The public schools' high costs might generate less opposition if New Jersey had something to show besides a giant educational bureaucracy and falling test scores. New Jersey teachers are among the very best paid in the nation and they have the fourth smells class sizes, yet their students ranked only 39th nationally in SAT scores. New Jersey schools have more money than they know how to spend wisely. How these savings are shared between state and local governments will determine how much of this can reduce the state's budget problems. Any such plan presumably would have to be phased in over several years to get around difficulties with union contracts.
Vouchers also have additional benefits.
They would allow the state to meet easily the state's court mandate for equal funding for all children. Many of these paying Catholic school tuitions are actually poorer than the general population making this double taxation an especially unfair burden. By giving parents increased control of their children's education, vouchers also encourage them to get directly involved. Voters are jaded by politicians who promise either to cut middle-class taxes or at least not raise them only to swiftly break those promises once in office. Voters chose Whitman over former Gov. Jim Florio largely because he raised taxes.