Most of Lakewood's children – about 25,000 at last count -- don't go to the public school but instead attend private Jewish Orthodox day schools. The district provides textbooks, tutoring, nursing services, professional development for yeshiva teachers, and, most pressingly, transportation.
In fact, Lakewood allocates $21 million -- 20 percent of its operating budget -- to transportation for its Orthodox students to attend 96 different Jewish day schools. Meanwhile, thousands more yeshiva students, way more than projected, will arrive in Lakewood this year, a boon for the private religious schools (every property in town, except for a tiny bit by the airport, is zoned for yeshivas) and a bust for the public district. Thus, Lakewood faces a $4 million funding shortfall and spends only $12,517 per in-district student, well below the state average. State law mandates that public schools provide transportation for private school kids -- after all, their parents pay taxes. Lakewood goes an additional step by respecting the edicts of the Orthodox community and segregating buses by gender and religion. This policy was litigated in 2003 <http://www.jlaw.com/Briefs/Lakewood.html> by an executive member of the NAACP who charged that the practice was tantamount to "unconstitutional segregation between public and private schools, Jewish and non-Jewish students, and boys and girls." Administrative Law Judge Steven C. Reback threw out the case. Lakewood's fiscal problems extend to its practice of religiously-segregated special education. While almost all minority students with disabilities are educated within district schools or at moderately-priced private schools, the district pays for its Orthodox Jewish children with significant disabilities to attend expensive out-of-district private special education schools. One in particular, the School for Children with Hidden Intelligence (SCHI), costs $92,837 per student annually, exclusive of mandated summer programs, transportation, and other services. A school board agenda this past June lists 149 students who will attend SCHI for the school year at an annual tuition cost of $13,832,713. Lakewood also generously sends some of these children to overnight summer camps like Camp Mikdosh, advertised as a "stronghold of Torah." Mikdosh's tuition this past summer, according to the July 12 School Board agenda, was $263 per student per day for the six-week session. This is all legal (although I'm not 100 percent sure about the summer camps). As Michael Kinsley once famously said, "the scandal isn't the illegal behavior -- the scandal is what's legal." The legal scandal in Lakewood is the control the of the School Board by special interest groups (despite some recent moderating influences) and the lack of public school options for unrepresented kids. Lakewood is a caricature of uncontrolled and unregulated private school choice, an education reformer's nightmare. Everyone gets to choose except the neediest children. There are no public charter schools in Lakewood, indeed none in Ocean County, to offer options. Their families have no power and so they get bubkes. Someone get D.C. on the phone. ______________________________________________________ *Laura Waters is president of the Lawrence Township School Board in Mercer County. She also writes about New Jersey's public education on her blog NJ Left Behind. Follow her on Twitter @NJLeftbehind.* On Sunday, November 16, 2014 11:20:34 AM UTC-6, Bill wrote: > > > > > > What happened to the concept of "separation of church and state" that libs > all hot for......or is Islam not a religion? I don't think it is and you > all know that I believe it is a massive terrorist cult that some times is > quiet and other times brutal......but back to my original > point...."seperation" is only for Christian churches and the State but > other religions are exempt from that rule of law........other wise how > could tax payer funds be given to the Moslems for Mosque > security.......seems like a violation of church and state.......which is so > precious to the libs...... > > > ------------------------------ > From: [email protected] <javascript:> > Reply-to: [email protected] <javascript:> > To: [email protected] <javascript:> > Sent: 11/16/2014 5:53:25 A.M. Pacific Standard Time > Subj: Fwd: [New post] Baltimore mosque gets $74K taxpayer-funded FEMA > grant…for security > > > > > creeping posted: "via ISB Bolsters Security with $74K Government > Grant. In the month of October, the Islamic Society of Baltimore (ISB) > received a $74,675 grant from the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NGSP) > run by Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). The grant " Respond > to this post by replying above this line > > New post on *Creeping Sharia* [image: > http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/] > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/> Baltimore mosque > gets $74K taxpayer-funded FEMA grant…for security > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/baltimore-mosque-gets-74k-taxpayer-funded-fema-grant-for-security/>by > > creeping <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/> > > via ISB Bolsters Security with $74K Government Grant. In the month of > October, the Islamic Society of Baltimore (ISB) received a $74,675 grant > from the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NGSP) run by Maryland Emergency > Management Agency (MEMA). The grant will be used towards upgrading, > enhancing and adding to ISB’s security infrastructure, according to the > official […] > > Read more of this post > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/baltimore-mosque-gets-74k-taxpayer-funded-fema-grant-for-security/> > *creeping <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/>* | > November 15, 2014 at 3:30 PM | Tags: cair > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=cair>, Creeping Sharia > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=creeping-sharia>, islam > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=islam>, law > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=law>, Legal > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=legal>, Life > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=life>, Media > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=media>, Muslim > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=muslim>, News > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=news>, Politics > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=politics>, Random > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=random>, Religion > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=religion>, Sharia > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=sharia> | Categories: Creeping > Sharia <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=4115925>, Maryland > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=28049>, Media > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=292>, Mosque > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=38480400>, News > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=103>, Politics > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=398>, Religion > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=116>, Sharia > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=29069>, Stealth Jihad > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=10735225> | URL: > http://wp.me/pbU4v-ipl > > Comment > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/baltimore-mosque-gets-74k-taxpayer-funded-fema-grant-for-security/#respond> > > See all comments > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/baltimore-mosque-gets-74k-taxpayer-funded-fema-grant-for-security/#comments> > > > Unsubscribe > <https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=7f89380f46003915c34c2cdd2b126a38&email=bovinescatologists%40gmail.com&b=L2Rrf%26aGkUQg%25RJGVhB%3FL%7CTPJJ013_MBDjM%2FoVHu6ENgLKw5.%2Fe> > > to no longer receive posts from Creeping Sharia. > Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions > <https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=7f89380f46003915c34c2cdd2b126a38&email=bovinescatologists%40gmail.com>. > > > > *Trouble clicking?* Copy and paste this URL into your browser: > > http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/baltimore-mosque-gets-74k-taxpayer-funded-fema-grant-for-security/ > > > Thanks for flying with [image: http://wordpress.com/] WordPress.com > <http://wordpress.com/> > > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > <http://www.politicalforum.com/> > * It's active and moderated. 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