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Charter schools in New Jersey
 in New Jersey |
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| Education policy in the U.S. |
| Public education in the U.S. |
| School choice in the U.S. |
| Charter schools in the U.S. |
| Higher education in the U.S. |
| Glossary of education terms |
| Education statistics |
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Charter schools in New Jersey are public schools operated independently of public school systems, either by nonprofit or for-profit organizations. Although they are largely publicly funded, charter schools are exempt from many of the requirements imposed by state and local boards of education regarding hiring and curriculum. As public schools, charter schools cannot charge tuition or impose special entrance requirements; students are usually admitted through a lottery process if demand exceeds the number of spaces available in a school. Charter schools generally receive a percentage of the per-pupil funds from the state and local school districts for operational costs based on enrollment. In most states, charter schools do not receive funds for facilities or start-up costs; therefore, they must rely to some extent on private donations. The federal government also provides revenues through special grants. As of March 2017, 44 states and the District of Columbia had approved legislation authorizing the creation of public charter schools. Six states had not.
Background
History
The concept of creating public charter schools as alternatives to traditional public schools was first brought to public attention in the late 1980s by a small group of policymakers and educators. The notion gained traction in the early 1990s, and in 1991 Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter school law.[1]
The National Conference of State Legislatures defines charter schools as follows:[2]
| “ |
Charter schools are publicly funded, privately managed and semi-autonomous schools of choice. They do not charge tuition. They must hold to the same academic accountability measures as traditional schools. They receive public funding similarly to traditional schools. However, they have more freedom over their budgets, staffing, curricula and other operations. In exchange for this freedom, they must deliver academic results and there must be enough community demand for them to remain open.[3] |
” |
| —National Conference of State Legislatures | ||
Across the nation, charter schools have grown in number since the passage of the first public charter school law. As of March 2017, 44 states plus the District of Columbia had enacted charter school laws, and in 2013 it was estimated that 4.6 percent of all public school students attended charter schools. Performance results of charter schools nationally have been mixed, with some performing demonstrably better and others closing because they could not meet required standards.[2][4][5]
New Jersey's charter school law was passed in 1995 and signed into law in January 1996.
Participation
According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a charter school advocacy group, there were an estimated 89 total charter schools in New Jersey in the 2015-2016 school year. These schools enrolled approximately 44,600 students. Overall, charter school students accounted for 3.29 percent of total public school enrollment in New Jersey in 2015.[6]
| Charter schools, 2015-2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Total number of charter schools | Estimated enrollment | Percentage of total public school enrollment |
| New Jersey | 89 | 44,600 | 3.29% |
| Delaware | 27 | 14,400 | 11.01% |
| New York | 257 | 125,800 | 4.66% |
| Pennsylvania | 175 | 141,200 | 8.10% |
| United States total | 6,824 | 2,930,600 | 5.85% |
| Note: The percentages in the column labeled "Percentage of total public school enrollment" were calculated by taking the estimated number of charter school students in a given state and dividing by the total estimated number of public school students in that state in 2015. Total public school enrollment estimates came from the National Center for Education Statistics. Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "A Closer Look at the Charter School Movement," February 3, 2016 | |||
Demographics
The table below presents information about the race/ethnicity of charter school students in New Jersey in the 2013-2014 school year, as reported by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. To facilitate comparison, the same figures are also provided for all public school students.[7][8]
| Enrollments by ethnicity, 2013-2014 (as percentages) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data sample | White | Black | Hispanic | Asian | Other |
| Charter schools in New Jersey | 10.0% | 55.0% | 29.0% | 5.0% | 1.0% |
| Public schools in New Jersey | 48.9% | 16.1% | 24.2% | 9.3% | 1.5% |
| Charter schools in the U.S. | 34.9% | 27.1% | 30.0% | 4.1% | 3.8% |
| Public schools in the U.S. | 50.3% | 15.6% | 24.8% | 4.8% | 4.4% |
| Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 203.70. Percentage distribution of enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: Fall 2003 and fall 2013," accessed June 7, 2016 National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Charter Public School Movement: A State-by-State Analysis," March 2016 | |||||
State law
Authorizers
Charter school authorizers are, according to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), the organizations "designated to approve, monitor, renew, and, if necessary, close charter schools." NASCA has identified six primary types of charter school authorizers:[9]
- Higher education institutions (HEI)
- Independent charter boards (ICB)
- Local education agencies (LEA)
- Non-education government entities (NEG)
- Not-for-profit organizations (NFP)
- State education agencies
The table below lists charter school authorizers in New Jersey as of June 2016. Click [show] to expand the table's contents.
| Charter school authorizers in New Jersey, June 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Authorizer | Authorizer type |
| New Jersey Department of Education | SEA |
| Source: National Association of Charter School Authorizers, "New Jersey Authorizers," accessed June 15, 2016 | |
Enrollment regulations
Charter schools in New Jersey are open to any student in the state. If demand exceeds available space, a random lottery must be held to determine enrollment. Charter schools may choose to serve a specific grade level or establish a specialty of the school. Charter schools may not discriminate for any reason prohibited by federal law and must make every effort to ensure that the demographics of the student body reflect the surrounding community.[10]
Charter schools are required to give enrollment preference to students residing in the surrounding district and to prior-year students. They are allowed to give optional preference to siblings of currently enrolled students. Unlike in many other states, there is no provision for optional preference for children of school founders, board members, and employees.[10]
Funding
Charter school financing differs from state to state, and even between districts within states. In New Jersey, charter schools receive their funds from both the state and the district in which they reside. The law states that districts must send to charter schools at least 90 percent of per-pupil funds for students who live in the district. For students outside of the district who attend the school, the state pays 100 percent of per-pupil funds.[11]
New Jersey does not provide start-up grants for charter schools nor facilities. Unlike in many other states, the law requires districts to provide transportation to charter school students.[12]
Accountability
New Jersey law states that the charter contract drawn between an authorizer and a school should be performance-based and detail standards and academic goals that the school must strive to meet. It should include a framework by which the school will be evaluated.[12]
Charter schools are required to submit annual performance and financial reports to the local board of education, county superintendent of schools, and the state commissioner. Parents of enrolled students must have access to the reports. The data included in the report should be used by the authorizer to evaluate the success of the school annually. If problems are identified based on the evaluation, the authorizer may place the school on probation and provide opportunity for it to remedy the problems. If the school does not improve or violates its charter, it may be closed.[12]
Additionally, the State Board of Education as an authorizer is subject to a review by the governor and legislature at any time, although the law does not require it. If the authorizer’s performance is unsatisfactory, the governor and legislature are allowed to strip it of its authorizing powers. Authorizers in New Jersey are not required to issue their own annual reports like in many other states.[12]
Charter school law rankings
In January 2016, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a report ranking all of the nation's charter school laws. New Jersey's law ranked 36 out of 43. The organization ranked each state's law by considering what it called "20 essential components of a strong charter school law." The table below compares New Jersey's score with that of neighboring states. To access the full report, including methodology, click here.[13]
| Charter school law rankings, January 2016 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | 2016 ranking | 2015 ranking | Ranking difference | 2016 score | 2015 score | Score difference |
| New Jersey | 36 | 34 | -2 | 118 | 116 | 2 |
| Delaware | 24 | 19 | -5 | 138 | 142 | -4 |
| New York | 7 | 7 | 0 | 162 | 157 | 5 |
| Pennsylvania | 27 | 25 | -2 | 133 | 133 | 0 |
| Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Measuring Up To The Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws," January 2016 | ||||||
Issues
Debate
Proponents of charter schools such as the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools argue that, due to their freedom from some state oversight and regulation, they can adopt more innovative educational approaches. This allows them to cater to their particular higher-risk school age populations, which are generally composed of more minority and poor students. In addition, advocates argue that charter schools empower parents and improve traditional public schools through competition.
Meanwhile, critics such as Diane Ravitch argue that charter schools have not been proven to produce significantly higher levels of academic achievement as promised. It is difficult to find data comparable to traditional public schools. Critics also contend that charter schools divert funds from traditional public schools, which continue to enroll significant majorities of public school students, thereby compounding problems at failing schools and generating unequal outcomes for students.[14]
Funding inequity
In 2014, the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform released a report identifying disparities between charter school funding and traditional public school funding. Examining 31 states, the researchers considered all sources of charter school funding, including public funds, grants, and philanthropic donations. Researchers found that charter schools received on average 28.4 percent less than traditional public schools. Tennessee's funding disparity was lowest at 0.1 percent, while Louisiana's was highest at 58.4 percent. The disparity in New Jersey was -31.8 percent, earning the state an F grade. Charter schools in the state received on average $7,013 less per pupil than traditional public schools.[15]
Below is a chart that compares New Jersey's grade and funding disparity with those of surrounding states. To access the full report, click here.
| Charter school funding disparity by state | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Grade | District per-pupil revenue | Charter per-pupil revenue | Disparity in dollars | Disparity in percents |
| New Jersey | F | $22,056 | $15,043 | -$7,013 | -31.8% |
| Delaware | F | $13,869 | $10,327 | -$3,542 | -25.5% |
| New York | F | $23,210 | $15,920 | -$7,290 | -31.4% |
| Pennsylvania | F | $18,339 | $12,495 | -$5,844 | -31.9% |
| Source: University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform, "Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands," accessed October 22, 2014 | |||||
Charter school management organizations and other groups
- See also: Charter school management organization
Almost all of New Jersey’s charter schools are freestanding, meaning they do not contract with a charter school management organization for education services. In the 2010-2011 school year, 71 schools in New Jersey were freestanding and two operated under charter management organizations. There were no schools operating under education management organizations.[16]
New Jersey has one advocacy organization, the New Jersey Charter Schools Association, and one statewide authorizer.
Innovation
Charter school proponents argue that charter schools have the freedom to adopt more innovative practices, which in turn lead to improved academic performance. To get a sense of the level of innovation occurring in charter schools, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools surveyed charter schools across the country on the various innovative education practices they employed. In New Jersey, an average of 19 percent of charter schools reported using innovative practices in the 2011-2012 school year. The table below displays the prevalence of a variety of innovative practices in New Jersey as a percentage of all charter schools in the state. The figures are compared with those in surrounding states.[17]
| Charter schools with innovative practices, in percents (2011-2012) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Extended day | Extended year | Year-round calendar | Independent study | School-to-work | Higher education courses | Average | |
| New Jersey | 60% | 36% | 0% | 8% | 0% | 12% | 19% | |
| Delaware | 60% | 20% | 0% | 20% | 20% | 40% | 27% | |
| New York | 93% | 57% | 7% | 5% | 11% | 5% | 30% | |
| Pennsylvania | 57% | 39% | 10% | 26% | 10% | 22% | 27% | |
| Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Public Charter School Movement: A State-By-State Analysis," accessed October 3, 2014 | ||||||||
Ballot measures and legislation
Ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked no statewide ballot measures relating to school choice in New Jersey.
Legislation
The following is a list of recent charter school bills that have been introduced in or passed by the New Jersey state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.
Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms New Jersey charter school. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Charter schools
- Charter school statistics for all 50 states
- School choice
- Public education in New Jersey
- School choice in New Jersey
- New Jersey Department of Education
- Charter school management organization
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Public School Review, "What is a Charter School?" accessed October 2, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Conference of State Legislatures, "Charter School Finance," accessed October 9, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Center for Research on Education Outcomes, "National Charter School Study," accessed October 9, 2014
- ↑ National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Total Number of Students," accessed October 9, 2014
- ↑ National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "A Closer Look at the Charter School Movement," February 3, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 203.70. Percentage distribution of enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: Fall 2003 and fall 2013," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Charter Public School Movement: A State-by-State Analysis," March 2016
- ↑ National Association of Charter School Authorizers, "Types of Authorizers," accessed June 6, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 State of New Jersey Department of Education, "Charter Schools: Law & Regulations," accessed December 4, 2014
- ↑ Education Commission of the States, "Charter Schools Update 2014 - State Profile - New Jersey," accessed December 4, 2014
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Measuring Up: New Jersey," accessed December 4, 2014
- ↑ National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Measuring Up To The Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws," January 2016
- ↑ The New York Review of Books, "The Myth of Charter Schools," November 11, 2010
- ↑ University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform, "Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Public Charter School Movement: A State-By-State Analysis," accessed October 3, 2014
- ↑ National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Public Charter School Movement: A State-By-State Analysis," accessed October 3, 2014
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