Take Back The Fight! Defend Public Ed With One Phone Call! (Don't Let Big Money Win)
The following email went out to charter schools and charter school parents from the New Jersey Charter Schools Association.
The State Legislators need to hear from the charter school community. We need your help!
On Thursday, February 2, 2012 the Assembly Education committee will hold a hearing to consider the vote on two charter school bills A- 1877- and A-2147.A-1877- would require community approval on all charter applications and petitions for expansionsbefore the charter application goes to the Department of Education for review.A-2147- Would require automatic enrollment of all students in the charter school district.NJCSA does NOT support A-1877 and A-2147 for the following reasons:
A-1877-
- The charter approval process will become a political campaign, diverting scarce resources intended for children to operate and fund a campaign.
- It creates an unfunded mandate. Referendums require the expenditure of funds at the county and local level.
- Voter referendums will impede the development of innovative schools in urban and suburban communities.
- Parents vote with their feet. If parents did not want more options, then a charter school would not open.
A-2147-
- This will cause a logistical nightmare for all charter schools.
- However, this bill does attempt to address increased accountability and collaboration between school districts and charters. We feel that any change to current charter law should come from the people within the charter community who know it best.
Our recommendation is to OPPOSE A-1877 and A-2147 and amend the current Charter law to provide for more diverse authorizers and more community input throughout the process.How Can You Help?We would like to ensure that the people who will be impacted by these proposals be informed