The Jewish Community Council of Essex County voiced strong opposition today to a bill introduced in the State Assembly at Trenton, which proposes to extend the distance over which pupils may be bused to public and non-public schools.
The measure would broaden the busing programs in the state to encompass all students traveling two miles to grammar school and two-and-a-half miles to high school. It would also make available busing for non-public school students in every district providing any transportation for public school children.
Opposition to the bill by the JCC maintains that public funds should not be provided to transport children to religious schools of any faith. Such a policy, the group declared, violates “the historic American tradition of separation of church and state as defined by the First Amendment.”
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