private schools," Baker said. "The fact remains that almost 90 percent of New Jersey students attend public schools. At a time when the governor is drastically reducing aid to those schools...it is unconscionable to consider using scarce public resources to bail our private and parochial schools."
The report said nonpublic schools serve more than 160,000 New Jersey students, but that enrollment dropped by more than 29,000 between 2004 and 2009, because of financial stress on families. Most of those students entered public schools, costing taxpayers more than $430 million a year, according to the report.
The report stated "there are important economic reasons to keep private schools strong," and recommended increasing funding for transportation assistance; support for nursing services and technology and special education.
Sen. Robert Singer, (R-Ocean), a member of the commission, said Corzine created the group and appointed the members, and that when Christie came into office, the chair asked the new governor if he wanted the work to proceed. "He said, ‘absolutely yes,'" Singer said.
He said while the group looked at nonpublic schools overall, the main idea was to look at private and parochial schools an option for parents of children in failing schools.