NJ School Boards Association Changes Policy on Charter Schools

The New Jersey School Boards Association on Saturday overwhelmingly approved an emergency resolution from Princeton Regional Board of Education to change the association’s policy on charter schools.

The association's policy now states that charter schools should have voter approval before opening and that voters and school boards should have input into charter school decisions.

The resolution was approved by NJSBA’s 115-member delegate assembly by a 90 percent vote at its meeting in Trenton on Saturday.

The vote clears the way for the state association to lobby the state legislature to support passage of similar legislation.

Rebecca Cox, president of the Princeton Board of Education, said she was pleased by the delegation’s vote.

“We now basically feel that we pay twice as much to educate students in a charter school than in one of our own districts,” Cox said, referring not only to the per pupil funding that follows each charter school student, but also to the disproportionate number of special education and special needs students left in the district schools and the money needed to support those students. 

“We also believe the local taxpayers need to be offered the choice of whether to have a charter school in the community,” Cox said.

Princeton Regional Schools have operated alongside the  for 14 years. Now the Princeton International Academy Charter School (PIACS) in South Brunswick is moving forward with plans to open in September.

Where Princeton schools once spent $200,000 a year to support the local charter school, next year’s the district will spend $5 million, Cox told the delegates on Saturday.

“What this amounts to is taxation without representation,” Cox said.

Dr. Jonathan Hodges, a member of the Paterson Board of Education, spoke in favor of Princeton’s resolution and said his district has seen charter schools close abruptly, only to have those students returned to district schools the very next day.

Eva Nagy, school board president in Franklin Township agreed, saying districts can’t open a new school without voter approval, yet there is no similar requirement for charter schools. Her district currently spends $2 million on charter schools, she said.

The delegation considered, but overwhelmingly voted against, a suggestion that Princeton’s resolution should be returned to members of the association’s legislative committee for further review before voting by the delegates.

The delegates approved the following policy language:

“The NJSBA believes voter approval should be required at the annual school election, or by the board of school estimate, prior to the establishment of a charter school, as well as additional steps to incorporate local voter and elected school board opinion into chartering decisions.”