'Experiment' will be launched in five chronically failing schools Watch video
Gov. Chris Christie speaks at a press conference in this file photo. On Thursday, the governor introduced a plan that would allow private companies to run a small number of failing public schools in New Jersey.TRENTON — He called it a pilot program, an "experiment," a restoration of hope.
It was also — for better or worse — an historic moment.
Gov. Chris Christie proposed Thursday that private companies play an unprecedented role in public education, managing some schools and creating others from the ashes of dysfunctional ones.
The governor said the state would launch its experiment in five chronically failing schools where students are hopelessly mired in traditional approaches to education that have utterly collapsed.
"This pilot program will provide an innovative alternative for those children who need it most, bolstering our efforts to ensure opportunity for every child in our state," the governor said. "This program will begin to restore hope in communities where failing schools deny children hope and opportunity."
Districts wanting to participate in the five-year program would have to apply. If selected, they could either allow a private company to come in and manage a failing school or authorize a company to launch a new school.
The schools would report to the local school boards and get 90 percent of the per-student taxpayer money the traditional schools spend. The management companies would be responsible for the costs of any construction involved in creating new schools.
If the program is successful, it could expand to more districts, officials said.
The pilot program, which needs approval from the Democrat-controlled Legislature, is the latest in a growing list of education reforms backed by Christie, including overhauling teacher tenure, changing the way schools are funded and offering merit pay to the best educators.
Christie announced his plan for the five "transformation schools" at Camden’s Lanning Square Elementary School. Standing alongside the governor, Camden Mayor Dana Redd, a Democrat who has worked with the Republican governor on education issues, praised the proposal and said she hopes a Camden school will participate.
"Today’s announcement offers Camden and other urban centers another unique academic opportuntiy for our children," Redd said.
But the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, was quick to critize the proposal, calling it a veiled effort to "funnel tax dollars" to the private sector.
"This proposal is nothing more than an attempt to walk away from the state’s obligation to provide a thorough and efficient education to every student by handing over our students and our tax dollars to private companies," NJEA president Barbara Keshishian said in a statement.
While non-profit companies like the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) have been successful in opening new schools, education experts say for-profit firms have a tenuous track record of taking over failed schools.
Under Christie’s plan, both types of firms could participate in the program.
"It’s a terrible idea to bring in for-profit managers because their first obligation is to their stockholders and investors, not the students," said Diane Ravitch, a research professor of education at New York University.
There’s not much empirical research on for-profit companies’ takeover efforts, but the few studies that do exist draw similar conclusions.
When Edison Schools Inc. lobbied for a contract to take-over 20 failing schools in Philadelphia, the for-profit company promised greater academic achievement and a lower per pupil cost than what the state could provide.
The results Edison Schools achieved did not match its pitch.
One study found students in the company’s schools scored no better on standardized reading and math exams than their peers in other city schools.
Elsewhere, school management organizations improved attendence in Florida’s Dade County and enhanced school building repairs in Baltimore and Hartford, Conn., a 1996 federal Government Accountability Office report found, but they did not boost student test scores.
Acting state Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf has experience in public-private school partnerships, having formerly led Edison Schools, now called Edison Learning. He left the company in 2005.
Christie is also connected to for-profit education companies, including Cerf’s. From 1999 to 2001, he was a registered lobbyist at a law firm that lobbied state government on behalf of Edison Schools, according to filings with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. While the firm, Dughi Hewit and Palatucci, was representing the company, Cerf was its general counsel.
The firm also represented Mosaica Education, a for-profit charter school operator, and the University of Phoenix, a for-profit online university. At the time, the firm listed two lobbyists, Christie and William Palatucci, a political ally of the governor who is a partner in the firm.
By Ginger Gibson and Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger