Why I Oppose Charter Schools

[This excerpt from Pellicane's robustly hyperlinked blog post of January 12th is republished by the author's request. - Ed.]

Diverting money from already strained school budgets in order to open more charter schools, especially in towns with successful schools, will not solve any of New Jersey’s economic problems. It will also weaken the schools we have.

Why are charter schools being opened in successful districts? The citizens of Highland Park and East Brunswick pay high property taxes to live towns with good school systems. Now this money is being siphoned into an experiment in free market education. It seems the Governor bases his pro-charter school philosophy on one-sided, anecdotal documentaries like The Cartel, which he heartily endorses. The Cartel cherry-picks a few stories of corruption in public schools and then makes a generalization, but making schools more like a business is perilous. A free market, while fine for non-essential items, is volatile and takes time to react to market needs. A free market in mortgage products resulted in our current recession. A free market in electricity resulted in rolling blackouts in California and the Enron scandal. Some things should not be subjected to the caprices of a free market, and our children's education is one of them.

Could certain schools use reform? Certainly. But to condemn the entire system-- when it is one of the most successful school systems in the nation-- is egregious. Charter schools, though funded by the public, do not have to meet as many standards as public schools. Also, like private schools, charter schools have the ability to reject students with special needs, and counsel out students that are not performing well. Yet they still do not perform better than public schools.

All I ask is that the Governor put down his remote and do more reading. I suggest that he read Diane Ravitch's recent analysis of charter schools, The Death and Life of the Great American School System. Ravitch has been critical of both conservative and liberal views on education. Her book provides comprehensive data that charter schools generally do not produce better test scores -- more often than not, they produce worse scores -- and she details the logistical nightmare of making students and parents consumers of education, instead of citizens vested in their town’s school.

Years ago, Ravitch believed charter schools would improve the educational system. Then she analyzed the data and looked at the consequences. She changed her philosophy. Is our Governor capable of such reflection?

We do not need more schools in New Jersey. We need to become involved in the schools we have. We need impassioned participation in our educational system from parents, students, teachers, administrators and politicians. Teaching needs to be an attractive job for our best and brightest. We need to ask tough questions about what we want our children to know. And our public school budgets should not suffer because of our governor’s political agenda.

Dave Pellicane
Highland Park