The New Jersey Department of Education has approved six new charter schools to open this fall, and what a motley lot they are!
Jersey Jazzman, with his habitual research skills, has assembled the cast of characters, and it is alarming, even by New Jersey’s low standards for charter authorizing.
One, as described in a post by Mother Crusader, will be run by a man who was a major participant in a spectacular charter failure in Missouri. Another will be owned by a man who was the biggest campaign contributor to the governor of Pennsylvania and whose charter bankrupted its host district. Another has enrolled more Asian students than all other schools in the district combined. Another is a Gulen school.
And if that is not enough, state commissioner Chris Cerf is lobbying hard to bring the for-profit virtual charter corporation K12 to the Garden State. K12 is known for high attrition rates, low test scores, low graduation rates, but also for astute political campaign contributions and snazzy advertising. It is guaranteed to drain funding away from public schools, causing class sizes to rise and programs to be cut. It is very profitable for investors, but where public education is concerned, it’s a bloodsucker.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’m getting complaints in Ohio that the online charters are sending kids who fail to graduate in the online charter program to an online GED prep program. Many of them are adults by the time they are finally “counseled out” of the Ohio online charter programs and sent off to get a GED.
Is there a financial or contractual connection between privatized online charters and privatized online GED prep programs? Are they picking up a profit on both ends? The arrangements are entirely opaque in this state. There doesn’t seem to be any public reporting requirements of any kind.
The New Jersey situation is also alarming because charter schools – shady and not – are being forced almost entirely on communities of color.
The six new schools approved in this round are each located in a city that is populated overwhelmingly by people of color. These communities have no say as to whether the charter school opens in their midst and draws funding from the local public schools.
In fact, five of the six newly-approved charter schools are located in New Jersey’s four state-controlled school districts, whose residents have no say over any aspect of their children’s education. That education is all being dictated by the Christie Administration.
No majority white districts are under state control.
The disenfranchisement of communities of color is apparent in multiple aspects of the Christie Administration’s education policy.
“The six new schools approved in this round are each located in a city that is populated overwhelmingly by people of color. These communities have no say as to whether the charter school opens in their midst and draws funding from the local public schools.”
I wonder if there’s a political opening for public school supporters in the fact that the national charter chains collect tax money locally and send it out of of these cities and often out of state, in management fees, land deals, contracting out all services, etc. The Imagine contract in the piece collects two sets of fees, and (presumably) those fees go to wherever Imagine is headquartered. They’re hefty, it’s nearly 25% of the total tax money collected by the charter company.
One of the central mechanisms of economic revitalization is public money stays local; it should circulate within the community. If they’re pulling money OUT of these communities that could be highlighted. “Buy local” is powerful. I live and work in a lower income rural area and people almost intuitively understand that tax money should stay here. It’s only gotten stronger since the 2008 economic collapse, because we were targeted by national lenders for second and third mortgages on inflated property value. We’ve had a real rush back to (reputable) local and state lenders.
This should be out there as Christie and his contenders campaign. How many votes would he lose if these affected communities voted 100% against him?
This is classic. It has happened in other states. They promote themselves as some kind of saviors of urban education. They ultimately provide less opportunities for children of color through a narrow curriculum. They have high turnover due to low pay and poor benefits. The charter CEO makes a ton and hires family members. It is all a con.
…which is all the more reason to expose him on the campaign trail via the press. If it comes from his opponent, it will be viewed as propaganda. Question is, who in the NJ and national press would be willing to investigate this angle? I think not many.
In my state public school students can enroll in a variety of online classes administered by K12 through the public school district. This gives students access to courses that are not available in the typically small high schools of the state. I don’t know if that might also be an issue for at least some high schools in New Jersey.
K12 cofounded by Michael Milken, the convicted felon and junk bond king responsible for S&L bankruptcies and destruction of the savings of many elderly people. He knows how to make a buck. First with his disastrous junk bond schemes (great for him) and now with the privatization of public education.
If this is all true then get someone in the media to expose it. They love juicy stories and this is one if it is true.