By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
A crowd of about 40 men, women and children from around the region gathered Tuesday night in front of the Municipal Building on Route 522 to ask their state representatives for the right to vote on whether charter schools should be allowed to open in their communities.
”We want an opportunity to vote on charter schools that come into a district,” township resident and rally organizer Lisa Rodgers said Tuesday night. “Citizens of every town in the state of New Jersey do not have a voice as to whether a charter school opens or not.”
Ms. Rodgers, who is part of the Save Our Schools grassroots organization, wants legislation that would place a referendum on the annual school elections ballot in April to determine if a charter school in a given district has the support of the community.
The rally Tuesday night was one of three events hosted by the group. The other two were in Highland Park and Millburn, according to the organization.
Ms. Rodgers said the group is not against the charter school concept and thinks they are “valuable,” but that currently the state Department of Education is the only body with any oversight and makes the ultimate decision as to whether a school may open.
”No citizen in the state has an opportunity to look at whether or not that charter school is a valuable asset to a town,” she said.
Those attending the rally came from several towns throughout the area including Princeton, Plainsboro, West Windsor and Hillsborough.
”I am here because I believe there should be local control of charter schools,” said Hillsborough resident Lloyd Haas. “We should take care of their finances and know what is going on with the schools before they open. I believe strongly in that.”
Mr. Haas said he thinks the residents of the community should be aware of how the school is funded and what its expenses are as well as the types of curriculum being offered.
”In public schools, the state sets the curriculum, in charter schools there is nothing set,” he said.
State Senators Shirley Turner, D-15, and Linda Greenstein, D-14, also attended the rally and spoke in favor of the pending state Senate and Assembly legislation to better control charter schools and allow for a public vote in communities before the schools open.
”What you are doing is so important,” said Sen. Greenstein. “A large chunk of money is going into this school, you should have a say in that.”
According to DOE spokesman Allison Kobus, charter schools are funded at 90 percent of the district’s cost per pupil and the money “follows the child” instead of the district where the child resides.
During the charter school’s first year of operation, the DOE uses a formula to determine the number of students each of the charter school’s sending districts are likely to produce and then charges the district that amount, Ms. Kobus said.
On Oct. 15, the state takes the actual enrollment number attending the school and makes an adjustment per district and then allows the district to use any overpayment “as it deems appropriate,” according to Ms. Kobus.
The charter school issue has flared in the township this year with an application in front of the South Brunswick Zoning Board of Adjustment to allow the Princeton International Academy Charter School to open a 170-student K-2 Mandarin immersion school along with a smaller private school on Perrine Road.
Two recent board hearings have drawn several hundred citizens to the meetings expressing their concerns with the new school.
The Board of Education has also hired its own attorney to oppose the school.
According to district officials, some $800,000 had to be set aside in the budget to fund district students going to these types of schools including an estimated 74 to PIACS.
PIACS spokesman Parker Block said that there would only be 35 students from South Brunswick attending the school when it planned to open in September, costing the district $350,000 for tuition instead of the $774,000 estimated by the state.
PIACS and its landlord, 12 P & Associates LLC, have since requested an adjournment of its application in front of the zoning board until at least September, according to local planning officials.
Mr. Block said the proposed charter school is trying to find another location in the meantime, but will likely need either an extension from the state or renew its charter before it can open.
PIACS did not have a representative at the rally, but a statement from the New Jersey Charter Schools Association and its president Carlos Perez was handed out to members of the media.
”Requiring a referendum on charter schools is not only bad public policy, it undermines the entire premise of a charter school,” Mr. Perez said in the statement. “It’s a reaction to a challenge of the status quo.”
Mr. Perez also said in the statement that charter schools are designed to be innovative and “fill a void” in the traditional public schools curriculum.
”They’re established to meet a specific need,” Mr. Perez said, using examples of sophisticated science programs and language immersion. “Charter schools are designed to give teachers the freedom to innovate.”
Later in the evening, Township Council members unanimously approved a resolution supporting the referendum legislation in the Senate by a 4-0 vote with Deputy Mayor Chris Killmurray absent from the meeting.
”It’s all about accountability,” Councilman Joe Camorata said during the meeting. “We have a right to subject them to the same voter approval (as public schools).”
Mayor Frank Gambatese said the legislation was “totally appropriate.”
”It is wrong for people to vote on the school budget and then see money removed from that budget and sent outside the district,” Mr. Gambatese said. “I am proud we are supporting this unanimously and hopefully other towns will do the same thing.”
