<p>NJ is carved up into so many little townships, hamlets, pockets etc. because people love that local control. Every little K-8 district has its own superintendent. It’s very inefficient and expensive, but it’s ingrained. I don’t see people wanting to give up fiscal control of their local schools to the extent required by the legislation you envision. It would require a total mindset change and a degree of trust in the competence and probity of the state assembly/senate that IMHO does not exist.</p>
<p>If you were starting from scratch and designing a funding system, I agree that school funding should be based on a pooling of state income tax.</p>
<p>NJSue, people don’t want to give up control of their own districts because having control allows them to provide what is needed and works for the kids in their district. If it were done by county, how would Haddonfield benefit from larger budgets for remedial education, or ESL programs? What would eliminating gifted programs do to improve the education of their students? I don’t think people trust others to know what is needed in their own backyard or to give their needs priority. It is too bad though, because all of these little districts paying solo is definitely a budget killer.</p>
<p>I agree Sue but that is what is going to continue the spending in the Abbott’s. If Haddonfield needs to spend x for a thorough and efficient system of education Camden has to spend that much plus for it.</p>
<p>I may not agree, you may not agree, EMM1 may not agree but that is what the court has found. As I have said earlier it is not an unreasonable determination.</p>
<p>I read the article in today’s Star Ledger about the Newark Schools Sysytem & it’s state appointed administrator looking to close some of the worst failing schools & permit charter schools to use that space to educate. Lots of politician & a few community activists screaming about taking education control away from the newark School District , teachers union etc. Funny thing, in the neighborhoods where these schools are proposed for closing, over 40% of the parents applied to the local charter schools this past year -40%</p>
<p>Charter schools or private schools aren’t all of the answer, but perhaps are a part of one. A multi- probed attack of charter schools, private schools, vouchers to go to school out of district and a restructing of the union mentality of the Teachers Union may go a long way in solving administration side of the issue. Solving the issue on the student/parent side is another challenge.</p>
<p>The Democratic political boss in Newark Steve Sr. and his allies run the charter schools in Newark. The South Jersey political boss in Camden George Norcross is getting into the Charter school business- as are his allies.</p>
<p>Charter schools in NJ are going to be used to line the pockets of the politically connected and so far the educational results have not shown much if any separation from the public schools.</p>
<p>Now the public magnet schools like McNair Academy do very well.</p>
<p>Let’s see–McNair Academy–we’ll take the top performing middle school students from each race in the entire Jersey City system and put them together in one high school. I wonder what the stats for that high school will be. Why, the stats are high. The people running the school must be GENIUSES!</p>
<p>And oh by the way–their admissions process is apparently based on a blatantly unconstitutional quota system.</p>
<p>The academic magnets all do well and all skim the smartest kids from their public schools. The charters from what I have read do not do any better than the public schools in their area.
My concern in NJ is that the charters are going to become piggy banks for the political bosses. In concept I am not against public school charters but I know NJ politics and as they say follow the money.</p>
<p>True, this is a good point. If money is going to be spent, we first need to figure out the most affective way to use that money and make sure it is not just being thrown down the drain or to line pockets rather than actually helping the kids.</p>
<p>I have offices in Newark, Asbury Park, Camden and Trenton. We hire from those cities for many of our support staff. Working with and getting to know individuals and families from these cities has made me aware that they face many hurdles.</p>