Press of Atlantic City 12-23-09, Corzine forms panel to aid nonpublic schools

By DIANE D'AMICO, Education Writer | Posted: Wednesday, December 23, 2009

TRENTON - The funding challenges faced by the state's more than 1,200 nonpublic schools will be the focus of a new state commission.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Tuesday signed an executive order creating the Non-Public Education Funding Commission to recommend how nonpublic schools and the state can maximize increasingly limited funds.

Nonpublic schools this year will get about $95 million in state education aid to help pay for textbooks, nursing services, and special education and other specialized services, such as English as a second language. Another $7 million previously provided for technology was cut this year.

Many nonpublic schools have been struggling with shrinking enrollment, and some have closed or merged, including Catholic schools in southern New Jersey. About 172,000 students attend nonpublic schools in the state, down from 180,000 in 2007 according to state budget data. The majority, about 120,000, attend Catholic schools.

Supporters of the commission say nonpublic schools deserve state support because they save the state hundreds of millions of dollars per year in education costs, and their closure would put a tremendous burden on public school systems, which also face tight budgets.

The commission's job will be to identify the challenges facing nonpublic school children, how to be use existing funds to support nonpublic schools and how to enhance relations between public and nonpublic schools.

"The work of this commission will be critically important in improving educational opportunities for our students," Corzine said in announcing the commission.

The 23-member commission will be co-chaired by Assemblyman Gary Schaer, D-Passaic, and George Corwell, Director of Education for the New Jersey Catholic Conference, and will include representatives of other nonpublic school groups.

"The establishment of this historic commission begins the long-overdue and critical process of developing recommendations to address the disparities in educational funding across our state," Schaer said.

Among the commission's responsibilities will be to assist nonpublic schools in getting grant funds and find ways to enhance charitable giving to nonpublic schools.

Derrell Bradford, deputy director of Excellent Education for Everyone, or E3, said he was pleasantly surprised at the order Tuesday.

"It's the start of a positive trend," he said, noting that Republican governor-elect Chris Christie is already a proponent of more school choice for students.

Nonpublic school groups have been pushing to give all students more access to nonpublic schools. They have been especially pushing a bill that would allow corporations to get tax credits for contributions made to a special scholarship fund for students in designated failing urban public schools. Those scholarships could be used in nonpublic schools.

Josh Pruzansky, executive director of Agudath Israel of New Jersey and chairman of the State of New Jersey Non-Public School Advisory Committee, said in a previous interview that it is just more cost-efficient to let students attend existing nonpublic schools that have space than it is to continue to build new public schools.

Bradford said that is a message they will continue to send as the new administration takes office.

"We can put a lot of students into schools that cost less and educate well," he said. "Letting those schools close is just irresponsible, especially if it then means the public schools will have to spend millions more on construction."

Contact Diane D'Amico: 609-272-7241  DDamico@pressofac.com