The
OSA would allow thousands of children from low-income New Jersey families in
the state’s most disadvantaged school districts to attend the schools of their
parents’ choice. And it would be the
state’s first school choice program. Well, sort of.
According
to a column
by Bryan LaPlaca, on this day in 1997, New Jersey was on the forefront of
the education reform news in a little town called Lincoln Park.
In
February 1997, the Board of Education in Lincoln Park created a
program that would allow parents to send their children to the high school of
their choice—including private schools.
With a vote of 7-2, the Board overwhelmingly created and supported a
voucher program in the Garden State.
Lincoln
Park Public Schools serve students in grades K-8. High school students living in Lincoln Park
attend Boonton Public Schools as part of a two-district agreement. The voucher program was seen as an
alternative for students to attend the school of their parent’s choice.
"This is a choice," Trustee Bonnie Sudol said at the time. "It is a choice for
parents who are not happy with Boonton."
Fifteen years later, school choice advocates are back at it in 2012 with the goal of creating a scholarship tax credit program via the state legislature.
Let the story of Lincoln Park be a lesson...it's not over until it's over!
- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG
- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG
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