Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Jersey Jazzman: Charter Schools: The Best Way To Destroy Your Community

Jersey Jazzman: Charter Schools: The Best Way To Destroy Your Community:


Charter Schools: The Best Way To Destroy Your Community

There is a heck of a fight brewing in East Brunswick, NJ, over a "Hebrew immersion" charter that wants to move to an industrialized zone some residents say is inappropriate for a school. The school, Hatikvah, was granted a variance by the local zoning board, but that was overturned by the township council.

Supporters of the school say the fight isn't really about zoning; it's about whether the school itself should exist. They probably have a point, but so what? Even though the school drains local resources, many of its students don't live in town, and residents never had a say in its approval anyway.

Darcie Cimarusti, the Mother Crusader, has more:
Case in point, Hatikvah International Academy Charter School. Hatikvah was approved in 2009 and opened in 2010, amidst a legal challenge from the East Brunswick School District claiming that Hatikvah didn't reach 90% enrollment, as required under New Jersey's charter school law.