Local Voices: A Primer on Charter Schools

In my capacity as Vice President of the Parent Teacher Council of Livingston, I have been attending various meetings discussing two charter school applications that have been submitted to the state of New Jersey. These schools propose to attract students from the Livingston School District. Why does this concern me and why should it concern you?

What is a charter school?

The definition listed on http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/www.nationsreportcard.gov states: charter school - A public charter school is a publicly funded school that, in accordance with an enabling state statute, has been granted a charter exempting it from selected state or local rules and regulations.

A charter school may be newly created, or it may previously have been a public or private school; it is typically governed by a group or organization (e.g., a group of educators, a corporation, or a university) under a contract or charter with the state. In return for funding and autonomy, the charter school must meet accountability standards. A school's charter is reviewed (typically every 3 to 5 years) and can be revoked if guidelines on curriculum and management are not followed or the standards are not met. 

Historically, charter schools have been effective in communities where the existing public schools have been failing to provide a quality education to their students.  Since the Livingston School District has been a highly ranked district for years, it hardly qualifies as a failing district.  

Charter schools state a mission in their applications.  The two schools in question wish to provide Mandarin Immersion programs – i.e. the majority of the classes will be taught in Mandarin Chinese.  One of these schools is planning to be located in Livingston, the other in South Orange/Maplewood, both of which plan to attract Livingston students.

Where would the money come from to fund these charter schools? 

The money would be taken out of the Livingston School Budget. If approved, 90% of the cost per pupil would have to be turned over to these schools for each student they pull out of a Livingston Public School .  For example, Livingston has a per pupil cost of approximately $13,000.   If 30 children left our schools for one of these charter schools, Livingston would have to pay $351,000 ($13,000*.9 = $11,700 * 30 = $351,000) out of our school budget.

Wouldn’t the cost to Livingston go down if these students left our schools? 

No.  Most likely, only a few students from each Livingston Elementary School would go to a charter school.  We would still have to carry the same number of teachers and all of the associated costs.  The bottom line is charter schools will reduce the amount of money in the Livingston Public School budget that will actually go to Livingston Public Schools.  

Will we have to make more cuts to our schools?

It is possible that more cuts will have to be made in order to accommodate the charter schools.  It is also possible that there will be soft borders at every level of elementary school.  That means that students could be moved between elementary schools at any grade level from year to year to keep grades at the lowest number of classrooms.

Who decides if the charter schools are approved?

The NJ Department of Education will decide.  Rumor has it that since Governor Christie is pro-charter schools, that most, if not all, applications will be approved.

Don’t we get to say how our tax money is spent?

As of now, no!  There is pending legislation to provide communities the opportunity to vote on charter schools in their towns.  Again, rumor has it, that the governor plans to veto this legislation.

Ironically, the township of Livingston can vote on our school budget, but we cannot vote on whether or not part of that money will be taken and spent on schools that are not part of our school district!

Will other charter schools open in Livingston?

Why not?  If other groups feel that their needs are not being met by the current school system, they could petition to open a school that teaches in the language/culture/curriculum of their choice.

Schools that are currently run as private schools could apply to become charter schools and drain even more money out of our district. 

What is the definition of a public school?

According to http://dictionary.com/dictionary.com - a school that is maintained at public expense for the education of the children of a community or district and that constitutes a part of a system of free public education commonly including primary and secondary schools.

Why should Livingston public school dollars go toward funding a cultural education?  We have a wonderful, high-achieving school district.  Culture and ethnicity come from our homes and other extra-curricular activities.  (Mandarin Chinese is taught in our public schools beginning in 7th grade.)

What can we do?

Get educated – there will be a this Monday evening, May 9  at Millburn High School at 7:45pm discussing this very topic.

Read the latest on suburban charter schools: http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0424/1448http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0424/1448

http://sites.google.com/site/sosnewjersey/Charters

Contact our legislators – it will take a significant percentage of legislators from all over the state of New Jersey to have an impact on the issue of charter schools.

Richard James Codey (D), sencodey@njleg.org

Mila M. Jasey (D), AswJasey@njleg.org

John F. McKeon (D), AsmMcKeon@njleg.org

Assemblyman Patrick Deignan is the Chairman of the Education Committee and sponsor of the bill to give municipalities the right to vote on charter schools in their towns. Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr. (D), AsmDiegnan@njleg.org