Suit Seeks School Choice for Underprivileged New Jersey Students
by Jim Brown
July 17, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A class-action lawsuit filed against New Jersey school districts and the State Commissioner of Education seeks to win more than 60,000 students in failing schools the right to attend a different public or private school. The lawsuit was filed by the Alliance for School Choice on behalf of mostly black and Latino students in 95 schools in 24 school districts. Alliance president Clint Bolick says all of the 95 schools are poorly performing schools where students have almost no chance of graduating with basic skills.
According to Bolick, good things happen when parents are given control over the funds directed toward their children's education. "One is that kids are able to leave failing schools and immediately attend good schools," he says, "and the other thing is that public schools get better because this really imposes accountability like they've never experienced before."
This is why the Alliance spokesman describes school choice as "the tide that lifts all boats." Money does not make for quality education, he asserts, noting that the school districts he is suing all spend between $10,000 and $20,000 per student and the educational rates they are getting for that are what he calls "abysmal."
For more than 30 years, Bolick points out, the New Jersey courts have been trying to vindicate the promise of a "thorough and efficient education" under the state's constitution by throwing money at the schools. However, he contends, that approach has not worked.
"It's essential to include religious schools within the remedy," the school choice advocate says. "There simply are not enough good educational options out there without including religious schools." And in New Jersey in particular, he adds, a number of Catholic inner-city schools have been closing in recent years -- schools that he says "have been a salvation for inner city kids" in the past.
The suit filed by the Alliance for School Choice faces strong opposition from teacher's unions, Bolick notes. He refers to these unions as "the 800-pound gorilla" stifling meaningful and much-needed educational reforms.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
