A broad consortium of day schools and Jewish federations across New Jersey led by Teach NJS-Orthodox Union, applauds the New Jersey Legislature and Gov. Chris Christie for passing and signing into law the fiscal year 2017 state budget Thursday night. The new budget will allocate vital funds to our state’s non-public schools to bolster the safety and security of our students.

“As parents, we all want to know that our children are safe as they head off to school each morning and that every effort has been made to create a secure learning environment,” said Nathan J. Lindenbaum, Co-Chair of Teach NJS-OU. “The money allocated by this budget will go a long way toward ensuring that our schools are a safe environment for our children.”

Non-public schools may receive $50 per student in aid to be used to increase security — double the amount previously allocated. It represents a milestone for our non-public schools and will be crucial to providing for the safety of our children.

Teach NJS-OU, a project of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, advocates for additional funding for non-public schools along with our partners at the Catholic Conference.

Teach NJS-OU would like to thank Assembly Budget Chairman Gary Schaer for spearheading the additional budget funding and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto for agreeing to support a substantial increase in non-public school funding. We would also like to thank Senate President Stephen Sweeney, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, Senate Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo and Senator James Beach for their work in shepherding the non-public school increases through the Senate.

We are also grateful to Governor Chris Christie for recognizing that non-public school students deserve to be safe in school by including an increase of funding in the final budget.

“This was truly a group effort in both houses of the legislature as well as with the governor and we would like to thank all of the Garden State’s elected officials for helping support a safe learning environment for our students,” said Maury Litwack, Director of State Political Affairs for the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center.

The legislature and the governor also agreed to increase funding to non-public schools to pay for school nurses and basic technology needs.

“This additional funding means that our non-public school children will not be forced to do without the basic necessities they need in order to succeed in today’s technology-driven society,” said Sam Moed, Co-Chair of Teach NJS-OU. “Funding these items will provide the tools and support our children need to be great 21st century learners. We look forward to continue building on this success in the coming years.”

The new funding will go into effect beginning with the 2016-2017 school year.

(YWN Desk – NYC)