tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post2500352302494010953..comments2023-10-31T07:43:37.520-04:00Comments on NJ Left Behind: Using an Uzi When a Fly-Swatter Will DoNJ Left Behindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16739701636089453850noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-50059875703844647472011-06-26T23:25:50.175-04:002011-06-26T23:25:50.175-04:00Thanks for your response, but now I am confused. ...Thanks for your response, but now I am confused. You say you are in favor of multiple authorizers, including local boards of education, but still assert that this legislation will 'hamstring' charter schools in districts that need them by giving the local boards a voice. Can you clarify?<br /><br />In the interest of fairness I would also like to post the Policy Goals of Save Our Schools NJ. Your original post significantly misrepresented the position of this grassroots organization, and unfairly painted it as only being interested in representing 'wealthy, low minority suburbs'. <br /><br />We support:<br /><br />1. Fully funding the school funding formula, so that every child can have access to a high-quality public education<br /><br />2. Local community control over the establishment of new charter schools<br /><br />3. Greater accountability and transparency of charter school finances and educational performance<br /><br />We oppose: <br /><br />Reductions in State resources that support high-quality education for every child<br /><br />Unfettered expansion of charter schools regardless of quality or host community wishes<br /><br />Taxpayer funded vouchers that pay for private or religious education<br /><br />Use of for-profit companies to manage public schools <br /><br />I continue to challenge what appears to be your belief that any charter school in a Type I district is a good option and that those communities should have no say. While I appreciate that you state that "as we move forward" districts like Highland Park should not be targeted, but the bullseye is already on our chest! We are already losing funding to two charter schools, and the addition of Tikin Olam, if approved, would potentially devastate our district. What do you propose we do while we wait for Trenton to decide that they shouldn't mess with successful districts in their ferver to expand charters? <br /><br />Hatikvah was approved last year solely for East Brunswick. When they were unable to draw enough students from that community they were given permission by the DoE to pull students from Highland Park, without our consent. In the coming years, as that charter grows, we will potentially lose hundreds of thousands of dollars to a charter we never had a say in.<br /><br />What if we replaced Highland Park with Lawrence Township, and New Brunswick with Trenton? Would you feel so comfortable making pronouncements if it was your school budget on the line? Would you still wait for Trenton to decide your district's fate? I grew up in Pennington. I know your area. Parents there would not be any happier than we are in Highland Park to be losing programs to charters that they don't need or support. Perhaps when this issue becomes more than a hypothetical for your district you will understand why the parents in towns like Princeton, East Brunswick, South Brunswick, Millburn, Highland Park and yes, even towns like New Brunswick, are standing up not just for our kids, but for all NJ kids.Mother Crusaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-10965015748070104962011-06-26T10:05:27.693-04:002011-06-26T10:05:27.693-04:00Hi, Darcie. Actually, I believe that there should ...Hi, Darcie. Actually, I believe that there should be multiple authorizers of charter schools, including local boards of education and universities. I've stated this multiple times.<br /><br />I also agree that a Hebrew immersion charter school is pretty sketchy; sounds a bit like public funding of a yeshiva. <br /><br />As NJ moves forward with charter school expansion, we shouldn't target effective school districts -- like Highland Park -- but chronically failing districts. My point is that the charter legislation proposed by your group is aimed at hamstringing charter schools where we don't need them, but the effect is to hamstring them where we do. <br /><br />I'd fully support different legislation that puts our energies where the kids need them most, which is not in Highland Park.NJ Left Behindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16739701636089453850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-57486000592807236502011-06-25T08:54:29.090-04:002011-06-25T08:54:29.090-04:00Honestly, your assertions about "caring about...Honestly, your assertions about "caring about poor kids" were believable until you started saying that their parents didn't deserve a vote because you think they won't vote in favor of charter schools. Now you just sound like a shrill Michelle Rhee clone.Trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17625116469826942710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-68118867319014015142011-06-24T18:07:05.626-04:002011-06-24T18:07:05.626-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17625116469826942710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-36032567740285102172011-06-24T13:02:58.343-04:002011-06-24T13:02:58.343-04:00Just 24 hours ago you posted a blog that questione...Just 24 hours ago you posted a blog that questioned the motives of SOSnj without full knowledge of the legislation, and now that you have been corrected you offered no apology for your misstatements and untruths.<br /><br />I would like your response to the scenario we are in here in Highland Park which is where I am from. We are facing the Tikun Olam Hebrew Language Charter High School application which has been rejected twice by the DoE. It was originally proposed for Highland Park and Edison, but they have recently added New Brunswick, a Type I District, as a sending district and moved the location to New Brunswick. Highland Park residents have collected 2100 petition signatures from the three districts, 600 Statements of Opposition from Highland Park and New Brunswick, and all three Superintendents and School Boards are against the charter. <br /><br />I won't bother telling you about Highland Park and what the charter would do to our excellent, ethnically diverse school district. I would like you comments on whether the Highland Park Lead Founder of the charter should be allowed to use the great need in city of New Brunswick as leverage to get the education she wants for a select few in Highland Park. Do you think a Hebrew Language Charter School serves the needs of the children of New Brunswick? The people that live and work in that community don't, but currently they don't have a say, only Trenton does, and the founders are under no obligation to demonstrate any support from the community they want to take funds from. <br /><br />SOSnj is working to give all communities a say in what is or isn't good for their community. You seem to want to make this a suburban vs. urban issue when it is not. In Highland Park the few that are for the charter similarly want to make this a Jewish vs. non Jewish issue, which again, it also is not. <br /><br />So my questions to you, in addition to the one above, are:<br /><br />1. Why shouldn't communities get to decide WHICH charters are right for them? We trust communities to make decisions for themselves. Why don't you? <br /><br />2. Why should the DoE be the sole authorizer of Charter Schools in the State of New Jersey? We are the only state with only one authorizer.<br /><br />I look forward to you response.Mother Crusaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-36191511336409375532011-06-23T23:01:56.603-04:002011-06-23T23:01:56.603-04:00You were wrong, Laura. When can we expect a retrac...You were wrong, Laura. When can we expect a retraction of this overwrought screed?Trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17625116469826942710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-36582207023051253532011-06-23T21:35:24.009-04:002011-06-23T21:35:24.009-04:00Your blog states:
Under the legislation advocated...Your blog states:<br /><br />Under the legislation advocated by SOS, a new charter school in Camden would require a “yes” vote from residents.<br /><br />This is incorrect. The legislation states:<br /><br />"The commissioner shall not approve an application for the establishment of a charter school unless the establishment of the charter school has been approved by the voters of the district at the annual school election in the case of a charter school to be established in a Type II district, or the board of school estimate in the case of a charter school to be established in a Type I district."<br /><br />This allows for local control in suburban and urban communities. The low voter turn out in Camden is not an argument against this legislation. Save Our Schools NJ is trying to help legislators give ALL communities a say in whether a charter is beneficial to their community. Why shouldn't suburban AND urban communities have a say in what happens to their public schools? Why should the decision rest with Trenton and Trenton alone and not the local voters or school boards that understand the needs of the community better? You have misrepresented the legislation to advance a distorted view of a grassroots organization who's only goal is to create equal educational opportunities for ALL New Jersey children, not just the lucky few that win a lottery to attend a charter school.Mother Crusaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05282456501033994143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-82569836300596706482011-06-23T14:20:28.210-04:002011-06-23T14:20:28.210-04:00Hi, Trish. You nailed the problem. Successful scho...Hi, Trish. You nailed the problem. Successful school districts have much to fear from charter expansion because of the cost of tuition payments. That's a completely different situation than parents in failing districts face. I'm suggesting that the legislation makes no distinction between the two and that lack of analysis/fear to step in a political can of worms is potentially harmful to families stuck in our worst schools.NJ Left Behindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16739701636089453850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-13947255006390433952011-06-23T14:06:12.609-04:002011-06-23T14:06:12.609-04:00Wow, I'm stunned.
No one should vote on chart...Wow, I'm stunned.<br /><br />No one should vote on charter schools because 19% of voters in Camden don't give the results reformers like you want?<br /><br />Sorry, Laura. I'm not giving up my opportunity to vote on charters in MY district because you don't like the voter turnout in Camden. RIDICULOUS.Trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17625116469826942710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8618709929318397424.post-31574099073647289152011-06-23T13:31:44.866-04:002011-06-23T13:31:44.866-04:00Does anybody from Camden read this blog?
The unde...Does anybody from Camden read this blog?<br /><br />The undertone here seems to be that Princetonians are well-equipped to exercise their rights via the ballot box while residents of Camden are...are...????<br /><br />Who is it you posit to save the needy residents of Camden from themselves---the Governor, Chris Cerf, Steve Sweeney, some hedge-fund dead-enders masquerading as school "reformers"???<br /><br />Oh, the humanity!kallikakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13030316064310826943noreply@blogger.com