The schools could not teach religion or display religious symbols, and if their name has a religious reference, it would have to be changed
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Teacher Andre David, center, works on a language arts tutorial with two seventh-grade students at the Great Oaks Charter School in Newark. TRENTON — Some New Jersey parochial schools facing closure because of declining enrollment may be allowed to convert into a public charter school, under a bill that passed the Senate yesterday.
The schools could not teach religion or display religious symbols, and if their name has a religious reference, it would have to be changed, according to the bill. The state would oversee the schools.
One of numerous charter school bills proposed by the Legislature, a bill allowing nonpublic schools in failing school districts to convert to charters won passage in the full Senate yesterday. An identical bill was approved earlier by the Assembly.
Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union), the bill’s sponsor, said he introduced it about three years ago to help a struggling Methodist school in Newark that wanted to convert to a charter school. The bill is too late to help that school, which has since closed, Lesniak said.
In an era when many Catholic schools have shut because of declining enrollment, Lesniak said the bill would let schools remain open without disrupting students. Converting to a public, charter school now would require a school to close for a year, fire the faculty, and re-enroll students, he said.
Under this bill, schools that would be allowed to convert would have to be high-performing, yet located in communities where public schools are "in need of improvement."
There is a major hurdle, however: Many of New Jersey’s Catholic leaders do not support it, and even Lesniak says it may be little used. In the Archdiocese of Newark, spokesman Jim Goodness said four Catholic schools closed in June but the remaining 112 are "holding their own." He said the archdiocese does not support the bill.
"Everything that defines a Catholic school would not be permitted under this law," he said. "It no longer becomes a Catholic school."
In the Diocese of Camden, spokesman Peter Feuerherd said officials don’t plan to convert any schools, but that could change. Feuerherd said the diocese likes school choice, but is "ambivalent" about changes the bill would require schools to make.
The bill was approved 25-13 and now goes to Gov. Chris Christie.
Related coverage:
• N.J. Assembly committee approves two charter school bills
• Braun: N.J. support for charter schools waning
• Assembly Education Committee approves bill requiring charter schools to win voter approval
