Schools Matter: Good Op-Ed on Christie's Charter Scam

Schools Matter: Good Op-Ed on Christie's Charter Scam

Good Op-Ed on Christie's Charter Scam

by Jim Horn

Asbury Park Press:

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 schools, about 24 did better than average and about 16 did worse than average.

This is not a large difference, especially given several red flags in the report — charter schools with