If parochial school gets $250K, what should public schools get?
It was a move that was made in the New Jersey State Senate that perhaps was overlooked in a lot of circles, but can't be ignored here, even though the school that benefits from the apparent kindness of the state legislature happens to be my alma mater.
A few weeks ago, while the state's assemblymen and senators were haggling over balancing a budget for the Garden State, two Democratic state senators, namely Sen. Bernard Kenny of Hudson County and Sen. Richard Codey of Essex County, produced legislation that would provide $250,000 of state funding to each of two parochial high schools.
Codey's money was earmarked for Seton Hall Prep, a school that he feels a special closeness to.
Kenny's money was slated to go to St. Peter's Prep, the school that the senator admittedly has a strong affection for and which his son attended. Kenny told members of the state legislature that the funding would go to help St. Peter's build its new athletic facility, which is already under construction thanks to a massive fund-raising campaign among the school's alumni.
My problem with the whole process is this: Why should taxpayers' money go to help parochial schools? Shouldn't the major concern of lawmakers be concentrating on the plight of the public schools?
And why does St. Peter's Prep get singled out to receive this substantial grant, when there are local parochial schools that don't have the enormous financial backing from affluent alumni that Prep enjoys?
After all, St. Anthony High School was rumored to be closing earlier this year when school administrators recognized that they couldn't remain in business without help - albeit help that came because the school's basketball program is widely recognized throughout the United States.
But what about schools like tiny St. Mary's of Jersey City, which operates on a shoestring budget? For the last few years, Marist of Bayonne has been rumored to be in financial decline because of a shrinking enrollment. I'm pretty sure St. Aloysius High in Jersey City could use a quarter-mil.
Hudson Catholic would also gladly accept a nice check of $250,000 to do something, anything to help its cause.
The school's principal, Brother Tim Ahern, agrees.
"My initial reaction was, 'Wow, that's really nice,' " Ahern said. "But then I said, `What about us?' Just to give that much money to one school is a lot. If it was known that there was that much state money available to be given to a parochial school, I would think that Senator Kenny would have contacted other schools and made arrangements to divide it. I wish someone could have been alerted so we might have been able to spread the wealth."
Added Ahern, "If Senator Kenny was a wealthy man and was giving his own money to St. Peter's, then I could understand. But since he's using state money, it's not the same thing."
When he was reached for comment about his generosity through legislation, Kenny firmly believed that it wasn't a big deal.
"I have a long history working with St. Peter's Prep," Kenny said. "I've been working with them, helping them with their field for at least five years now, working with the state DEP about possible contamination on the site. I'm very familiar with the project and support the project. My role in Trenton put me in the position to get the money. I thought it was an important thing to do."
Kenny believes that Prep's new athletic facility is a "pressing need," so that's why the state money, coming from the state general fund, was targeted for the construction of the facility.
"It's a prominent high school in an urban area that had a pressing need for a new athletic facility," Kenny said. "I find nothing wrong in getting the dollars to them to help their cause. If you go around the state, you'll find other legislators doing the work to help out schools, groups, people that they feel strongly about. This is no different. St. Peter's Prep is deserving of this consideration. Prep didn't ask me for it. I worked on it for them."
Honestly, I disagree. I believe that it's state money going to help the most affluent high school in Hudson County build an amenity, an addition to what has already been a highly successful high school for more than a century. A new athletic facility is not a necessity. Hey, there isn't a single high school in Hudson County that has its own facility, public or private, in the general vicinity of its campus. Hoboken's JFK Stadium is the closest to its school, but it's still a couple of blocks away. Every other school has to travel elsewhere for practices and games.
Would have been nice
"We've been going to Lincoln Park for practices since 1964," Ahern said. "We'd like to have our facility. It would be nice."
St. Peter's Prep students have been doing pretty well, getting into good colleges, earning college scholarships, without the benefit of having their own athletic field. The school's athletic program has been the best overall program Hudson County has had to offer for the past decade. It has been very successful, through and through, without having an athletic facility.
If St. Peter's Prep wants to build its own facility to compete with the other big-time parochial powers in New Jersey, such as Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco Prep, like the powers-that-be at Prep want to do, then all the power to them. I applaud the efforts of getting the field built.
It just shouldn't be done with state funding. Raise the money through alumni contributions and corporate grants.
Taking state money and earmarking it for a parochial school to build a state-of-the-art athletic field is way wrong.
Kenny believes that the fund will go to help the public good, as the field can be used by area groups.
"It will be a facility for the neighborhood, a place that improves the entire area," Kenny said. "It provides a playing field that everyone in the community can use."
St. Peter's Prep athletic director and head football coach Rich Hansen agrees.
"There will be a partnership with everyone," Hansen said. "We're not the only ones using the field. I've spoken with the Jersey City PAL, with Jersey City Recreation, with the Boys Club. They can all come in and use our facility as often as they want. Taxpayers' kids will use this facility. Will it help us? Sure it will. But others will benefit from the project as well. It will be beneficial to others."
Kenny was asked if he would be willing to help other parochial schools.
"I can understand other private institutions being upset," Kenny said. "I'm happy to advocate any others with interests that are urgent and pressing like this one. St. Dominic Academy, which my daughter attended, has contacted me and I'm going to sit down with them and see if I can help. I will try to help the others. I have respect for all these parochial schools. I would be helpful to any school who reaches out to me and looks for help. Maybe I've set a good precedent here."
If anything, Kenny has definitely opened the door and should be ready to open the lines of communication, because it's evident that the area's other parochial schools will soon be calling if they realize there's state funding to be had.
It should be interesting to see if other schools benefit from the state senator's apparent generosity - or was it a one-shot deal to help a school he's very familiar with?