New Jersey boasts some of the best schools in entire the country, yet the latest statewide test scores show a majority of public school students are not meeting critical learning benchmarks. In fact, only 52.2% of students tested at or above expectations on the English language arts portion of the statewide New Jersey Student Learning Assessments for the 2023-2024 school year, and only 39.6% of students were at or above grade level for math.
Even more disturbing — the data showed that students in urban areas and poorer communities suffer from a dramatic achievement gap, despite receiving an influx of state education funding. For example, according to the Asbury Park Press, last year 94% of Little Silver sixth graders met or exceeded the sixth-grade math standards, yet only 15% of sixth graders in the nearby community of Long Branch met those same standards.
So how do we solve such an enormous and consequential problem for our students without hurting the schools that are working and increasing costs for property taxpayers? Fortunately, a solution already exists within New Jersey’s current education system. We can provide more students with greater educational opportunities by expanding the state’s Interdistrict Public School Choice program.
This innovative approach started in 2000 and permits the state to authorize existing public school districts to become choice districts. This designation allows the districts, at their option, to remove their zip code barriers and accept students from neighboring school districts. The state portion of the education funding follows the student to the choice district. The local levy stays with the sending district to ensure stability in their budgeting.
Every year, families clammer for an opportunity to enter a choice district to better meet the needs of their child and their family. Yet, with the program frozen for nearly a decade, more than 2,000 of those students remain on the wait list each year. Their parents recognize a better path for them, but these kids cannot explore it due to the program’s lack of expansion.
There are many reasons why interdistrict public school choice can benefit students. It could be that an intergenerational family splitting childcare duties could benefit from the students attending school closer to their caregiver. Or a child experiencing bullying desperately needs a fresh start. Or maybe a student wants the opportunity to take advantage of an arts program or ROTC in another school district. Or finally to leave a failing school district where less than 20% of children perform at grade level and enter a district with proven success. New Jersey families know what’s best for their children. And our choice districts are ready to meet those needs.
And yet, their doors remain shut to these students because a successful and popular option has not kept up with the times and continued to grow. In the current school year, 125 choice districts accepted 5,174 students, leaving 60% of applicants left out. Without action to unfreeze the Interdistrict School Choice program, the 2025-2026 school year will have a drop to 119 choice districts, with two counties — Essex and Middlesex — still without a single choice district.
Opinion:Candidates for NJ governor, please make people with disabilities a priority
In 2025, the Legislature has the opportunity to go beyond unfreezing the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program and to expand the program to all interested districts to open up more seats. Since the funding mechanism is already established, the appropriation in the upcoming budget would be a minimal investment that won’t burden New Jersey seniors and property taxpayers.
On behalf of the families desperate to enroll their children in a neighboring school; on behalf of the school districts looking to diversify their population and maintain their enrollment levels; on behalf of students hoping for a better future, I urge the Legislature to unfreeze and expand the Interdistrict School Choice program in the coming state budget.
Andy Mulvihill is chairman of the New Jersey Policy Institute. He was vice president of the New Jersey State Board of Education and served from 2011 to 2024.
