Joseph Kyrillos

Joseph M. Kyrillos Jr. is a Republican member of the New Jersey state Senate. He is a member of the following Committees: Economic Growth, Judiciary, Legislative Oversight, and the Legislative Services Commission."

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council
Kyrillos introduced S. 2569, the “Parent Empowerment & Choice Act,” in Dec. 2010. The bill enables parents to create charter schools in low-performing school districts through a petition process. .

According to the New Jersey Spotlight, Kyrillos’ legislation “would give parents unprecedented rights to remove low-performing schools, would offer them three options: replace school staff, convert the school to a charter, or request vouchers to attend other public or private schools.” The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the New Jersey bill was based on a proposal set forth by the Chicago-based Heartland Institute, an Associate Member of the State Policy Network (SPN), which was drafted in consultation with the Education Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which is also an Associate Member of the SPN.