Letter: Charter Schools are Not the Answer

To the Editor:

Before the end of the year Gov. Chris Christie wants the legislature to pass the remainder of his property tax ‘tool kit’ including his education ‘reform’ agenda. And the fate of one of the nation’s best public education systems and thousands of its students hang in the balance.

Out of over 2,400 schools in this state, about 200 are not doing a good enough job educating their students. These schools are mostly in the former Abbott districts, some of the poorest cities in this country, where the Black unemployment rate is almost double the state average, and one in five children live in poverty.

The governor and Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, along with their education advisors, Better Education For Kids (B4K) and Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), do not address this almost criminal disparity of wealth despite the fact that one of the DOE’s earlier Abbott district reports cites poverty as a major roadblock to student achievement:

“Low-income families face many problems related to poverty, e.g., substance abuse, teenage pregnancy and parenthood, inadequate housing, violence and crime. ‘All of these conditions, well-documented in the research literature, place children at greater risk of school failure and increase the likelihood that they will drop out of school further limiting their opportunities for future success (Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1993).’”

The Census Bureau concurs:

“Children who live in poverty are more likely than their peers to have cognitive and behavioral difficulties, to complete fewer years of education and to experience more years of unemployment as they grow older."

Instead, our governor wants to invest our tax dollars in charter schools, and offer tax breaks to corporations to fund vouchers.

The FDA would never approve a drug that has failed every clinical trial, and yet that is exactly what is happening all across the country. Decades of research have shown that not only do the for-profit, corporate models being forced on school districts from coast to coast not work, they present a separate and unequal solution, and offer huge profits for investors. Mostly poor, minority cities such as Milwaukee, Cleveland and New Orleans have all seen their charter school and/or voucher experiments post mediocre gains at best. Taxpayers have no say in the process, yet must foot the bill. Big promises, little results, while students are collateral damage. Two major studies of charter schools conducted within the past two years and sponsored in part by billionaire education ‘reformers’ Bill Gates and The Walton Foundation, have shown that the majority of charters perform no better than traditional public schools; some do better; many are worse. Yet Christie is so steadfast in his belief that charters are the magic bullet that every one of his appointees to the state board of education has ties to them.

Every district in this state from Mendham to Camden has felt the devastating effects of Christie’s school funding cuts, while property taxes soared last year. Feeling the heat from suburban school boards and municipalities, Christie and Cerf have both said they should leave the better performing districts alone—for now. The voices of wealthy suburbanites paying five digit property tax bills for their excellent public schools get pretty loud when services are slashed. But the poor districts don’t have that kind of clout, and will now become the laboratory rats in New Jersey’s grand educational experiment.

How are the needs of our most vulnerable students met in schools that can skim the best from the top? That don’t have to provide services for special education or ESL students? That can expel students who may be discipline problems? That don’t have the same financial and academic accountability as public schools? Whose principals can earn as much as the superintendent of a large school district? That decimate local public schools by siphoning up to 90% of the per-pupil cost of each student they enroll? The revamping of the former Abbott districts is just the start. Christie and Cerf want to expand charter schools and vouchers throughout the state, whether taxpayers want them or not. Unwanted charters are already showing up in places like Cherry Hill, New Brunswick and Teaneck.

Because of the huge wealth disparity between our suburban and urban districts, New Jersey ranks near the bottom in the black-white achievement gap. The irony is that the research-based programs recommended for Abbott districts by the State Department of Education itself including half day preschool and full day kindergarten, smaller class sizes, and increased professional development were working: New Jersey is first in the nation in closing that gap.

Under the NCLB waiver reforms, 23 public schools in Camden alone could close if their test scores don’t improve. Can our governor and his advisors deliver on 23 new schools in time to assure those children get a quality education? If not, how will they address the massive overcrowding in the other public schools that will surely result? What happens if the charter/voucher schools fail to deliver? Who will be blamed? Who will take responsibility? Who will suffer?

Will Newark become the next Milwaukee? Will Camden become the next New Orleans? Will Trenton become the next Cleveland? New Jersey taxpayers have no say.

Whatever reforms are implemented must have a history of success, must address the issues inherent in poverty and must be inclusive of every stakeholder, including parents and children. Anything less is putting profits before progress.

Marie Corfield
Flemington resident, Former Democratic State Assembly Candidate in District 16