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Weekly Opinion Roundup - 5/6/2008As the debate continues over the issue of faith-based social service, the Roundtable will assemble a weekly digest of opinion from all sides for your consideration.
05/06/2008Vouchers boost achievementSt. Petersburg Times (Florida) Unfortunately, in a recent editorial regarding the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, the St. Petersburg Times employs worn-out diversionary tactics to obfuscate the issues and conceal its true position - the paper's editorial board despises the concept of providing school choice options to low-income students. Let's end the theatrics and address the real questions going before the Florida people on November's ballot. This debate is on keeping the promise of a quality education for all of Florida's students. Florida students are no longer just competing with students in Georgia, California, New York and Texas for coveted high-wage jobs. They are competing with their peers around the world. Countries like China, Sweden and Singapore are focusing on tomorrow's economy and placing a premium on education and innovation to ensure they can keep pace with their rivals. For decades, America set that pace, and now we are falling behind. We need all schools - here and in the 49 other states - to get better for our country's future. The only way to improve student performance is through continual and perpetual reform of education. Florida needs a 21st century education system for a 21st century world, and school choice can be an important catalyst to make this vision a reality.
Just 10 years ago, Florida schools were failing and our students routinely scored at the bottom in the nation on standardized tests. Vouchers were one of the tools that dramatically improved student achievement and spurred a turnaround. We created Opportunity Scholarships to give low-income families access to high-performing schools - regardless of whether they were public, private or religious. Poor families were afforded the same opportunity as affluent families who have the money to make the choice. The successful program provided options for students in chronically failing schools and created competition that improved low-performing public schools. Choice wasn't just for the elite, and all schools got better. Under a system of high standards, accountability and competition, Florida has made great progress. Nearly a quarter of a million more children are reading at or above grade level today than a decade ago. Florida is scoring above the national average in reading and math. The achievement gap for minorities is narrowing, with increasing numbers of African-Americans and Hispanics making the grade. High standards are working and accountability is working. But it is not enough. Unfortunately, quality is not a concern of the court system. Despite contributing to unprecedented student learning gains, the voucher program was struck down as unconstitutional by a state appellate court in 2002 and by the Florida Supreme Court in 2006. The Florida appellate court ruled that state-funded vouchers represented "indirect support" of a religious institution - even though the state was actually paying for a service, not funding a particular dogma. If applied without discrimination, as sought by teachers unions and liberal special interest groups, this ruling would end public funding of dozens of programs across a spectrum of policy areas. The Florida Supreme Court ruled that vouchers for private schools violated a constitutional requirement that public education be "uniform." Under this tortured reasoning, a better education from a private school was unconstitutional just because it was different than the education provided by a public school. Fortunately, the state's Taxation and Budget Reform Commission took action last week to address the concerns of the courts and place these important issues before Florida voters in November. Voters will decide whether to embrace religious freedom or deny faith-based organizations a seat at the table. And voters will ultimately decide the best way to provide a quality education. Do we give parents choices and trust that they know what is best for their child's education, or do we trust a regressive government monopoly of our public school system to meet the unique needs of every Florida child? St. Petersburg Times, please throw away the tired rhetoric. Our urgency should be focused on providing a world-class quality of education to prepare all Florida students to succeed in the competitive global marketplace. Too much is at stake. A Day In The Life: The White House Office of Faith Biased InitiativesOhmygov.com Whether or not the existence of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is unconstitutional remains to be determined. Under a year ago, the Supreme Court almost tried to resolve this conundrum, but punted. Rather than asking whether the office violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause (which it may) or Separation of Powers (which it does, but more on that later), they summarily dismissed the case. The Establishment Clause, which prohibits any "law respecting an establishment of religion," is notoriously hazy. Some read it and believe that simply using federal dollars to fund faith-based organizations clearly entangles the purse of government with the arm of religion. But interestingly, the phrase "separation of Church and State" appears nowhere in the Constitution-it is often misattributed to the Establishment Clause. In fact, the United States sometimes affords religion special protection. After all, the voting populace is religious, and there is no Democracy unless the people fashion a government in their own image. 05/02/2008Stopping the collapse of private schools in NJnj.com At the same time, faith based private schools of all denominations are closing, mostly in our urban areas, putting additional financial stress on our state to pay for the education of those coming from the closed schools as well as creating a need for expanded capacity, when we haven't even met that need without the closings. In the past 10 years, 100 Catholic schools have closed: increasing the public school population by 40,000 students. More closings are being planned and without some remedy, the remaining 80,000 students will likewise join their former classmates. There are also Jewish and Muslim schools struggling to make ends meet. The total might swell even more if they have to likewise close their schools. The cost of a public school education is more than double the cost at faith based schools. The fiscal consequences of doing nothing will be devastating. Do the math. I have sponsored S-1607, with Republican Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. as prime co-sponsor, to ease the burden on our taxpayers and our public education system. This bill establishes a 5 year pilot program in 7 of the 32 UEZ zones throughout the state: Newark, Elizabeth, Orange, Paterson, Camden, Trenton, and Lakewood with the potential expansion to other UEZ municipalities after the second year of the program. The legislation targets low income children who will be eligible to receive scholarships if their family income is less than 2.5 the Federal Poverty Level which would be $51,000 for a family of 4, and live in one of the pilot communities The scholarships would be based on 40% of the average cost of a public school education in the pilot communities for K-8 students (apx. $6,000) and 59% for grades 9-12 (apx.$9000) and must be accepted as payment in full for all costs of attending the non-public schools. So that the scholarships are not given exclusively to children already attending non-public schools, 75% must be awarded to current public school students. The remaining 25% will be used to help those low income families which already have students in non-public schools. The scholarships may be used at participating out of district public schools or any qualifying non-public school. The participating non-public schools must test scholarship students under the same standards as public school students. The program will be administered by the NJ Urban Enterprise Authority. The UEZ Board would choose scholarship organizations from among applicants in the pilot school districts. Applicants would be existing non-profits with appropriate experience and credentials. Three organizations are presently distributing scholarships to non public school students: -- In Newark, Orange, Elizabeth -- scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children. -- In Paterson -- Tri-County Scholarship Fund -- In Camden -- International Education Fund S-1607 is landmark legislation aimed at nothing less than stopping the collapse of faith-based schools in this state. Under this legislation -- the Urban Enterprise Zone Jobs Scholarship Act --any New Jersey corporation would receive a full 100% credit against its New Jersey state corporate tax obligation for its contribution to designated private school scholarship funds. New Jersey corporations could contribute an aggregate $24 million in the first year to fund about 4,000 scholarships. Over the next four years, the amount would rise $24 million per year until it reached $120 million in the 5th year. Without this legislation faith-based schools will almost certainly enter a period of irreversible decline. Should this occur, the sure losers are the most economically vulnerable of New Jersey's children, as well as the badly-battered taxpayers of our state. The cost to the taxpayers of educating children from previous closings went from virtually nothing to almost $700 million annually and far worse lies ahead. The rate of parochial school closings and student transfers to public schools is accelerating. Indeed, one can envision that, at the ever-increasing rate of closure, Catholic schools could become an endangered species over the next decade. This once-mighty force for excellence in education is being shaken to its foundation. This implosion is being replicated in other faith-based schools, serving New Jersey's many other religious communities. The relentless realities of higher lay teacher costs and shifting student demographics are driving tuitions into the unaffordable stratosphere. The result is declining enrollment, causing further declining revenues and further loss of capacity. It is a steady downward spiral, accelerating in its race to the bottom. At present, there are approximately 200,000 students still attending faith-based schools in our state. It's important to recognize the life-saving role of faith-based schools in inner-city New Jersey. This is particularly true for disadvantaged children and children attempting to assimilate into our language and culture. While never able to take in all who sought their refuge, the faith-based schools nonetheless served, for generations of aspiring Americans, as a haven of academic excellence, scholastic calm and physical safety. In and around my own city of Elizabeth, Catholic and Jewish schools significantly outperform the public school system that has vastly higher per pupil costs. Just a few stats serve to describe the taxation sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. New Jersey has the highest public school per-pupil spending in the U.S.: more than double that of parochial schools. More teachers would have to be hired, at the highest average salaries in the nation. Our unfunded liability for teacher pensions and retirement healthcare--already the highest per capita in the U.S.--would rise again. And new schools would have to be built to accommodate the additional students--while existing parochial schools were left empty and unused. Those who oppose S-1607 argue that New Jersey cannot afford the $24 million first year cost at a time of fiscal distress when other services are being pared. I say New Jersey cannot afford not to preserve its faith-based school systems. If we allow these financially distressed schools to close, educating its students in far more expensive public schools would far exceed the cost of the scholarship program. It would also leave these same taxpayers with a Hobson's choice: either tolerate further overcrowding in the public schools or pour yet more billions into additional public school buildings. This would be fiscal irresponsibility at its worst. I am hopeful that the compelling logic of this argument will prevail and that the faith-based private schools of New Jersey will be rescued, restored and rejuvenated to serve the children of this State as a positive supplement to our public school system. |
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