Background/Footnotes: One of the earliest legal debates regarding parental school choice was the 1947 case of Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township. The case concerned a New Jersey law permitting school districts to refund bus fare to school children who used public transportation to attend a religious school. In a 5 to 4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the district's practice, reasoning that the aid was not religious in nature and that the same aid was available to all students.[1] Justice Hugo Black, writing for the majority, stated that the First Amendment "requires the state to be a neutral in its relations with groups of religious believers and non-believers; it does not require the state to be their adversary. State power is no more to be used so as to handicap religions, than it is to favor them."[2] Everson set an important precedent for other school choice cases.[3]

In 1996, then-Governor Christine Todd Whitman signed the Charter School Program Act of 1995. The law limited the number of possible charter schools to 135, but this limit expired after four years.[4] Colleges and universities can open charter schools, and for-profit companies can manage a charter school although they cannot be directly granted a charter. Although public schools are allowed to convert to charter schools, no school has converted.[5] The New Jersey Department of Education encourages the formation of charter schools by providing "technical assistance sessions for prospective charter school applicants."[6]

On January 10, 1995, Governor Whitman issued Executive Order 30, calling for an advisory committee to study the implications of a voucher program. Former Governor Thomas H. Kean led the panel, which gave vouchers a favorable review.[7]

In 1997, the Lincoln Park School Board voted to create a voucher system that would have allowed students to use public money to attend a public or private school of choice. All of Lincoln Park's 325 high school students attend school in the Boonton school district because Lincoln Park has no high school. The vouchers would have been worth between $1,000 and $4,600.[8] Two months after the February 11 vote in favor of the program, many officials who favored the vouchers were replaced in a Lincoln Park School Board election. In May 1997, the board reversed its decision, voting 5 to 4 against vouchers.[9]

Two companion bills, Assembly 2320 and Senate 1279, were introduced in the summer of 1998 to create a public school open enrollment program. Receiving districts would not have been allowed to enroll more than 7 percent of a sending district's student population, and sending districts would have paid 90 percent of the per-pupil cost for each transferring student. This legislation would have established a five-year pilot program, with 10 districts offering choice in the first year, 15 districts in the second year, and 21 districts in the third year, when the number of districts providing choice would be capped.[10] Both bills died in committee.[11]

S. 1537 was also introduced during the 1998-1999 session to create a pilot voucher program. This legislation would have provided elementary and junior high school students with vouchers worth up to $8,500 and high school students with vouchers worth up to $10,000. The bill died in committee.[12]

On September 1, 1999, the New Jersey State Board of Education approved a pilot public school choice program. The initiative has been in place for five years, and the program is similar to that proposed in A. 2320 and S. 1279, with 10 districts participating during the first year, 15 during the second, and the number capped at 21 in the third year. Transportation is provided for students residing within 20 miles of their school of choice.[13] Districts can receive only students in grades 1 through 10. The state set aside $800,000 for the program's inaugural year, 2000-2001. The New Jersey Department of Education reported that receiving districts opened 700 seats in the program's first year, with 96 students participating.[14] More than 200 students participated in 2001-2002, 460 in 2002-2003, and 700 in 2003-2004.

In 2000, S. 920 (with companion bill A. 1145) was introduced to establish a pilot voucher program. Elementary and junior high school students would have received vouchers worth $2,500, and high school students would have received vouchers worth $3,500. The New Jersey Department of Education would have allocated $5.5 million to the program, with some of the funds being used for an evaluation. The bills died in committee.[15]

On June 28, 2000, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld a school choice provision that allowed charter schools to enroll students from other districts and ruled that the state's charter school law was constitutional. This was the ninth case in the nation challenging the constitutionality of charter schools.[16] The case originated when the Highland Park Board of Education challenged the creation of Greater Brunswick Charter School, which intended to serve students in surrounding districts.[17] The court upheld the application's approval.[18]

In October 2001, then-Commissioner of Education Vito A. Gagliardi, Sr., submitted a five-year review of New Jersey's charter school program to the governor and other state officials.[19] The report found that:

Charter schools, in aggregate, achieved a 12 percentage point increase in the proportion of students who were at or above the proficient level in math on the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment (ESPA). This evidence indicates that charter schools are making discernable progress in their achievement of New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJCCCS) in math.[20]

The aggregate progress made by charter students in the math portion of the ESPA was better than the aggregate progress of students in conventional public schools in the district. Charter schools were popular among parents and students: 76 percent of charter schools had a waiting list in 1999-2000, and a total of 5,178 students throughout the state were waiting for a space at a charter school. Eighteen charter school applications were submitted in 2001, but only two were approved.[21]

In 2001, A. 3475 and A. 3476 were introduced to create education-related tax credits. A. 3475 would have created a tax credit for contributions by businesses and individuals to scholarship organizations. This bill died in the Assembly Education Committee.[22] A. 3476 would have created tax credits for education expenses, including a $500 tax credit for private school tuition or tutoring services and tax credits up to $150 for "computer-related purchases."[23] A. 3476 also died in committee.[24]

The Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children is a nonsectarian, nonreligious scholarship organization providing scholarships for poor students attending Catholic schools in Essex, Hudson, Bergen, and Union Counties. The fund also operates programs in Jersey City, Newark, and Elizabeth that offer scholarships to any private school in the area. In 2001, the fund awarded 2,347 scholarships.[25] The fund has since partnered with Children's Scholarship Fund, the multimillion-dollar nationwide scholarship foundation that matches the money parents pay for their children's private school tuition.

In November 2001, an Eagleton-Rutgers poll revealed that New Jersey residents favor vouchers. Of the more than 800 residents polled, 60 percent were in favor of vouchers. Urban residents showed the most support for vouchers: 71 percent favored vouchers, and 21 percent opposed them. Support was also found among respondents with annual incomes under $25,000.[26]

A. 3475, tuition tax credit legislation from 2001, was reintroduced as A. 1594 during the 2002-2003 session. The bill, which would give individuals or businesses tax credits worth up to 75 percent of their donations to scholarship organizations, is in committee.[27]

On July 25, 2002, in response to the favorable ruling on the Cleveland, Ohio, school voucher program, the Camden City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on the state legislature to create a voucher program for their city.[28] The Camden District serves more than 18,000 school-age children.[29] The New Jersey legislature and governor have not responded to the request.

In the summer of 2003, the Eagleton Institute of Politics Center for Public Interest Polling conducted a poll of state residents and found that 66 percent of New Jersey families support vouchers. Seventy percent of respondents who earn less than $50,000 per year were in favor of vouchers, and 75 percent of urban residents were in favor.[30]

In September 2003, the Camden City Council voted 5-1 to ask the state again to provide vouchers to students so they can transfer to a public or private school outside their district. All middle school students in the district are eligible to transfer because all Camden middle schools are in need of improvement by state standards.[31]

State Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg (D-37) introduced A. 4033 in January 2004, which would have forced home-school students to be subject to state assessments. The bill would also have granted extensive powers to the state board of education over home-schooling families. The bill was referred to the Education Committee and no action was taken.[32]

New Jersey parents rallied twice in the summer of 2004 calling for more school choice. Between 40 and 50 parents gathered outside of the Camden City Hall in June and July to protest poor conditions in Camden schools.[33]

In early September, results from a Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers poll on "innovations in public education" were released, and the results showed considerable public support for school choice. Respondents were asked if they would "support or oppose using tax funds to pay for a voucher program so children living in low-income areas can go to a different school," and 54 percent of respondents said yes while 37 percent said no. Fifty-seven percent of respondents living in urban areas said they would support a voucher program.[34]

In November 2005, bills were introduced in the state Assembly and Senate to create an educational tax credit program. A4376 and S2785 would create a five-year pilot program during which corporations would receive tax credits for contributions to scholarship-granting organizations in four districts: Camden, Newark, Orange, and Trenton. The scholarships would be awarded to students from low-income families. A4376 was referred to the Assembly Education Committee, and S2785 was referred to the Senate Education Committee.[35]

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