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Schundler stumps for charter schools
Originally appeared in the Star Ledger on 10/05/01 Taking his school choice message to a skeptical audience, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler yesterday told a group of education scholars and public school superintendents that New Jersey's charter school program needs to be expanded.
Not surprisingly, the audience -- 50 members of the New Jersey School Development Council gathered at Rutgers University -- was not convinced.
"But it was courageous for him to show up," said Kenneth Carlson, a professor at Rutgers' Graduate School of Education.
Schundler, the former Jersey City mayor who has made school choice a pillar of his campaign, passionately laid out his case for increasing state funding for charter schools and adding "charter-like" programs in public schools. He also wants to provide tax breaks to encourage enrollment in private schools.
All of this, he said, would save public schools millions in expenses and construction costs while giving parents and teachers more power to choose how students are educated.
The educators at yesterday's forum, however, said they didn't think it would work. They see charter schools siphoning money from public schools, worsening segregation, blurring the line between church and state, and aggravating inequalities between rich and poor schools.
In a passionate give-and-take, Schundler said none of that would happen.
"There were plenty of generalities, but the devil is in the details," said John Adamus, superintendent of the Hanover Park Regional School District in Morris County.
While charter schools may help students get out of underperforming schools, they may create new inequalities, Adamus said. He said he worries about special education students left behind when their nondisabled counterparts leave for charter schools.
"Are we trading one kind of discrepancy for another?" he said.
Charter schools are typically small, specialized schools that operate by contract with the state. They are funded through their local school districts but operate independently. There are 11,300 students in 51 New Jersey charter schools, with more than 5,100 on waiting lists.
Schundler's advocacy of charter schools draws warm responses from conservative and religious groups. But there is stiff resistance from public school teachers and administrators, and some experts who question the idea's fiscal viability.
A recent study by the state Office of Legislative Services said Schundler's school-choice tax breaks would cost millions rather than save millions, a contention that Schundler dismissed as "ridiculous." But he touts a new state Department of Education report that says charter school students have performed better in tests than students in public schools.
"This report clearly indicates that we should expand the number of charter schools," Schundler said. "But in addition to approving more charter schools, I believe the next governor has an obligation to see what he can do to make sure our traditional public schools operate more like these charter schools."
Lisa Kent, a Hackettstown lawyer who represents school districts challenging the state's charter school funding formulas, complained that districts don't have any say over charter schools but have to pay for their pupils to attend them.
Schundler replied that with fewer students, the districts should learn to survive without the money.
"Deal with it," he told Kent. "You shouldn't get the money when you don't have the children."
Meanwhile yesterday, the Republican National Committee released a poll that it said shows Schundler has cut Democratic opponent Jim McGreevey's lead to 10 points. The survey of 600 likely voters conducted Sept. 22-23 found McGreevey leading 43.5 percent to 33.3 percent with 23.2 percent undecided.
McGreevey campaign spokesman Richard McGrath called the GOP poll "immediately suspect."
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