Equal Opportunity

 Thousands of supporters across New Jersey ralled at that state's capitol recently for legislators to support the Opportunity Scholarship Act, which would allow low-income and working class children from the state's lowest performing school districts to receive scholarships to attend private school.

As the end of the year quickly approaches, lawmakers are attempting to create more educational opportunities for low-income and working class children through business tax credit scholarship programs.

These programs allow businesses to make tax-deductable donations to scholarship granting organizations, who in turn provide scholarships for low-income and working class children to attend private schools. Efforts to create or expand these programs are currently taking place in states that include New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

If you haven't seen it already, take a look at the video below, which highlights PEFNC's visit to Scotland Neck in October to explain the benefits of community-supported public charter schools to residents and alumni of a defunct high school. 

2011 has already been dubbed the "year of school choice" thanks to a number of successful parental school choice efforts across the country, including North Carolina eliminating its public charter school cap and creating a tax credit for families of children with disabilities.