The education committee in the state Assembly has advanced legislation that would raise the age for compulsory school attendance from 16 to 18.

Carolee Adams with the conservative group Eagle Forum of New Jersey opposes the measure.

“It seems to take away the freedom to decide whether school or some other path is best for 16-year-old to follow, and it would result in higher taxes as unwilling older students are forced to stay in schools.”

Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman says staying in school longer would help undereducated students get the skills they need for a productive life. She says that would be less costly than dealing with problems they could encounter without that training.

“If you don’t have educated people in our society and if they’re undereducated and have no skills then you generally end up paying a lot more on their behalf or because of them in the end.”

An official with the Administrative Office of the Courts says 80 percent of those in prisons are school dropouts.

Coleman has been trying for years to get lawmakers to approve the idea. She’s hoping President Obama’s call for a similar change in his State of the Union speech will help get it enacted.