Jersey Hiradó, 1964 (45. évfolyam, 3-39. szám)

1964-05-22 / 21. szám

May 22, 1964 Citizens Forming State Group In Educational Freedom Fight Initial steps have been taken toward the formation of the New Jersey Federation of Citizens for Educational Free­dom. Some 50 persons met last Saturday afternoon in the Princeton Room of Hotel Stacy- Trent, Trenton, and during a three-hour session elected a nine-member executive com­mittee to serve for the next six months. In the interim, the commit­tee, headed by Herbert Van Denend of Hawthorne, will de­velop a constitution and by­laws. When this is accomplished, there probably will be another state-wide meeting at which permanent officers will be elected and the work of the temporary committee ratified. Citizens for Educational Freedom — more popularly known across the nation as CEF — is a non-sectarian, non-political organization “that fosters and protects the natural and constitutional right of par­ents to direct and control the education of their children.” It* members are person* of all walks of life—the af­fluent, the middle-income and the low-income—all with one primary objective: the equal treatment of private and pub­lic school children in Federal and state programs giving any type of aid to education. In the words of the CEF’s national executive director, David LaDriere, whose head­quarters r.» v........_________i who attended the post-meeting dinner last Saturday: “We are neutral on the question of aid to education itself, but if Congress finds that Federal aid is desirable, then we want it without dis­crimination.” Organization of chapters in communities up and down and across New Jersey, enrolling as many persons as possible, is the goal of Paul Heerema of North Haledon, organizer for Chapter 3, whose membership is prin­cipally from Passaic County. Mr. Van Denend estimated there are about 330 persons listed ae members of CEF in New Jersey, with chapters also formally organized in Old Bridge, Middlesex County, and the Oradell-Hackensack area of Bergen County. Spearheading the formation of the state federation are the leaders of Chapter 3, who are parents associated with the Eastern Christian School As­sociation, which operates an independent school system in Passaic County that includes a senior high school, a junior high school and four elementary schools. More than 1,800 stu­dents are enrolled in the schools, which are accredited by the State Department of Education. These leaders, members of the Christian Reformed Church, had planned to have a parent make a demand upon a local public school board to pay his child’s tuition in one of the Christian schools, then, upon the board’s refusal, to begin a test case in the courts. However, this group was in­duced to form a chapter of CEF. This was done and Chap­ter 3 has emerged as a dyna­mic unit of the national organ­ization. For this reason, its five-member executive com­mittee was accepted by last Saturday’s conferees as the nu­cleus of the state executive committee. Four other members were chosen from those present. Thu* the temporary com­mittee is composed of these members of Chapter 3: Mr. Van Denend, Mr. Heerema, Henry Fortuin of Ridgewood, Miss Jean Van Dyke of Hale­don and Miss Sadie De Vries of Paterson; plus James Smith of Cinnaminson, Ed­ward N. Dunphy of Ruther­ford, Joseph B. McCaffrey of Morris Plains and William Morgan of Trenton. This committee will put to­gether a constitution and by­laws and also formulate a pro­gram of action. From Mr. Van Denend came the appeal to keep active at the local level, fighting at all times for the rights of the parent and the child. The president of the Pennsyl­vania Federation of CEF, Rev. Edwin H. Palmer, addressing the meeting, offered as an im­mediate issue for CEF all over the country: fight the provision in President Johnson’s anti­poverty bill that limits funds for its education program to public schools. Dr. Palmer, who is dean of students at Westminster Theo­logical Seminary, Glenside, Pa., called upon parents every­where to write to their con­ttvotmmon nrotostln fr this dis­crimination. He charged that of all the democracies in the world, the United States is the only one which collects taxes from everyone but practices dis­crimination when its comes to distribution of these funds. The youthful Christian Re­formed clergyman urged the New Jersey CEF leaders not to become discouraged in the event of setbacks in their efforts, emphasizing that the principles of CEF are for “the welfare of the whole nation.” These principles are con-, tained in the national constitu­tion of Citizens for Educational Freedom as Article II: Committed to the prin­ciples and provisions of the Constitution of the United States and particularly the Bill of Rights, we affirm: Education. That, for the preservation of our demo­cratic institutions and way of life, every American child should be educated to his highest potential. Freedom. That freedom of choice in education for par­ents and students is an in­­- alienable right any infringe­ment of which is in violation of the First and 14th Amend­ments to the • Constitution. School. That the school, a societal structure specifically devoted to the task of for­mal education, should be pro­vided with the opportunity to carry out its task under well­­defined principles of aca­demic freedom, operating in an educational free market, and freely determining the direction, quality and con­tent of its educational pro­gram. The right of individual citizens or particular socie­tal structures to own and operate schools of instruc­tion on any level in accord­ance with their own choice of educational and religious principles must remain in­violate, and shall in no way be infringed upon by the state, either by direct regula­tion or by the inequitable distribution of tax monies. State. That the state may rightfully require of its citi­zens a certain minimum of educational standards, in or­der that all citizens may properly exercise the respon­sibilities of citizenship in our democracy, and in provision therefor may own and op­erate schools of instruction, but never in a manner that would limit or restrict the civil freedom of parents, students or educators to sec­ure or provide other or addi­tional education, nor in a manner that would violate the academic freedom of any educator. Separation. That the First Amendment to the Constitu­tion, sometimes loosely de­scribed as asserting a doc­trine of the “separation of Church and State,” rightful­ly prohibits the establishment of any religion by the State and must remain inviolate. It is in no way impinged upon by the pursuit of the princ­iple of freedom of choice in education as herein advo­cated. The relationship be­tween Church and State pre­­vailing where the educational tax monies of the state are paid over to parent or stu­dent who in turn chooses to pay them over to a church­­owned and operated school, properly recognized by the state as fulfilling the mini­mum requirements for com­pulsory education in a de­mocracy, is not a relationship which can be held to violate the provisions of the First Amendment. On the con­trary, such a relationship serves to implement that part of the First Amendment which enjoins the state from prohibiting the free exercise of religion. Federal aid. That We neither affirm nor deny the desirability of Federal assist­ance to education and recog­nize the right of individual supporters of our organiza­tion to hold their private opinions on this question. With these six principles of CEF, Dr. Palmer insisted, the movement “cannot go wrong.” A large turnout of members from New Jersey was requested by Mr. Van Denend and Dr. Palmer at the. annual national convention which will be held at the Bellevue-Stratford Ho­tel, Philadelphia, August 6, 7 and 8. MARCH ALONG AUF DEUTSCH Authentic, stirring German marches, 10 records, 45 rpm, for only 2 dollars. First time offer. Cash, check or money order to: PREISBRECHER, Vienna 23., Kinskygasse 8, Austria. We pay return post­age. Sorry, no COD’s. BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL GUIDE BARBERO BAKERY, INC. WHOLESALE & RETAIL The Finest Baked Goods for Over 35 Years BREAD, ROLLS WEDDING, BIRTHDAY & SPECIAL OCCASION CAKES AND COOKIES 61 Conrad St., Cor. 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EX 3-4254 MISSIONARY — FORMER TRENTONIAN Working in Midwest — Sorely Needs Your Help MUST BUY NEW BUS TO TRANSPORT CATHOLIC CHILDREN TO SCHOOL BOURBON, MO. — Population 800 - 1% Catholic 40 children enrolled in Catholic School YOU CAN HELP US GET THE NEW BUS BY Sending ALL TRADE STAMPS To; Father John B. DeAngelis Box 38, Bourbon, Mo. Father DeAngelis attended grade school at Immaculate Concep. tion and St. Joachim’s in Trenton; Seton Hall University and Darlington Seminary. 5 ====aa

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