Taxpayers foot bill to transport 30,000 students in the Orthodox community
Every school morning in Lakewood, hundreds of yellow buses fire up their diesels and roll out of their company yards into the neighborhoods of the sprawling, 25 square-mile township.
The buses make their way into a multitude of new housing developments. They go to the vast neighborhoods that have sprung from piney acreage or farmland, Lakewood's modern version of Baby Boom cookie-cutter cul-de-sacs. They make pick-ups at the recently built apartment complexes, rows of barracks-like structures where plastic riding toys and bikes outnumber cars.
Waiting for them are boys and girls in the various uniforms of their schools. The boys, dressed in long pants and navy blue sweaters, or plain back suits, same as their fathers' wear. The girls, wear long, dark skirts or jumpers.
Every school morning, a hefty percentage of the 30,000 Orthodox Jewish children in Lakewood are bused to the township's 130 religious schools and yeshivas with names such as Bais Rivka Rochel and Ohel Esther, for girls, or Yeshiva K'tana or Orchos Chaim, for boys. Adhering to Orthodox tradition, boys and girls must ride in separate buses.
At the same time each morning, Lakewood's public school students are also waiting for buses. Many of the township's 6,000 public school kids get rides to Clifton Avenue Grade School or Oak Street Elementary School, or the township's middle school and high school.
And all those rides to the yeshivas, religious schools and public schools are paid for with tax dollars -- $24,582,735, to be exact, and this figure is projected to climb nearly $3 million next year.
The fact that Lakewood buses private school students makes it no different than any other town in New Jersey. Kids who attend private schools - whether they're wearing the sweater vests and plaid skirts of Catholic schools or the blazers and khakis of elite academies that charge college-like tuition - are being transported to school, courtesy of taxpayers.
In addition, parents of private school kids who opt not to use busing draw an $884 yearly stipend from the state "in lieu of transportation."
"One of the hidden areas of the state budget is substantial state aid to support private and religious schools," said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center in Newark. "And we see this trend is growing in things like textbook aid, technology, support services and school nurses."
Sciarra's analysis of state education funding shows that public schools are underfunded by $1 billion while $100 million is spent in aid to private schools, and another $40 million to fund non-public-school transportation.
"But transportation aid overall is underfunded by about $200 million, which means that districts are also kicking in from their budgets to make up the shortfall in transporting non-public kids," he said. "In Lakewood, that amounts to $12 million in public education funds being diverted to non-public transportation."
In Lakewood, it means money earmarked for public school classes, sports and other extracurriculars and maintenance is being siphoned into the gas tanks of the fleets of school bus company owners. The largest fleet belongs to Jay Ellison, a member of the Orthodox community whose company Jay's Bus Service has grown from a handful of buses in 2011 to nearly 300 today.
Legislation that requires the busing of students to non-public schools was enacted in 1967. New Jersey Statute 18A:39 was signed by Gov. Richard J. Hughes and has been amended many times since. The New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C.) companion rule is 6A27. Both state that public school districts are required to bus all students who live more than 2, but less than 20, miles from school. The range is 2.5-miles for middle and high school students, and certain rural counties must bus within 30 miles. But the bottom line is private school transportation is paid with public money.
What makes Lakewood different than any other town in New Jersey is the lopsided number of private vs. public school students. Lakewood buses five times as many private school students as public school students. In any other town, the percentage would easily be reversed.
The financial burden is extreme. Facing a projected budget deficit of $14.7 million, schools superintendent Laura Winters wrote the state department of education in March saying the district could no longer provide a "thorough and efficient education as required by the New Jersey State Constitution."
Earlier this week, she sent a second letter, saying the deficit had been winnowed down, but a $10 million shortfall would necessitate layoffs of 106 teachers and create classes of 50 kids in some cases. She asked the state for what amounts to a loan to cover the deficit.
At a contentious board of education meeting Monday night, the public admonished the school board for failing the township's children. In that anger was the not-so-subtle undercurrent that members of the Orthodox community, who dominate the board, were to blame.
The largest applause during the public comment portion of the meeting went to Kimberlee Shaw, president of the Lakewood Education Association, who began reading from the state's code of ethics for school board members, citing their responsibility to "maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex, or social standing."
Barry Iann, president of the board, did not return messages left at the school board office seeking comment.
"The Orthodox Jews control every board in the town, so a lot of the blame gets laid at their feet," said Glenn Wilson, a pastor who heads a group called Lakewood UNITE, which is fighting for the public schools. "When you talk to the people around town, there is a general perception that it's 'us against them' but not all the perception is reality. A lot of people in our community are really struggling, but people in their community are struggling, too."
Lakewood's public school population is 95 percent Latino and African-American, though the black population has dwindled as the number of Orthodox Jews has increased. The town's poverty rate is 38 percent, partly due to the thousands of rabbinical students who have very little income and draw government subsistence.
"Lakewood asked the state to make it an urban district but was denied," said Mike Rush, a Lakewood resident who was once superintendent of Red Bank schools and a state assistant education commissioner in Gov. James McGreevey's administration. "If we had been given that status, we'd be getting $20,000 from the state per student in aid instead of $12,000. So part of the problem lies with the state, but there is certainly a feeling the Orthodox have the political power to look after their own."
Proof of the Orthodox community's political might, critics say, came in the way of a special bill introduced by state Sen. Bill Singer (R-Ocean) last year after the Lakewood district eliminated courtesy busing from its budget. Courtesy busing refers to transportation of private and public students who live within the two-mile or 2.5 mile walking distances of schools not mandated by state busing laws.
Singer's bill created a three-year pilot program that would have the state pay $2.4 million a year to a consortium of private school owners to figure out busing for their students, far short of the cost to the township.
The money would help restore courtesy busing for private school kids, but not public school kids, especially after Gov. Chris Christie heralded the bill for safety reasons in the traffic-choked township. The different treatment upset people in Lakewood.
"I guess it's okay for the non-Orthodox kids to cross busy streets and dangerous intersections," said Tom Gatti, president of the Seniors Action Group, one of the township organizations that wants more transparency from local boards.
The bill created a quasi-public Lakewood Student Transportation Authority (LSTA). An executive director, Avraham Krawiec was hired for $150,000 a year.
Alfred Longo was appointed to the LSTA oversight committee in August but said "we still have no idea who makes up the entire consortium, if they're drawing up the most efficient routes, when they're going to hold public meetings, or how they're spending the state money."
Krawiec disputed that. He named the four rabbis and private school owners who make up the consortium and was asked to send an email with the correct spellings. He never replied.
A particular sticking point, Longo said, was the refusal by Orthodox school owners to allow installation of curtains to separate girls and boys on the buses so that they could ride together.
"Imagine the savings if we didn't have to bus them separately," he said.
One believed member of the LTSA, Rabbi Yisrael Schenkowelski, a powerful member of the Orthodox community did not return calls left at his home.
The Orthodox community often argues that if their 30,000 children attended public schools, the cost to the district would be $420 million. But, said Gatti, the state education funding for Lakewood is based only on its 6,000 public school students.
"If they put all their kids in public schools we would get so much money from the state, we'd be flush in cash for the next 100 years," Gatti said. "As it is, they keep opening the schools with only 10,15 kids in them, we have to bus the kids there. They make the conscious decision to keep their kids in private schools, and we have to pay for the services."
Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.