Critics, including NJEA, question whether Christie was moving too fast in his zeal to open more charters Watch video
TRENTON — Fourteen years ago, New Jersey jumped into the charter school business with the approval of a dozen experimental schools in Newark, Jersey City, Princeton and other districts around the state.
Over the years, the number of charters grew slowly as a national debate raged over the value of investing in alternative public schools.
On Tuesday, New Jersey took its biggest leap yet into the charter experiment as Gov. Chris Christie trumpeted the approval of a record 23 new schools. By this fall, more than 25,000 students could be enrolled in charters statewide as the governor pushes plans to rewrite state laws to make it easier to start even more experimental schools.
"I want every child, regardless of zip code, to have the chance to have the education that they and their parents want them to have. And that is not the case now, particularly in our urban communities," Christie said. "That is an obscenity — it’s not just a failing — it’s an obscenity."
Christie announced the new approvals at Robert Treat Academy in Newark, surrounded by students in green plaid uniforms at one of the state’s first charter schools.
Some critics, including the state’s largest teachers union, questioned whether Christie was moving too fast in his zeal to open more charters.
New Jersey Education Association spokesman Steve Baker said the state should focus on opening "high-quality charter schools" and closely tracking their progress.
"We’re very concerned that the governor’s agenda of rushing large numbers of charter school applications through is likely to lead to lower quality charter schools being approved and that doesn’t serve anybody," Baker said.
The 23 new charters were selected from nearly 50 applications. Though not all of them are set to open this fall, New Jersey could have 97 charter schools opened by September, state officials said.
The new schools are scattered around the state in large and small municipalities, including Jersey City, Atlantic City, East Orange, Linden, Egg Harbor City, Willingboro and Gloucester Township. They include a school in Newark for students with autism, a school in Salem County for children in foster care and schools in Englewood and Teaneck with a Hebrew language immersion program.
Charter schools have been gaining popularity around the nation as alternatives to failing public schools and places for innovations in teaching. Though the charters are public schools, they operate independently of their local districts.
Nine of New Jersey’s newly approved charters will be in Newark, where Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat, and Christie, a Republican, have teamed up in a high-profile push for school reform.
Newark school officials said they support adding the new charters. About 5,500 students, or 14 percent of the city’s students are now enrolled in charter schools, Newark school officials said.
"We welcome the opportunity to work with the new charters and hope that we can learn from each other on behalf of the children of Newark," said Valerie Merritt, a spokeswoman for Newark Public Schools.
But some Newark school activists questioned whether additional charters will help students when there is no clear plan for improving the rest of the city’s schools.
"Opening up more charter schools in that environment is not the solution," said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, a Newark-based advocacy group. "All it’s likely to do is exacerbate further inequity in educational opportunities and outcomes for Newark public schools students, regardless of who operates the schools."
While test scores for charter students lag behind the statewide average, the schools outperformed public schools in their districts last year, according to data released by the state Tuesday.
Several experts said the data is misleading because it does not account for the higher number of special needs students in public schools. Though charter schools cannot discriminate against special education or non-English speaking students, many of those families do not apply, said Bruce Baker, associate professor at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education.
"Comparisons of average scores or proficiency rates between New Jersey charters and host districts are meaningless," Baker said.
Christoper Cerf, the acting state education commissioner, dismissed the criticism of the data, arguing charter students usually enter their new schools at a lower achievement level than their peers in their districts.
"I think that argument is flawed because it fails to take into account that charter school students are disproportionately students from challenging economic circumstances," Cerf said.
Rev. Reginald Jackson said he was celebrating after all five charter schools proposed by the Black Ministers Council were approved. They include an East Orange school with single-gender classrooms and a high school offering online instruction and instrumental music classes for students in East Orange, Irvington and Newark.
"I’m aware that most of our children are always going to be in public schools ... but at the same time parents ought to have options," said Jackson, executive director of the council.
Christie said charter schools are one piece of a larger plan to reform New Jersey’s public education system. He also wants to offer "opportunity scholarships" to parents who want to move their children from failing public schools to private schools.
"It has never been my intent, nor is it now, to charterize the entire public school system," Christie said.
The governor proposed several additional reforms Tuesday, including the introduction of legislation to change the charter school law. The changes would include allowing colleges and local school boards to approve and oversee charters.
Christie also called for easing some of the charter school regulations, including a rule that requires applicants to identify a site for a proposed school before it is approved. He also called for more flexibility in allowing for-profit companies to open charter schools.
Many of the changes would require legislative approval. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) said charters are not the sole solution to the state’s education problems.
"While we support charter schools, we also know that not all charter schools are successful and they cannot be the lone solution to problems plaguing poor and urban schools," Oliver said.
By Jeanette Rundquist and Kelly Heyboer/The Star-Ledger
Staff writer Eunice Lee contributed to this report.