The following is an Op-ed by Mary Beth Rosenthal, the founder of the group Say No to Quest.
Quest Academy has submitted its fourth application for a charter high school in Montclair. It was denied the last three times. The current application should be denied as well.
Under the law, charter schools are supposed to fill a need that is traditional public schools are not meeting. But we don’t need a charter school in Montclair. I’m not arguing that Montclair schools are perfect. They aren’t. But with an almost 100% graduation rate and 89% of the Class of 2010 attending college, they are successful schools that are meeting the needs of the majority of students.
The impetus behind charter schools is that they are smaller and more flexible, and can provide an innovative curriculum. But Quest’s application doesn’t offer much of anything the Montclair schools already do.
Quest claims it will offer a smaller, more innovative school. But the proposed curriculum is nearly identical to the curriculum at Renaissance middle school. And the new MHS principal, James Earle, was hired for his experience in developing small learning communities. After less than two full years on the job, MHS will begin to roll out two — maybe three — small learning communities this fall. Why do we need a charter school to do what our public schools are already doing?
Finally, Montclair can’t afford to divert $2 million from our traditional public schools to pay for an untested school run by inexperienced people. Quest plans to enroll 160 children in grades 9 & 10 in next fall — about 3% of the total 6700 students in the Montclair schools. After this year’s budget debate, with discussions about closing small schools and student activity fees, it’s hard to agree that we should deprive 97% of our students for the benefit of 160 students.
If you agree, please go here to find out how easy it is to send a letter to Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, asking him to deny the application. But please go quickly — we need to get the letters to him by May 31!