Governor Christie’s public school aid funding proposal would treat each child “equally,” that is, the state would send every school district the same amount for each child in its school district. Most school districts would get a huge increase in state aid so that should mean substantially property tax relief for suburban taxpayers, assuming of course the school districts pass along the new aid in the form of lower property taxes. The criticism from the usual suspects is disingenuous. Instead of applauding the fact that many of their constituents would finally get property tax relief, which was the goal of the 1976 income tax, suburban legislators are voicing their objections, because urban districts would be “shortchanged.”
Despite what the state constitution regarding education funding and a series of state Supreme Court rulings, there is no reason education should be provided by the government. In fact, education should be provided by teachers, parents and others, without the need for taxpayers to shell out an obscene amount of money for an education monopoly. The case for delinking government and education has been made by several analysts such as Sheldon Richman, John Taylor Gatto, and Samuel Blumenfeld, among others.
Education socialism is expensive and has failed to educate urban students effectively. It is time for education freedom. Christie gets us one step closer.
Seeking to bypass the state Supreme Court, upend three decades of education funding and lower property tax bills, Governor Christie will spend the summer campaigning for a sweeping new plan to spend the same amount of money on every student in the state — regardless of where they live.
Source: School aid: Christie proposes equal funding statewide – News – NorthJersey.com