Alliance for Free Choice in Education
973-820-6121 info@allianceforfreechoiceineducation.com
See the Press Release from the New Jersey Taxpayers’ Association is of great help in assuring our representatives in Congress of wide public support for universal school choice.
Your email, and follow up phone call, will be of great help in promoting the bill to improve our society in countless ways.
Following are the names and email addresses of New Jersey Congressman who favor school choice, but need to be assured of public support. They can all be reached at 202-224-3121.
See proposed bill under tab Proposed Legislation.
Please keep us informed of developments.
All the best.
Israel Teitelbaum
Secretary
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PRESS RELEASE
PO Box 78, Landing, NJ 07850• www.njtaxes.org • Toll-Free 866-734-3199 Chris Rogers, President • Steve Reichenstein, Vice President • Dick Clair, Treasurer Neil Coleman, Legislative Liaison • Walter M. Luers, Esq. Trustee • Richard DeMarco, Trustee Bill Curran, Trustee • Bill Greenberg, Trustee • Gerard Gruenfelder, Trustee • Bob Hamilton, Trustee John Aiello, Trustee • Jim Foody, Trustee • Maureen Castriotta, Director of Social Media
PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
Landing, NJ - The New Jersey Taxpayers' Association has been looking into an idea whose time has come regarding improving the quality and efficiency of our educational system. We are turning to you, as our representative in Congress, to lead the way in this worthy endeavor.
It goes without saying that in many parts of our state and nation, the quality and cost of our public educational system has reached far more than crisis proportions. A 2009 study by the CATO Institute found the average annual cost per student in the District of Columbia to be $26,555, while the student failure rate is too staggering to quantify!
Undoubtedly, these cost overruns and educational failures are contributing greatly to the numerous challenges and monumental cost increases in every area of government, especially crime and social programs. The economy is also suffering from an under educated populace, and losing major enterprises to foreign countries.
It is vitally important that we meet this challenge now, when voters are eager to elect those who have a reasonable plan to improve our society, rather than empty promises. There is surely no better place to begin than improving educational opportunities for every child - especially the poor and downtrodden - while saving billions for overburdened taxpayers.
We have looked at the proposal of the Alliance for Free Choice in Education suggesting the NJ Parental Rights Program Act (S504/A1050) as a model for federal legislation. We agree with the basic need for parental choice in education. However, the bill may need to be tweaked to meet the particular circumstances in D.C. For example: The NJ bill does not identify a dollar amount per child, while D.C. already has a small pilot program that provides vouchers valued at $8,000 for children attending K-8, and $12,000 for those attending 9-12. The program has met with success in graduation rates and parental satisfaction, and cries out for expansion. It is surely fair, equitable and constitutional to provide every child with improved educational opportunities rather than only a select few. Taxpayers can save as much as $18,555 with the use of a single voucher.
2 PO Box 78, Landing, NJ 07850• www.njtaxes.org • Toll-Free 866-734-3199 Chris Rogers, President • Steve Reichenstein, Vice President • Dick Clair, Treasurer Neil Coleman, Legislative Liaison • Walter M. Luers, Esq. Trustee • Richard DeMarco, Trustee Bill Curran, Trustee • Bill Greenberg, Trustee • Gerard Gruenfelder, Trustee • Bob Hamilton, Trustee John Aiello, Trustee • Jim Foody, Trustee • Maureen Castriotta, Director of Social Media
We further suggest that the bill should include the provision that all such savings be dedicated to reducing taxes and/or payment of the national debt. This will be one step in reducing runaway spending, and may lead to further cost cutting at both the federal and state level. Improving education and reducing cost in the nation’s capital will serve an excellent example for all states to follow. In the words of the late, free-enterprise economist Milton Friedman, "An educational voucher of reasonable size, though less than the current government spending per student, that was available to all students regardless of income or race or religion and that did not prohibit add-ons or impose detailed regulations on start-up service providers would end up helping the poor more than a charity voucher — not instantly, but after a brief period as competition did its work. Just as the breakup of the Ma Bell monopoly led to a revolution in communications, a breakup of the school monopoly would lead to a revolution in schooling."
Most important is that a federal bill be sponsored that is faithful to the plan proposed by the legendary Milton Friedman, to which he dedicated more than half a century. He succinctly described and explained his plan in his 2005 article School Vouchers Turn 50 but the Fight is Just Beginning. Free enterprise is what made the United States of American the greatest nation on earth. Reforming our educational system to one based on individual choice, accountability and competition will undoubtedly lead us back to our former stature as a reliable leader of the free world.
Friedman closed his article with this prediction. "Most major public policy revolutions come only after a lengthy build-up of support. But when the break comes, what had been politically impossible quickly becomes politically inevitable. So it will be with the goal of a competitive free market education system compatible with our basic values."
We look forward to working closely with you on this and other issues of importance for the betterment of our society.
Sincerely,
The New Jersey Taxpayers’ Association
May 1st, 2012 - NJTA issues letter on School Choice to members of Congress
