Statewide Poll Shows 74% Support for Tax Credit Scholarship Program for Low-Income Students

NEWARK, NJ (05/28/2008)(readMedia)-- For the third consecutive year, a statewide poll conducted by the Polling Institute at Monmouth University found an overwhelming number of New Jerseyans, 74%, support the establishment of a corporate tax credit scholarship pilot program for students in some of the state’s lowest-income, highest spending school districts. In the previous two years (’06, ’07), the same poll found support at 74%, and 73% respectively. The Poll features a variety of information on respondents including race, party affiliation, income, and location.

"We are pleased that New Jersey residents continue to see the value of this kind of program, just as residents in other states have,” said Dan Gaby, E3’s Executive Director. "The kind of educational opportunities we can generate with this sort of program are tremendous. This, and increased involvement from the corporate community in providing a quality education for low-income students makes the program a win-win for students, parents, and taxpayers."

Most notably in the Poll were results for respondents who identified themselves as African American or Hispanic, and those who identified themselves as Democrats, with support at 81% among both groups. Support was also high among residents who identified themselves as “Urban,” with 79% of those polled responding favorably to the pilot program.

A bi-partisan coalition in the New Jersey State Senate and Assembly currently supports legislation modeled on successful tax credit scholarship programs in other states, such as Pennsylvania. The Urban Enterprise Zone Jobs Scholarship Act (S-1607/A-2897) would allow low-income students living in eight districts (Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Camden, Trenton, Orange, and Lakewoood) to attend participating out-of-district public schools or private schools anywhere in the State. This legislation, which recently passed the Senate’s Economic Growth Committee, awaits additional hearings in the Senate and Assembly.

The full report (and table of results) may be downloaded today at www.nje3.org. For the Monmouth University Polling Institute, please contact: Patrick Murray, Director, Polling Institute Monmouth University @ 732.263.5858 or via email at pdmurray@monmouth.edu.

NOTE:

This survey was conducted by telephone from April 24 to 28, 2008 with a scientifically selected random sample of 803 New Jersey adults. The figures in this release are based on this sample size. All surveys are subject to sampling error, which is the expected probable difference between interviewing everyone in a population versus a scientific sampling drawn from that population. The sampling error is ± 3.5 percent, at a 95 percent confidence interval.

Thus if 50 percent of New Jersey residents were found to think the state was in good economic condition, one would be 95 percent sure that the true figure would be between 46.5 and 53.5 percent (50 ± 3.5) had all New Jersey residents been interviewed, rather than just a sample. Sampling error increases as the sample size decreases, so statements based on various population subgroups, such as separate figures reported by race or age, are subject to more error than are statements based on the total sample. Sampling error does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion studies, such as non-response, question wording or context effects. The verbatim wording of all questions asked is reproduced in this memo. The sample has been stratified based on county and the data have been weighted on age and education to insure an accurate proportional representation of the state. This study was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute.