Dear Recipient's Title and Name:

I am active in Teach NJS, an advocacy network that works with the state legislature on behalf of all nonpublic schools. We work in coalition with many nonpublic school communities including Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, and other religious and secular schools throughout New Jersey to advocate for equitable funding for all children. I am contacting you today to discuss the significant disproportion in funding between public and nonpublic schools in the state and to respectfully urge funding parity in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget. Specifically, we are requesting nonpublic school funding at a level of $546 per student, which would breakdown as: $190 for security aid, $150 for nursing aid, $146 for technology aid, and $60 for textbook aid.

Today, there are approximately 150,000 total nonpublic school students throughout the state of New Jersey. 10% of K-12 students in New Jersey attend a nonpublic school, yet the state spends less than 1% of education funding on nonpublic school students. By comparison, neighboring New York and Pennsylvania both invest well over five times as much as New Jersey in their nonpublic schools.

Again, we are asking for $546 per student for all nonpublic schools in the FY 2019 budget. Please address the significant disproportion in funding between public and nonpublic school students in the state.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this critical issue.

Sincerely,
Your Full Name

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