The fix is in to privatize the schools of Camden, New Jersey, reports Julia Sass Rubin. Rubin is an associate professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University and a visiting associate professor of public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She also is one of the founding members of the grassroots, pro-public education group Save Our Schools NJ.
Read Rubin’s account of plans for a charter takeover of Camden, New Jersey, aided by Chris Christie, the local Democratic machine, and Camden’s young inexperienced superintendent.
The legislature rushed through and passed amendments to the state’s Urban Hope act, so as to bypass violations of the law by two charter chains and to enable them to expand in Camden. The chains–Mastery and Uncommon Schools–together with the pre-existing KIPP schools will together enroll a large majority of Camden’s students. The ultimate goal, shared by the Chris Christie administration and the Norcross political machine, is to make Camden a New Orleans-style district, where public education is a relic of the past, and most schools are privately managed. The few remaining public schools will exist for the students the charters don’t want: students with disabilities and students with low test scores.
“The negative fiscal impact of the renaissance charter program is already being felt on the Camden District’s public schools. Hundreds of teachers and staff members were fired this spring because of projected budget shortfalls caused by payments the district has to make to renaissance and regular charter schools. Over the next few years, Camden parents are likely to see many more public school teachers laid off and extensive school reorganizations and closings as the privately-managed renaissance charters open more and more schools, aggressively competing for the public school dollars.
“Camden parents already lament the constant harassment by those charter chains, whose representatives approach them at every venue, come to their homes, and even try to recruit their children on school playgrounds. One Camden father recounted to me that he had repeatedly told the paid renaissance charter recruiters who came to his house that he did not want to send his child to their charter school, only to have them return the next morning and resume their recruitment efforts.
“The charter chains also send marketing emails and letters to parents’ homes. Sometimes, this has been done with the assistance and endorsement of the state-appointed Camden District Superintendent, who has mailed the charter chains’ recruitment materials to parents along with District correspondence. But parents also report receiving personally-addressed mail sent directly by the charter chains. A Camden mother told me that she called the Mastery charter chain’s offices in Philadelphia after receiving such a personally-addressed recruitment letter from them and spoke with a woman who asked for her name and the names of her children and then found their address on a list in front of her. Based on such experiences, Camden parents are convinced that the Camden School District’s state-appointed superintendent is giving their children’s personal information to the charter chains in order to facilitate the chains’ enrollment growth.”
If Governor Christie has his way, public education will be destroyed in Camden.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’m from NJ. Education in Camden has been very poor for a very long time. It really is time to give some other means of educating children a chance. I get that charters siphon money from public schools. But something has to be tried in Camden to improve things. That is why Republicans and Democrats are working together to try this. Children in Camden should not continue to be ignored simply as a means to oppose all charter schools. In Camden, something new is needed. Charters will now be given a chance to see if they can improve the awful status quo in Camden. If public education is indeed destroyed in Camden, and that results in a brighter future for Camden students, well then, that’s the goal, isn’t it?
“But something has to be tried in Camden to improve things. That is why Republicans and Democrats are working together to try this.”
They are working together to make money.
What’s the poverty rate in Camden? Crime rate? Unemployment rate? Access to health care? Safe housing? Has education been poor or have the conditions been poor for a long time? That’s the real status quo. It’s amazing how many people think all school reforms need to take place within the school house. A vast majority of reforms need to take place outside the school house.
So if this is something Camdenites are so eager for, why are these recruiters being so aggressive? Shouldn’t people be flocking to their doors? Shouldn’t they have more students than they can handle? Why the need to return to people’s houses day after day and hassle kids on the playground (and why is that even legal – I know what would happen if I tried to approach kids playing on a public school playground)?
Speaking of which, I believe New Jersey is a Stand Your Ground state. I’m pretty anti-gun, but if someone harassed me like that I might have to reconsider. I would definitely feel threatened by that kind of harassment.
The fact that you believe this is about helping the children of Camden shows that you are woefully misinformed and have bought into the corporate propaganda.
Camden, NJ facts from September, 2012 Census Data in The Inquirer:
“According to the new estimates, Camden is the poorest city in the country with a poverty rate of 42.5 percent. The rate for children living in poverty in Camden was even higher with a rate of 56.7 percent.
Other stark statistics included Camden’s median income in 2011 was $21,191, the lowest among the 555 cities and places surveyed. It was a huge drop from Camden’s median income in 2010 of $28,720.
The 26 percent decrease in median income put Camden at the top of the list in an almost tie with Goodyear, Ariz., which had a 26.5 percent drop.”
And from January, 2013 Philly.com:
“In addition to being the poorest city in the nation that year, Camden had the highest crime rate in the country.
CQ Press recently released its official ranking of 432 cities based on 2011 rates of reported crimes in a half-dozen categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and vehicle theft.
Camden’s overall crime rate was more than five times the national average. Its murder rate of 60.6 per 100,000 population was nearly 12 times higher.
And remember, last year Camden had an all-time city record of 67 reported homicides — up 20 from 2011.”
Now, lots of claims have been made that charter schools are just as powerful as Superman but where is the data that show their power to end joblessness, high crime rates, and all the other ills of poverty.
And where is the data that show that these problems are caused or aided by public schools?
Instead of doing the hard work of attacking Camden’s poverty, high crime rate, and lack of hope in the future the state has decided to take the easy way out and blame public school teachers and punish them.
Good luck with your pipe dream that opening a totally charter school district will end Camden’s reign as the poorest city in the USA with the highest crime rate.
All, thanks for commenting. I’ll respond further next chance I get.
How do you know that charter schools will “save” these children educationally? Various studies, most famously the CREDO study, found that, nationwide, charter schools are basically as successful as public schools. Some charters score higher, many score lower, but overall, the averages are the same.
SafeLibraries, charters have not outperformed public schools anywhere else, why would Camden be different?
@Mike Turner, I agree with you. Camden went downhill after a Democrat governor raised taxes on all the corporations that made Camden home. They left and went to Delaware where they are today. He dropped the taxes back down, but it was too late. That was the beginning of the downfall of Camden. Reform outside the schoolhouse would really help. But you can’t just wait around until that happens. It may never happen. It hasn’t happened yet.
@Dienne, the recruiters being so aggressive is wacky. I have no explanation. So I really can’t comment. But using a gun against such people is a little extreme. I’m sure you’re just making a political point.
@Chris in Florida, I’m jealous of you — you’re in Florida. You’ve heard about Houdini escaping New Jersey, right? As to buying into the corporate propaganda, well, no, I live here in NJ, and I visit Camden from time to time for many years if only to drive to Philadelphia, and saying what I said has nothing to do with propaganda. Your argument is charter schools will have little effect on how awful that city is. Well, the point is the effect on the students, not the community generally. You have to start somewhere, or do you just wish to withdraw from the whole thing because those people don’t deserve better. And I don’t recall saying charter schools will solve Camden’s woes. Let me reread what I said. Nope, not there. By “awful status quo,” I meant the schools, not Camden generally. Diane’s post is about the schools, not Camden generally. I talked about a “brighter future for Camden students.” So that’s what I was writing about.
@Threatened out West, I don’t know. I was saying something has to be tried, something different.
@dianeravitch, most likely Camden will not be different. But again, something has to be tried. Perhaps if people pulled together to support the charters, that might help. If pressure stays on to constantly demonize charters, well that’s only going to create a poisonous atmosphere that harms the children. While the people of the state from all political stripes have joined together to give this a go, why not stand back and see what happens, instead of trying to kill it in its infancy.
Everyone, again, I’m from NJ and Camden has been a sad story for a long time. I am very hopeful that the new schools can help more children. Just because those kids live in the worst town in the USA doesn’t mean that don’t deserve a chance at something better. Here’s hoping for something better.
That said, I’ll admit NJ politics is often crooked. Remember Senator Lautenberg? He got to be Senator by the NJ Supreme Court completely tossing aside election law for political reasons. And the Metropark Amtrak Station in Iselin? That was named after Harrison B. Williams, jailed NJ Senator due to “Abscam,” even for many years after he was in jail. And a Camden mayor was involved in that too. So I’ll admit all this could just be political.
But again, something has to be tried.
I doubt the recent motivation for change in N. J., is any different than the motivation in Ohio. Our media reported on the alleged influence of campaign contributions and the enactment of laws that favor charter and for-profit schools.
Indeed, it can get worse for N. J. Camden can have foreign nationals, affiliated with a charter network, teach students, the norms of a male-dominated society. N.J. can have increased education costs to cover advertising, high ROI’s, and loss to fraud. N. J. can have stagnant or poorer student academic performance. Evidence should trump unfounded optimism about a solution, immersed in dogma and mercenary intent.
The playbook for more students in charters and for-profits follows the strategy that led to, a nation with only 5% of the world’s population (the U.S.), having 25% of the world’s prisoners. A band of corporations, including private prisons, drafted model legislation for stricter sentencing guidelines. And, the poor went to jail in greater numbers. The cattle drive into prisons, honed the 1%’s skill at making money from misery.
Meanwhile, white collar crimes, perpetrated by both the unindicted and convicted, provided training for the exploitation of tax payers and students. Education entrepreneurs relying on citizen ignorance, make no apology for their amoral precept, ” caveat emptor, buyer beware.”
“In contrast to the corporate education reformers’ mantra of greater parental choice, many Camden parents feel that they have no real choices. Not only are they barraged by the aggressive and relentless recruitment efforts of the charter chains, they also are concerned about the impact on their children of having to be transferred multiple times as their local public schools are sequentially closed due to the expansion of renaissance charters.”
In a nutshell… the privatizers/charterizers DON’T – GIVE – A – DAMN – ABOUT – THE – STUDENTS.” It’s all about turning our children into commodities to generate profits.
This whole sinister “corporate reform movement” was NEVER ABOUT CHOICE—two parallel systems of traditional public schools, and let the parents choose a la a the free market… The dirty secret behind all of this is that, from DAY ONE, according to their master plan (Andy Smarick laid this out somewhere) the the game was and is rigged by and for privatizers and their charters to conquer all, or eliminate all or almost all of public education—public schools that controlled by the public and accountable and transparent to the public via democratically-elected school boards.
NEVER FORGET THAT. They want all, or almost all, public schools to go the way of travel agencies, or some other obsolete model.
I’ve said “almost all” a couple of times.
Why? Well, it’s interesting that the public available blueprint (BELOW) of their privatizers’ endgame does include a small rump or number of public schools where they can dump the “undesirables”—special ed., second-language learners, kids from homeless families, kids with disruptive behavior, or won’t follow the “no excuses” chanting and SLANT-ing nonsense: (from the article this post is about)
“There is even a publicly-available blueprint that details the Christie Administration’s intentions to convert Camden into a New Orleans style all-charter district that includes a few remaining public schools to educate the children too challenging for the charter chains to take on – children with significant special needs; children who are not English proficient; and children whose families are too economically or emotionally distressed to meet the charter networks’ parental-involvement requirements.”
So much for the American dream of equal opportunity to and equal education for all.
They claim to be the answer to everything in education, but when the cost is high—financially, or in terms of the demanding work or lower class size required—then they and their “free market” throws human beings out like they’re trash.
SafeLibraries,
There are no excuses for the Mastery and Uncommon charter chains working with the state-appointed Camden Superintendent to bypass the law and receiving preferential treatment.
The charter chains violated multiple aspects of the Urban Hope legislation: They submitted incomplete applications; they did not make those applications available for public input and review by Camden residents; and they did not follow the requirement that they build a new school.
They then relied on their political connections in the legislature to cover their mistakes.
That is wrong.
And the idea that Camden’s charter schools are better than the public schools is not supported by the data.
The blogger Jersey Jazzman has demonstrated that Camden’s charter schools exclude special education students, which greatly impacts their outcomes.
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2014/04/charter-school-success-theres-always.html
That is not superior academic performance. It is segregation.
The people of Camden deserve the same democratic rights as residents of any community, not backroom political deals that enable certain charter chains to gain market share.
Julia Sass Rubin, thanks for that excellent comment. I’ll respond further next chance I get, likely tonight.
@Julia Sass Rubin, I agree it’s wrong to bypass the law and public input.
As to charters sort of cheating by shunting off the differently abled students to public schools, well, is that cheating or is that a problem with public schools generally that’s being blamed on charters? Differently abled kids are “mainstreamed” in public schools. That’s really nice for those kids. But often it means great hardship for the teachers and for the other students. It gets worse when teachers get ratings that include criticism for how they are failing to address the needs of those children when really such needs are best addressed by a specialist. It seems you are complaining about charters for doing what public schools only wish they were doing if they could.
As to the superintendent of public schools working to end public schools, well that is quite odd. As to not building a new school, I don’t know why, but the economy is really hammered right now and has been for a while. So not spending money to build new schools in the current environment is not terribly surprising.
“As to charters sort of cheating by shunting off the differently abled students to public schools, well, is that cheating or is that a problem with public schools generally that’s being blamed on charters? ”
No. Kids with special needs are not a problem. They’re kids who get to be educated in the least restrictive environment possible. That’s the LAW. The public schools welcome all kids who show up at the door, because, in the words of Fred Rodgers, “people can like you just they way you are”.
The public schools have teachers who are trained as specialists, something many charters lack, i.e. teachers who have been credentialed as teachers, as opposed to temps who are winging it.
Those specialists and the kids they work with cost $$, though. The charters are busy siphoning off those dollars, but don’t want the kids.
@Christine Langhoff, well then, that’s the problem, the “LAW,” as you put it. We all know by now it’s a bad law, right? As a parent, it bothers me when I hear what a waste of time school is because the teacher spends the class time dealing with the “mainstreamed” kid instead of teaching. So don’t blame the charters, instead, fix the “LAW.”
You are correct, kids with special needs are not a problem. But “mainstreaming” is. It is a problem to the other students. It is a problem to the teachers. Sure there are specialists. They see the kids for a time. Then the kids are “mainstreamed” and become the teacher’s problem. And the other kids twiddle their thumbs while the teacher’s dealing with Fred Rodgers.
“Those specialists and the kids they work with cost $$, though. The charters are busy siphoning off those dollars, but don’t want the kids.” Is everything always about “$$”? Charters don’t want the kids? Well no wonder! That “LAW” requires public schools to “mainstream” people who make classes a grind for teachers and other students. So don’t blame the charters, instead, fix the “LAW.”
“State OK’s Camden Renaissance Schools” by Phil Dunn, Courier-Post, 9:23 p.m. EDT July 9, 2014
http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/south-jersey/2014/07/09/state-oks-camden-renaissance-schools/12426025/
“This could bring the total enrollment in KIPP, Mastery and Uncommon renaissance charter schools to almost 10,000 students by 2019. At that level, the three renaissance charter schools would represent a significant majority of the 14,000 students currently enrolled in Camden’s public and traditional charter schools.”
So has that been revealed to the public? That the plan is to move 10,000 out of 14,000 into charter schools by 2019? I’d hate to be a public school parent in Camden in one of the schools slated to be abandoned in the intervening years. Those kids aren’t going to fare real well as they “wind down” the public system.
Chiara, I couldn’t find data on existing charter enrollment. All I found was “4,000 students are currently enrolled in Camden charter schools.”
What happens to them?
Are those schools already KIPP, Mastery, or Uncommon?
Are they taking students away from smaller, more independent charters?
That would fit in with the gradual replacement of smaller, independent charter that we discussed here recently and also go a long way to prove that it’s not about the students, innovation, or better ideas but rather about creating huge corporations that increase the profits for investors and administrators of those huge companies.
Finally found it in, of all places, the Private School Review site. There are several small, independently run charters. I guess they are history or toast, depending on the perspective. Soon to be taken over by the 3 big corporate chains, I imagine.
@SafeLibraries…as someone who has been credentialed to teach and has spent the majority of my teaching years in the Philadelphia S School DIstrict, I can say that your assessment of these Corporate Education Reform Charters (i.e. Mastery, KIPP, and Uncommon, etc.) is inherently flawed and severely misinformed. First off, every child according to federal law, regardless of whether that child is enrolled in a charter or traditional public school is entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Your suggestions regarding special education students who have IEP’s (Individual Education Plans) are not only illegal, but also unconstitutional…see Brown vs. Board of Education circa 1954. Schools are mandated to legally provide accommodations and services as stipulated in IEP’s. These Corporate “Retailers” (i.e. Mastery, KIPP, Uncommon) are nothing but indoctrination factories. Their insidious agenda is to destroy public schools and their unions, de-professionalize the teaching profession, and further increase their control on Americans. Would you let a doctor with 3 weeks of training perform surgery on you? Would you let a lawyer with 3 weeks of training represent you? This is exactly what these Corporate “Retail” Charters are doing. They are hiring impressionable and moldable Teach For America candidates who are young enough to drink the Corporate Propaganda and cool aid. I turned down an offer that increased my salary 15k per year from Mastery because in the end…I don’t want to contribute to their Corporate greed and insidious agenda. Their main concern is creating the illusion that test scores are improving so they can acquire more schools and increase their profits…follow the money. These schools receive millions in private donations from the Waltons, the Bill Gates FOundation, the Koch brothers, Wall Street investors, and Dell. Oh yea, and they are in bed with Pearson and other test makers, and the government on local, state, and federal levels. The corruption is rampant. Some of these schools have attrition rates of over 70% for black males and expel a significant amount of IEP students…why, because they can’t manage their behavior and because they are afraid they will bring down their scores. These schools use brainwashing and mind control techniques called “WHole Brain Teaching.” It sounds nice right, but if you actually watch it there is no critical thinking being encouraged and it is simply based on repeating what you are told and rote-learning. No creativity or inquiry required. Beware, Nazi-Germany, North Korea, and Stalin-esque tactics for population control are here again. Corporations are looking to control public education so they can further oppress the American public…this time from a grassroots level. They are attacking YOUR CHILDREN.
Here are some more interesting facts about Camden:
“There are 88 private schools in Camden County, NJ, serving 14,444 students.
Minority enrollment is 27% of the student body, which is less than the NJ state average of 29%.
55% of Camden private schools are religiously affiliated (most commonly Roman Catholic and Christian).
The student:teacher ratio of 12:1 is higher than the state private school average of 11:1.”
— from PrivateSchoolReview.com
“The Camden, Metuchen, Paterson and Trenton dioceses have collectively closed more than 20 schools in five years, according to diocese officials.”
“A 2013 Gallup poll shows that New Jersey has the second highest Catholic population in the country, about 44 percent. But even with such a large number of Catholics, the number of students in Catholic schools in the Newark archdiocese has declined more than 40 percent since 1999, according to the archdiocese.”
— from National Catholic Reporter, July 8, 2014
If private schools and Catholic schools are also experiencing declining enrollment and loss of funding then what is happening in NJ? Are parents homeschooling? Are families moving away, leaving younger and older childless residents? If private school enrollment already exceeds public school enrollment, what does that say about financial inequity in the district? There are clear signs of segregation happening in the private schools — will that also be a factor in the charter schools? With a history of corruption and cheating in the near past what did the state do to change those cultures?
Cynic that I am I believe that Camden was chosen as a laboratory rat district based upon its history, poverty, and crime rate. The thinking was probably that no one would object to destroying the public school system in such a terrible place so full speed ahead.
It will be interesting to see what happens as fall out from this takeover. Teachers of color make up a large part of the middle class in Camden (as was true in Detroit and other takeover districts) and once they are all fired and excessed they will lose their middle class status or leave the region due to lack of equivalent salary-level employment opportunities.
The charter chains avoid experienced public school teachers because they question things, advocate for themselves and their students, and they generally will not put up with the abusive administration that has become so common in charters. Will white TFA teachers be able to meet the employment needs of the charters? Enrollment in teacher preparation programs has dropped drastically; are there enough inexperienced, cheap, and easily manipulated graduates to staff all these public school replacements?
Enquiring minds want to know. I also noticed the monthly Camden School District Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for July 22nd has been cancelled. No need to be advised by actual residents anymore?
Bravo to Chris in Florida. It is my guess that Camden being a more impoverished community than Newark, it will be unlikely to put up the type of resistance mounted in Newark. The movement in Newark has thus far been unsuccessful in removing State Superintendent Cami Anderson and putting an end to her One Newark Plan. Christie’s victories in Newark are being transported with lightening speed to Camden. Pessimist that I am, it looks like two done deals to me aided and abetted by Democrats Booker, Norcross and Sweeney.
Thanks NJ Teacher. I care about NJ because I lived there for a while and I met some of the smartest, most-dedicated teachers ever when I was teaching freshman English at Rutgers and enrolled in the Graduate School of Education doctoral program (which I never finished; ABD).
Chris in Florida,
To clarify, the following sentence talks about Camden County NJ
“There are 88 private schools in Camden County, NJ, serving 14,444 students.”
Camden County is comprised of 26 separate towns or cities of which Camden is one. The number 14,444 appears to be reflective of the entire county.
You ask, “If private schools and Catholic schools are also experiencing declining enrollment and loss of funding then what is happening in NJ?” In my opinion, NJ has many great public schools particularly in the suburbs. To support those public schools, people pay very high property taxes. So rather than place their children in Catholic schools and pay tuition they are sending their children to the public schools which they pay for though their taxes. Many of my friends and colleagues chose to send their children to public schools rather than pay tuition. The Catholic schools have been forced to consolidate. In my community, 3 parish schools became one co-sponsored school. Enrollment is barely enough to sustain the school.
As for Camden being a laboratory rat, you may be right although there is more at play. Camden has a Democratic power broker who wants to gentrify the area around Cooper Hospital where he is a board member. Rumor has it that this charter takeover is all part of the deal he made with Christie.
Have you seen this article about New Orleans?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/06/26/my-school-district-hires-too-many-white-teachers/
I think the article title is just click bait, but the author (a former student) makes a good point about the shrinking amount of LOCALS teaching in the area schools and the influx of TFA members instead. They come from other parts of the country, do their two years, and then they’re gone.
The suburbs get the teachers who went to LSU, Tulane, etc.
It is truly remarkable that people believe that Charters are about helping students. How many charters do you think would be in Camden if the chains received $0 from State/Federal sources? What if they had to sell themselves to the community and had to charge tuition? You’d see the exact opposite, all the Charters would be in the wealthy burbs. If they would even exist at all. Charters are strictly about a Fascistic money grab with minimal amounts of accountability.
According to the piece posted above, hundreds of teachers and staff members “were fired this spring” but the charters are pouring money into aggressive recruitment?
Recruitment on the scale and intensity by the means listed above does not come without cost. Just how does this translate into the mantras of the charterites/privatizers of “doing more with less” and “fiscal responsibility” and “putting resources back into the classroom”?
On the other hand, it fits right in to a business plan that masquerades as an education model in which students are products to which value will be added and parents are customers and the charters are building a customer base and brand loyalty.
$tudent $ucce$$, anyone?
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