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Inquirer Editorial: Charters are no panacea

The New Jersey Department of Education approved four new charter schools last week, one in Camden, boosting the total approved this year to 27, the most ever in a year.

Gov. Christie shouldn't emphasize charters without investing in regular public schools. (Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer)
Gov. Christie shouldn't emphasize charters without investing in regular public schools. (Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer)Read more

The New Jersey Department of Education approved four new charter schools last week, one in Camden, boosting the total approved this year to 27, the most ever in a year.

That flurry of activity exemplifies the Christie administration's preference for addressing failing public schools, but it's not the answer for the majority of children who don't choose charters.

Gov. Christie has made charters the cornerstone of an education reform agenda that includes vouchers, tenure reform, and tougher teacher evaluations. Charters are a viable alternative to traditional public schools, but they shouldn't be emphasized at the expense of underfunded regular schools.

Charters can offer immediate relief for parents who want to get their children out of bad schools before it's too late. But simply moving some children to charters does little to help the students who are left behind. Then, too, some charters aren't doing significantly better academically.

Camden has 13,800 students in regular public schools, compared with nearly 20,000 a decade ago. For the 2009-10 school year, Camden had seven charter schools that enrolled 2,800 students. With the latest state approvals, another charter is slated to open in September, which will eventually have 400 students.

Charter schools, which are given more flexibility to implement innovative programs, have had some success improving student achievement. But as has been seen with Philadelphia's charters, that status doesn't grant immunity from mismanagement.

Nor does it guarantee better academic performance. For example, fourth graders at Camden's LEAP Academy charter school scored 41.7 percent proficient in math on standardized tests for the 2009-10 school year. Their counterparts at Sharp Elementary scored 45 percent proficient.

In fact, charter-school test scores generally have been lower than the state average in New Jersey. If the state is going to keep steering students to charters, it needs to provide better oversight and more stringent assessments to ensure their effectiveness.

And if Christie truly wants to narrow the academic gap between low-income and wealthy school districts, he must do more than offer an escape route to leave failing schools. He took a good step in that direction with the legislation introduced last spring to raise the bar on teacher performance by tying salaries to student achievement.

But he can't stop there. Most parents truly want their children to attend a neighborhood school. More effort must be made to make those schools viable choices.