What began as a rally in support of the Opportunity Scholarship Act in front of the statehouse in Trenton turned into an unusual and raucous outdoor Senate committee hearing May 13, which saw the controversial bill unanimously approved by the committee.

The rally, organized by non-profit group E3 (Excellent Education for Everyone), was scheduled to take place outside the statehouse while the Senate Economic Growth Committee heard testimony on bill S-1872 indoors. But when opponents of the bill packed the committee room and refused to make way for supporters to observe the hearing, Sen. Raymond Lesniak, chair of the Economic Growth Committee and primary sponsor of the bill, moved the meeting to the statehouse steps.

Hundreds of supporters – many of them students from Catholic and other private schools across the state – were surrounded by vocal opponents of the bill, most notably members of the New Jersey Education Association. In spite of attempts to control the crowd, testimony from both sides was presented amidst shouts, cheers and catcalls from those in attendance.

When testimony concluded, the committee approved the bill by a vote of 6-0, sending it to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee for further consideration. The bill also got a boost when Assemblyman Angel Fuentes agreed to sponsor the Assembly version of the legislation, A-2810.

Educational Opportunity
The Opportunity Scholarship Act is the latest legislative attempt to provide educational options for students who attend chronically failing schools. The bill proposes a five-year pilot program in which children from low-income families living in districts containing failing schools will become eligible for scholarships to the public or non-public school of their choice.

A total of 205 schools in the state have been identified as “failing,” meaning that 65 percent of students in the school failed either a standard language arts or mathematics assessment test and 40 percent of students failed both tests.

Funds will be contributed by corporations in exchange for a 100 percent tax credit. Contributions in the first year of the program will be capped at $24 million, with annual increases up to $120 million in the fifth year.

In addition, the bill proposes an Education Improvement Fund that would offer competitive grants to public schools demonstrating innovative educational practices to improve student learning and performance.

Among those who testified on behalf of the bill was New Jersey education commissioner Bret Schundler, who emphasized that the legislation was not an attempt to promote private schools nor to hinder public schools. The real focus, he said, is giving students access to better learning environments.

“Education is for the benefit of the children of New Jersey and the future of our state is dependent on their having the very best education possible,” Schundler said.

The Scholarship Act, he said, would put the interests of children first by giving their parents the power to move their child to a different school if the one they are attending isn’t working. Such a system, he said, would motivate schools to improve their performance in order to keep students.

“We need to have an accountability mechanism,” he said. “And there is no greater accountability mechanism than allowing those who most love our children to be in a position to make the decision about what is best for them.”

A large Catholic contingent was in attendance for the rally, including students and representatives from Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville; Trenton Catholic Academy, Hamilton; Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, Asbury Park; Incarnation-St. James School, Ewing; and St. Paul School, Princeton. Prior to the hearing, the students joined other schools from around New Jersey in proudly waving signs and chanting in favor of the bill, which in many cases could help their parents continue to pay for their child’s Catholic education. Amidst the boisterous crowd, the students were commended by the committee for their model behavior during the hearing.

Testifying on behalf of the New Jersey Catholic bishops was Newark Auxiliary Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha. Bishop da Cunha explained that it is part of the Church’s mission to provide good schools for children of all religious backgrounds.

“Quality education for all children, delivered in a manner that is equitable for the taxpayers of New Jersey, is a goal that we all share,” he said.

He added that Catholic schools also serve an important role in helping to ease the financial burden on taxpayers required to support public school education.

By choosing to send their children to Catholic school, parents decrease the number of students the public schools must pay to educate, he said, but high costs have resulted in many families struggling to continue to afford Catholic education.

As parents are forced to pull their children from Catholic schools for economic reasons, Bishop da Cunha explained, dropping enrollment results in closed schools, sending more children into the public school system and increasing costs for taxpayers.

“In order to continue to provide the Catholic education in New Jersey that has existed for over 150 years, parents will need some assistance from the government,” he said.

“If all of the children presently in New Jersey Catholic schools were enrolled in public school, it would cost the taxpayers over $1 billion in additional costs.”

Joining Catholic leaders in support of the legislation were representatives of other Christian and Jewish communities across New Jersey, as well as leaders of local corporations and businesses who would be in favor of donating their tax dollars to the program.

Heated Debate
Opposition to the bill comes mainly from advocates for public schools, who fear that the legislation would result in even more funds diverted away from public education at a time that the school districts are facing severe cuts due to the state’s budget crisis.

Marie Blistan, secretary-treasurer of the NJEA, was among those who testified against the legislation.

Blistan argued that the bill would “subsidize private schools” with taxpayer money, while at the same time stripping public schools of the necessary resources to educate those students who remain.

“In a year when the governor has slashed more than $1 billion from public schools and has cut other critical public service programs to the bone, it is unconscionable to consider slashing state aid even further, while diverting tax dollars to prop up private schools,” Blistan said.

She also echoed the argument of many of the bill’s opponents – that it will be “a full-blown voucher program” that would use public funds to send children to private schools.

But such arguments represent a “misconception” of how the bill would work, said Usha Rosidivito, director of the New Jersey Network of Catholic School Families for the Trenton and Camden Dioceses. Rosidivito, who has helped to organize supporters of the bill and to educate families on its importance, said that it is in no way an attempt to take money away from public schools.

“This is not a voucher bill,” she said, adding that vouchers take money out of the state treasury, whereas the Opportunity Scholarship Act utilizes funds from corporations that have never made their way to the treasury. And the money is not directed to private institutions, but to the individual child, she explained.

“It is not a secret plan to destroy public schools, because there are many good public schools out there,” Rosidivito said. “It is about giving kids the best opportunity to get the best education they can possibly have.”

And while Rosidivito admits that public schools have been hit hard by budget cuts, private schools have not been immune from feeling the economic pinch, she said. New Jersey last year cut its Non-Public School Technology Initiative from the state budget, eliminating technology grants to Catholic and other nonpublic schools.

Rosidivito added that although there has been strong opposition from public school advocates, it has been encouraging to see the number of organizations and individuals that have recognized the need for a law that would provide better education for children in New Jersey.

“Just because Catholics are on the forefront of this fight, this is not a Catholic issue,” she said. “And it is not just religious denominations that are coming on board.

“The business organizations are coming on board because they have recognized that they bring someone to work for them and they are not competent because they were not well-served in the educational institutions. They recognize that we need education reform in order to have better citizens.”