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.
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. The Mayor believes that New Jersey can no longer afford alternatives to the real reform of school choice.