TRENTON — Two virtual schools, a Hebrew language high school and five schools proposed by New Jersey’s Black Ministers Council are among 50 charter school applications under consideration by the state Department of Education. The Rev. Reginald Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers Council and a longtime proponent of school choice, said his organization has applied for five...
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TRENTON — Two virtual schools, a Hebrew language high school and five schools proposed by New Jersey’s Black Ministers Council are among 50 charter school applications under consideration by the state Department of Education.
The Rev. Reginald Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers Council and a longtime proponent of school choice, said his organization has applied for five charters — one in East Orange, one in Linden and three in South Jersey — that would feature longer school days and additional instruction in "character development."
This is the first time the religious group has entered the charter school industry, he said.
"This is simply an effort to give members of our community — low-income parents in particular — alternatives," Jackson said.
With Gov. Chris Christie creating a climate supportive to charter schools — pledging to overhaul state laws and make it easier to open the publicly funded, independently operated facilities — the state last week saw its largest ever crop of applications.
Applicants are expected to get a decision in January, after a review of proposed programs and finances. The Department of Education provided names of applicants yesterday, but did not release the actual applications.
Among the proposals were some with ties to out-of-state charter school networks, like Imagine Schools, which helped local residents write applications in Jersey City, Newark, Camden, Trenton.
Imagine serves 40,000 students in 72 schools in 12 states, according to its website. "New Jersey is an area that is favorable for (education) alternatives," Samuel Howard, Imagine School’s executive vice president, said.
Christie has said he hoped to attract charter networks to New Jersey, but out-of-state companies face a roundabout process. A local group must first win approval for a charter then, if it wants to outsource the operation, must ask for bids.
Michael Pallante, a retired Newark principal who spent 13 years at the Robert Treat Academy charter school, is an applicant for the New Jersey Virtual Academy Charter School. This is the second time an application has been filed for the school.
The school would offer instruction, online, for Newark students who would study from home. As part of the proposal, desktop computers would be provided to students.
"There are a group of students that don’t qualify for the magnet schools, they have to attend district schools, and some are afraid to go," Pallante said. "There’s a population out there that nobody else is reaching, and we’re going to reach."
Sharon Akman, a Middlesex County real estate agent and parent, is lead founder of the Tikun Olam Hebrew Language Charter High School, a partial-immersion Hebrew language school serving Edison, Highland Park and New Brunswick. It would start with 100 students and expand to 200, Akman said.
In addition to teaching Hebrew, she said, the school would stress community service and multi-cultural learning.
"We’re a diverse population. It seemed like a need we had in the community," Akman said.
Applicants for charter schools have to notify the districts where students would come from, and Edison Interim Superintendent Ron Bolandi said he received a binder from Tikun Olam.
Some districts have not welcomed charters; East Brunswick tried to withhold state aid from a Hebrew charter school there, for example. But Bolandi said Edison would do what is required.
He said charter schools cost township taxpayers, however, because the district must provide 90 percent of most types of state aid it receives per child, for the students who go there.
"If they take 20 kids, it would reduce state aid in Edison, but I can’t cut the amount of money in services because those 20 students don’t reduce one teacher," he said.
By Rohan Mascarenhas and Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-Ledger