Tea Party activism echoes past the 912 DC event with The Morristown Tea Party hosted movement program on School Choice.

9/29/09 School Choice Program

Offered as an informational discussion series topic on September 29, 2009, the program featured a video from John Stossel along with presentations from local school choice proponents. The program identified the failures in public schools, the school choice solution and the issue in the 2009 NJ Assembly elections.

The main principle behind school choice is about moving the control over education from government to parents through a variety of financial techniques such as vouchers and charter school alternatives.

School Failures Are Not A Local Issue

School choice activist Dan Haggerty points out that everyone needs to look beyond their own local school system for a measurement of school success such as in New Jersey. He argues American schools produce citizens unable to understand issues that impact society.

Dan alludes to the problem in 2008 elections. “You saw during the recent election where some of the people answered questions about politics, about local governance, about the world; they had no idea what the answers were. This is tragic. This effects our whole society.”

Newark Schools Highest Cost In World Producing Students Unprepared

In the State of New Jersey Dan looks at the Newark school system in this light and at the impact on the individual’s life success.

“The schools in Newark take in more money than any education system in the world. $28,000 per student to educate a student in Newark. And they don’t get educated. They get social promotion.”

Dan Haggerty School Choice Activist Expresses Dangers of Failed Schools

For those making it through the system, Dan describes the disastrous consequences.

“And these kids are put out after high school with a substandard education. They think they think they’ve been educated to operate in the real world.”

“The first encounter they have with a job interview; what a shock. They can barely write English, they can barely read English even though its their native language. They’re not going to either get that job or if they do get the job they are not going to function in it. So can you imagine why kids in this area develop a sense of rage about that?”

How to Make Changes To Move to School Choice?

Israel Teitelbaum, co-founded Parents for Free Choice in Education and activist in New Jersey education, provided a positive view of progress in school choice for New Jersey and how audience members can help.

“One way to begin is to point ourselves to the new media. We can all reach out through email, Facebook, Twitter, blogosphere, talk radio. We can get the message out to the world and our friends will pass it on and on and on and it goes at lightening speed today …”

Israel Teitelbaum Outlines Individuals and Political Candidates Actions

Israel points to the opportunity for school choice in the 2009 New Jersey elections. Over 40 NJ Assembly candidates have joined together on bringing school choice to New Jersey. He introduced Barry Funt, the main organizer of the candidates, who later gave an unscheduled talk on the effort. [See related article "NJ Citizens For Assembly Unite To Take Back NJ With Common Sense Pledge"]

Stupid In America

The meeting featured John Stossel’s landmark 20/20 television documentation “Stupid in America”. The documentary opens the hidden issues of parents losing control over education and the damage government run education causes for young lives. It shows how teacher union leadership opposes choices for parents.

John Stossel 20/20 Stupid In America Presentation

The Morristown Tea Party event was recorded on video to include the full length of the presenters’ talks and the audience questions.

The Morristown Tea Party Complete School Choice Event Videos

New Jersey State Assembly 2009 candidates have adopted a Common Sense Pledge that outlines a citizen friendly contract for NJ.

Citizens For Assembly In NJ Common Sense Pledge

Announced at the NJ State House on September 30, 2009, the Common Sense Pledge has the trappings of the 1994 Contract for America. Both were announced only a few weeks before the election. The 1994 Contract for America only 6 weeks and the Common Sense pledge just about 5 weeks.

Both also represent the unusual coalition of campaign platform points. The Contract for America was the first time since 1918 a US Congressional election was run on a national level. The Common Sense Pledge unites NJ Assembly candidates at a statewide level. Common Sense Pledge candidates are running under the banner Citizens for Assembly. The Common Sense Pledge elevates state wide government issues above local issues. Local issues have dominated the NJ legislature and resulted in corruption and mismanagement of State funds to the point of fiscal bankruptcy for a decade.

Different from the Contract for America, candidates pledging support for the Common Sense pledge do not need to have a particular allegiance to a political party. Although most candidates are Republican, independents have joined as well. This calls into question the impact on the NJ Gubernatorial candidates. The planks for the Common Sense pledge are grounded in grass roots sentiments that emerged in 2009 at tea party rallies, town hall meetings and other citizen activism events. The appeal ranges from conservatives through to moderates and independents. The latter often voting for such ideas only to find they do not see them implemented. The elected governor will need to contend with citizens and the Common Sense Pledge legislation.

The Common Sense Pledge

The Common Sense Pledge does not apply any particular NJ Assembly District.

Barry Funt Outlines the Common Sense Pledge

The points are targeted at issues cutting across NJ State districts.

1. True property tax reform: End unfunded state mandates and reform the system that causes excessive reliance on property taxes.
2. Cut taxes and red tape: Promote private sector job growth by changing the climate that has forced citizens and businesses to flee our state.
3. Eliminate undue influence: Expand and enforce pay-to-play rules and conflicts of interest law to include special interest groups that take taxpayer dollars.
4. Zero tolerance for abuse of power: End the culture of corruption by stiffening penalties for violators of the public trust.
5. Free choice for affordable healthcare: Reduce state mandates and promote individual choice and competition.
6. Pension reform: New Jersey’s public pension system has been abused and is broken. Make the system simple and fair for workers and taxpayers alike.
7. Citizen Checks and Balances: Require voter approval for future state and agency debt issuances.
8. Election competition: Restore competitive elections by ending campaign laundering (“wheeling”) to encourage regular citizens to run for office.
9. Choice in education: Improve quality and reduce costs by introducing competition.
10. Stop the violence: Government’s primary responsibility is to protect the public. We pledge to devote the necessary resources to end violence in our communities.