ACLU seeks records tied to $11 million in state grants to religious schools - NorthJersey.com

ACLU seeks records tied to $11 million in state grants to religious schools - NorthJersey.com:

ACLU seeks records tied to $11 million in state grants to religious schools

THURSDAY MAY 9, 2013, 7:51 PM

BY  JIM NORMAN

STAFF WRITER

THE RECORD

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NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR'S OFFICE

Gov. Chris Christie

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey filed a public records request on Thursday demanding the disclosure of guidelines that the Christie administration followed when it granted $11 million to two religious schools, almost all of it to an orthodox Jewish rabbinical school.
The money was included among in $1.3 billion in publicly funded higher education projects that the Christie administration approved last week, to be funded in part with the proceeds of a $750 million capital construction bond that voters approved last fall.
The controversial grants are $645,000 to the Princeton Theological Seminary for technology projects and $10.6 million to Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township to help pay for a new library and an academic center.
“State funding of some of these projects raises constitutional concerns that must be addressed,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Udi Ofer.
“The Legislature should reject this funding proposal until Governor Christie sheds more light on the criteria the state used in selecting which schools and projects to fund, and assures the public that government funding is not used to support programs that discriminate,” Ofer said.
In addition to asking the state to provide the guidelines it used in making its funding