NJ Education Report

Read my column today at NJ Spotlight which considers NJ’s hotly-contested Opportunity Scholarship Act, or “the voucher bill.”

In 1994, Gov. Christie Whitman announced a plan, never endorsed by the Legislature, to offer publicly funded vouchers to private and parochial schools for children in Jersey City. Over the past 20 years, Whitman’s modest proposal has evolved into the Opportunity Scholarship Act (OSA).

In its grandest form, inscribed in Senate Bill 1872, OSA would provide $1 billion in vouchers for up to 40,000 kids over five years, paid for by corporations in exchange for tax credits. A slimmed-down (and superior) Assembly version, unveiled last year, limits eligibility to seven school districts: Newark, Camden, Elizabeth, Asbury Park, Lakewood, Passaic, and Orange.

Yet in spite of fierce efforts by lobbyists, OSA has never made it to the Statehouse floor and prospects remain dim. Gov. Chris Christie, hardly one to flinch from a fight, acknowledged this in last month’s budget address when, as part of his $89 billion school-aid package, he proposed the inclusion of $2 million for a one-year pilot program. It’s OSA writ small, barely enough to offer $10,000 vouchers to 200 poor kids.

Read the rest here.