Sunday, January 30, 2011

Charter schools not the answer | The Asbury Park Press | APP.com

Charter schools not the answer | The Asbury Park Press | APP.com

Charter schools not the answer

Focus should be on helping low-income households

3 Comments

It is well known that many New Jersey schools are failing. They suffer high dropout rates and have many students who cannot read or do math at grade level.

Criticizing our schools this way is far too easy, however; it is like taking candy from the young children of New Jersey.

Yet this is essentially what Gov. Chris Christie did recently when he announced 23 new charter schools for the state. To support his decision, he cited a New Jersey Department of Higher Education study comparing charter schools to all schools in the same district.

The study, "Living Up to Expectations," showed that out of 40 charter