Blame the budget woes on the non mandated courtesy busing given to the orthodox schools. That is the narrative the media and district officials want you to think. A glance through social media forums and speaking to people in the street they tend to have bought into it and the blame is put squarely on the Jewish community. Shaping Public opinion is easy when you point blame on a single community. It is the Jews who are eating up the taxes using it to bus their children to school. Forget the fact that the Lakewood Jewish community pays most of the taxes and do not send their kids to public school. All surrounding towns and towns across NJ all give courtesy busing to kids who live in those districts that go to private schools. Courtesy busing has nothing to do with public or non public schools. The state rule of two miles is the difference between courtesy and non courtesy. In Lakewood there are thousands of public school students that receive courtesy busing since they live in close proximity to the public schools but you wont hear anyone blaming the costs on that. Blame is always easy when its pointed elsewhere.
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