A bill to extend publicly-financed bus transportation to children attending private and religiously-sponsored schools in New Jersey was approved last night by the State Senate after having previously been adopted by the Assembly. Gov, Richard J. Hughes, a strong supporter of the proposal, was expected to sign it without delay. The measure had been vigorously opposed by several Jewish organizations and civil liberties groups.
The vote in the Senate was 20 to six. Before the voting, the measure was amended, requiring that it be sent back to the Assembly, which approved the changes by 37 to 11. The bill provides that children from kindergarten to the eighth grade can be bused free if they live at least two miles and within 20 miles of schools. Ninth to twelfth grade pupils must live within 2-1/2 miles and within 20 miles of the school.
Under existing state laws, non-public school students are allowed to ride free on public school bases on established public school routes. The measure approved yesterday will extend this service to non-public school students in communities which provide such transportation for public school pupils but not to non-public school pupils. There are 334,000 non-public school students in New Jersey, including a number attending Jewish day schools.
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