Charter School Budgets Drain Our Community

'SPEAKER POWER' - Guest Column
Wednesday, November 9, 2011

I have been a proud Highland Park resident for 40 years. I raised my two sons, Connell and Blair, in Highland Park and they were well served by our public schools. Two of my grandchildren, Benjamin and Max, live in Highland Park and are currently happy, successful students at Bartle. Their parents are very active in our community and take great pride in the work they do for our schools. I have a vested interest in our school system’s continued success.

I remain committed to the public schools, not only as a parent and grandparent, but also as a Trustee of the Highland Park Education Foundation. We raise funds for instructional projects and activities that will have a positive impact on the learning experiences of the children in our school district. As the owner of the Century 21 office on Raritan Avenue, another important aspect of my commitment to Highland Park is my involvement with Main Street Highland Park.

If more of us get involved in our community and our public schools, we have a better chance of offering the programs and services our students deserve. Our district, along with the rest of the state, suffered tremendous budget cuts over the last few years, and we have struggled to maintain the quality education we have enjoyed for years.

As a realtor, I understand that much of the value of our community is based on the strength of our schools. It benefits all of us, public and private school parents alike, as well as those of us without children in the school system, to do everything in our power to keep our schools strong and thriving.

While a healthy, well-funded school system is the backbone of a strong community, we face additional financial threats to our district. Highland Park has been a sending district for Greater Brunswick Charter School in New Brunswick for 13 years. In addition, the Hatikvah International Academy Charter School opened in East Brunswick in the 2010-2011 school year. Both charters draw students from our district, and the funding comes directly out of the Highland Park district’s budget.

We are currently faced with an application for a third charter, Tikun Olam Hebrew Language Charter High School, which would siphon still more funding from our schools. I do not support any charter that utilizes funds from the successful Highland Park public school system.

When public schools are strong the community as a whole can thrive. Like my son, many of our graduates either stay in Highland Park or come back to raise their own families. Our residents are one of our best resources.

Please join me and get involved. Together we can defeat measures that siphon funds from our district and threaten our successful schools and community.

We all have a vested interest in seeing Highland Park remain a place that future generations choose to raise their families.

Ballard Hutkin, a board member of the Highland Park Educational Foundation and Main Street Highland Park, writes here on behalf of www.speakuphp.org, a public schools advocacy group.

[Ed. note -- HPMirror.com requests that you include your name with any posted comments. Anonymous comments generally will not be published. Your name can be withheld by request to the editor.]

Comments

Hebrew Language Charter School

I am very troubled by the idea of a Hebrew language charter school being a beneficiary of public funds. Public education funds ought to be spent for the benefit of the community at large, not for a small portion of that community. What is the value to the community at large of a Hebrew language charter school. Hebrew is one of the foundational languages of Western culture. It is is currently spoken by a tiny population, primarily in Israel. I have no doubt of the value of learning Hebrew and would welcome its being taught in the public schools in this town. But when property taxes are so high and funds for public education is so limited, is the value of Hebrew language instruction worth the cost of hiring a redundant administration and leasing or building redundant facilities with public funds? Absolutely not. I am trying to understand who would benefit from a Hebrew language charter school? Parents wishing their kids to have a religious education where Hebrew plays a significant instructional role will pay to send them to one of the local yeshivas. Parents wishing their kids to have a solid secular public education in an environment of religious and ethnic diversity will send their kids to the regular public school. I am very afraid that parents hoping to send their kids to a Hebrew language charter school fear or dislike diversity and wish the town to pick up the tab for their isolationism. They want their kids to be among their own and don't want to pay for that privilege. Let's assume I'm wrong and its not about fear of the other that is motivating this movement. Do these parents really believe that creating a completely separate school for Hebrew language immersion, however culturally or intellectually valuable that might be, is ultimately defensible as a matter of public policy? Let us take Hebrew out of the equation. Who thinks that it would be a good idea to take funds away from the Highland Park schools for a completely separate Spanish, Chinese, or Hindi immersion program? These are languages spoken by vastly more people than speak Hebrew. Certainly our students will be better able to function in the modern world if they are fluent speakers of these languages. I would be against initiatives to create separate immersion programs for these languages as well because I think that setting up separate schools with redundant administration and facilities is extraordinarily fiscally irresponsible. And ultimately, I think that traditional public schools, especially small, high quality public schools with an ethnically diverse student body such as those in Highland Park are the best model for public education we have. Todd Melnick 7 year resident of Highland Park Father of a 2 year old
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 03/31/2012 - 23:07.

Charter School

Charter School does exists teaching Arabic in Brooklyn, NY and I am sure anything else. The reality is Charter Schools threaten the teacher's union - nothing else. For your information, the parking space for the principal of the Highland Park high school is occupied by a brand new Mercedes 550. The second largest building in Trenton is the NJEA headquarters, right after the state legislature. 60% of my property taxes go to the schools and that budgets goes up every year. We are on the hook for $180K a year principal or district head with the same pension in perpetuity and the benefits. The school system priced itself out of the market just like Detroit. Charter Schools are there to take some of the property tax weight of ourselves. That's why Governor Chrisite supports Charter Schools. I understand that mother with 4 kids in HP who probably pays $13k a year in property taxes. Educating her kids costs $100k a year if you look at the $25k per student HP school budget. I bet she wants to keep the status quo. I would too if I was getting that deal. It's time to wake up and see reality. She can hold signs all she wants. The system has to change. John Smith
Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 01/01/2012 - 22:07.

Why only those raising families?

When you ask people to get involved in opposing charter schools, are you seeking only those who have children in the school system or are raising families in town? What about the many of us who have volunteered many hours for Highland Park but are not interested in being parents or raising families? The school community has all too often treated anyone who doesn't have children in the public schools as a second class citizen. Yet not having kids doesn't mean we can't contribute to the community; in fact, with more personal free time, singles and people without children can often volunteer even more. However, you have to stop making us feel unwelcome. Many of us have been proud residents of Highland Park for as long as you. Aren't our contributions valuable in and of themselves whether or not we choose to raise families? Laurel Kornfeld
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 12/01/2011 - 20:45.
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