Schundler Releases Poll Results--
62.5% of Voters Statewide Support
Pilot School Choice Program For Jersey City
Strong Support Among African-Americans, Hispanics, and
Young Voters
June 8, 1994
Jersey City
Mayor Bret Schundler held a press conference today to release the results of a statewide public
opinion poll which shows that 62.5% of New Jersey voters support a pilot school choice
program for Jersey City.
Support for the Mayor's school choice program was greatest among African-Americans
(71.6%), Hispanics (64.2%), younger voters (78%) and lower income households (68.2%). The
survey results also show that support for school choice cuts across ideological lines, with 69.3%
of self-described conservatives and 65.6% of liberals supporting a pilot school choice program
for Jersey City.
The survey results, which come on the heels of last week's announcement by the state that only
6% of urban public school eighth graders are fully competent in math, add further impetus
to Mayor Schundler's efforts to initiate a school choice pilot program in Jersey City.
"It's abundantly clear that the people of New Jersey support our attempt to implement serious
education reform in Jersey City. The only question that remains is how hard the New Jersey
Education Association is going to twist the arms of legislators to prevent serious educational
reform and innovation in order to maintain its unaccountable monopoly," Schundler said.
The NJEA has recently announced that it is imposing a $50 union dues surcharge on all
teachers to raise $10 million to defeat several education reform initiatives, including the
Mayor's pilot school choice program. In October 1993, the NJEA also helped finance litigation
that prevented a non-binding referendum from being placed on the November ballot. The
referendum would have asked Jersey City voters to voice their opinion on Schundler's school
choice program.
The Mayor's education reform legislation, "The Jersey City `School Children First' Education
Act," would empower educators to develop specialized education programs and establish
charter schools. It would also empower parents to choose the schools their children attend and
would provide tuition assistance, in the form of a voucher, to those parents who choose to send
their children to privately managed schools.
In place of the current system of "accountability by regulation" (which guarantees educational
program sameness but not success), the Mayor's program would institute "accountability for
results," by requiring students to take yearly examinations so that parents and educators can
measure the academic progress of individual children and schools. These testing provisions
will make each school and specialized course of study directly accountable for student
performance, rather than merely holding schools accountable for compliance with
bureaucratic regulations. It would also provide parents with the information necessary to
choose the program of study that best meets the needs of their children.
Both Governor Whitman and Commissioner Klagholz have publicly stated their support for
a pilot school choice program in Jersey City.
The survey was conducted by Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, and consisted of telephone
interviews with 1,000 registered voters in New Jersey who are likely to vote in statewide
elections. The telephone interviews were conducted between May 17th and May 22nd, 1994.
This survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval.
Respondents were asked the following question:
Do you approve or disapprove of allowing Jersey City to test a pilot school choice program
where parents would receive publicly-funded vouchers so they could send their children to the
public, private, or parochial school of their choice?
Respondents were then asked to choose one of five responses: Strongly Approve, Somewhat
Approve, Somewhat Disapprove, Strongly Disapprove, or Don't Know.
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First in a series by Anthony Olszewski – Click HERE to find out more.
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