UPDATE: Quest Charter School was not on the approved list.
According to a new article released by the NJ Department of Education, Charter Schools, specifically in urban areas and designated an Abbott district, consistently outperform their In-district counterparts–or typical public schools. Using comparative data from last years standardized test scores, the results show, “For eighth-grade students, 79 percent of the charter schools in former Abbott districts scored higher than their home district in Language Arts, while 69 percent of the charter schools scored higher than their home district in Math.”
The Gray Charter School in Newark, which we wrote about here, was one of the schools that bested the state average in Language Arts and scored higher than the state average in math.
In the article, Montclair resident and Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, says:
“The data shows us that the innovation and creativity that drove the charter movement in the first place are getting real results for our children. High-quality charters in New Jersey are shining examples of why we can no longer accept that zip code equals destiny. It’s critical that we act immediately to strengthen and expand charter schools in the state by implementing Governor Christie’s education reforms.”
Read the entire article here.
The DOE also announced the approval of 23 charter school applications in New Jersey. Quest Academy, the proposed charter school in Montclair, is waiting to hear if their application has also been approved.
Charter schools outperform public schools for several reasons. They are not required to admit all students, including students with special needs and other “at risk” students. In fact, parents of students with learning disabilities and other needs are discouraged from sending their children to these schools. Additionally, students who underperform are at times forced out if they are not meeting the standards of the school. Public schools don’t filter out students that would bring down their data.