Schundler to Address Judge's
Ruling
on Quality Education Act
Vouchers as Solution to School Funding
Crisis
Press Release, September 3, 1993
Jersey City
Mayor Bret Schundler will hold a press conference tomorrow
in City Council Chambers to respond to State Judge Paul Levy's recent ruling on the Quality
Education Act, commonly referred to as the QEA.
Judge Levy ruled that the Florio administration's QEA formula does not sufficiently equalize
education funding between the State's wealthy districts and its 28 poor "special needs" districts,
of which Jersey City is one.
The QEA has been a dismal failure in Jersey City as the State has pumped over $100-million
of additional funding in the local school system over the last three years without any significant
changes in test scores or the student drop-out rate.
After reading media accounts of Judge Levy's decision, Mayor Schundler said:
"The only way to increase per-pupil expenditures in Jersey City, without another
devastating tax increase, is to pass my school voucher plan."
Schundler's proposal, "The Tax Expenditure Neutral, Educational Opportunity Act", would,
for the first time in State history, give every parent, regardless of income, the power to choose
the public or private school that they think is best for their child.
The Mayor's proposal would also increase per-student funding levels for the children who
remain in Jersey City's public schools. This is because under the Mayor's plan, only a portion
of monies are removed from the public system when a student elects to transfer to a private
school. As a result, without increasing state or local spending, Schundler's proposal would make
vouchers available for private school students and increase the levels of funding available for those
children that remain in the public school system.
"Jersey City taxpayers are being asked to pay high property taxes to fund a bloated
bureaucracy that fails the children it is supposed to serve. I wish the State would stop giving us
more of what we don't want, and what they don't have, which is money; and would instead
begin to give us what the parents of Jersey City really want, which is school choice and increased
accountability in their schools."
Schundler does not lay blame with the education unions, but with the Governor:
"The problem is not the New Jersey Education Association. Unions always fight for
higher salaries coupled with less work and less accountability. The real problem is
politicians like Jim Florio, who would rather pander to special interest groups than
serve constituents."
At a time when governors in Michigan and Puerto Rico are experimenting with school choice
plans that transfer power from the education bureaucracy to parents, Mayor Schundler feels that
New Jersey is slipping woefully behind under its present leadership.
"Governor Florio saw Judge Levy's decision as an opportunity to criticize our voucher
program in The New York Times. But when you read his comments, its obvious that he doesn't know the first thing about our plan. His Hudson County advisors
find merit in our proposal"
Schundler is referring to three of Florio's top political advisors: former U.S. Rep. Frank
Guarini and former Hudson County Democratic Chairmen Bernie Hartnett and Joseph Panepinto.
The Mayor believes that New Jersey can no longer afford alternatives to the real reform of
school choice.
"Our private schools are being bankrupted by constantly rising taxes which make it
impossible for parents to pay both taxes and tuition. If our private schools fail the
taxpayers will have to spend an extra $130 million per year in Jersey City's public
schools. And this is at a time when the State has a $1.5 billion structural deficit, and
Jersey City residents are already burdened by unbearably high property taxes."
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Hudson County, New Jersey is a place of many firsts - including genocide and slavery.
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First in a series by Anthony Olszewski – Click HERE to find out more.
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