Charter Schools Thrive in Princeton

Public charter schools may be touted as a viable alternative to failing school districts, yet they are also popular in Princeton where the public school system regularly ranks as one of the best in the state.

Princeton Charter School has been thriving for nearly 14 years and another is set to open its doors to students in September.

Local advocates say charter schools- public schools that undergo a rigorous state approval system every five years- provide educational innovation that a traditional school district may be unable to provide.

But Judy Wilson, superintendent of Princeton Regional School District, argues that charter schools funnel public monies away from a top-notch education system.

Wilson said the district is required to pay roughly 90 percent of the district’s prior year per pupil instructional cost to the charter school. That equates to about $4.9 million for Princeton’s two charter schools for 2012-13.

“It does not fall into this myth of ‘the money follows the child,’” Wilson said. “When those dollars leave our budget, it’s not a direct deduction on our side.”

For example, in a classroom of 23 students, if one child enrolls in a charter school, the district must still pay the same salary and benefits for the classroom teacher and the same costs for building utilities and repairs.

Norma Byers, head of the Princeton Charter School, said charter schools offer a choice for families who may not be able to afford private school tuition.

“If a person is fairly wealthy in this area, they have choice for education,” Byers said. “If you don’t have money the suburban districts say ‘Too bad, you don’t have choice for your child, we have a monopoly.”

Charter schools are public schools that operate under a charter granted by that state’s Commissioner of Education. Each charter school operates independent of the local Board of Education and is instead managed by a board of trustees.

Charter schools can not charge tuition and accept students on a space-available basis.

Princeton Charter School opened 14 years ago and accepts local students in grades K-8. Founders believed their children were failing getting a rigorous cirriculum at Princeton elementary schools, Byers said.

Since the Princeton Charter School opened with its focus on math and writing, the Princeton School District has hired a math coordinator and improved its own writing program, Byers said, noting that charter schools can be a catalyst for improvement in the larger public school district.

Princeton Charter School opened with 72 students. Adding about 24 students a year, it now has 344 students, with a maximum of 348 allowed under its charter.

The charter school has existed in peaceful harmony with Princeton School District for more than a decade, something that’s important because most charter school students attend Princeton High School beginning in the ninth grade.

“In the past year or so, I’m not sure it’s been peaceful anymore,” Byers said. “They’re trying to make people believe that we take their money. But it’s not their money, it’s tax dollars.”

School taxes are paid to the local district, which then has to pay the charter schools. Wilson said it will cost the district $500,000 more to fund charter schools year compared to the current school year. The district also has to pay to bus the student to the charter schools, she said.

No taxpayer dollars may be used for charter school buildings, those funds must be privately raised.

When the Princeton International Academy Charter School opens in September, it will draw students not only from Princeton, but also from South Brunswick schools and the West Windsor Plainsboro School District.

With an estimated $3 million budget, the K-2 dual immersion language program (Mandarin and English) is already filling up a wait-list for kindergarten and first grade and only has one spot open in second grade, said Parker Block, co-founder and spokesman for school.

The school is projected to open with 170 students- about 35 students from South Brunswick and Princeton each and roughly 100 from West Windsor-Plainsboro.

The school will offer a Singapore and Chinese-based math program and pursue accreditation to become an international baccalaureate school where teachers relate each subject to a common theme to help students learn better. Block said.

It is about offering the kind of education that parents want.

“What’s frustrating for certain parents in places like Princeton, is when they propose ideas or hear about things being done successfully elsewhere in the country, their ideas and suggestions are very readily dismissed because the administration knows they have nowhere else to go,” Block said.

According to Wilson, she and members of the Princeton Board of Education do not oppose charter schools, but they do have concerns.

School charters are granted by the state, but local taxpayers don’t get to vote on whether a proposed charter is wanted or needed.  She said that amounts to taxation without representation, especially in Princeton where 95 percent of public school funding comes from local taxpayers.

“Resources are scarce now and we’re in a pro-charter movement across the state from the governor and commissioner with stated goals to increase charters in New Jersey,” Wilson said.

She said students from the Princeton Charter School who transfer to Princeton High School do not necessarily perform any better than students who attended primary school in Princeton or Cranbury.

And she said her district can over a variety and depth of co-cirricular activities that charter schools can not.

That’s true, said Byers, noting that her school didn’t even have a gymnasium until two years ago.

“We did creative gym,” she said. “We took the kids ice skating, otherwise we played outside.

"Even though parents know we don’t have bells and whistles of a big district, they have kept their kids here," Byers said.  

Block said the Princeton School District has announced it is looking into dual language immersion programs in Spanish and English in some of its elementary schools.

“Even though our school hasn’t opened yet, it’s having exactly the impact it’s supposed to on the broader educational program," he said.

PIACS has an application pending before the South Brunswick Zoning Board of Adjustment to move into a 11.7-acre site at 12 Perrine Road.

The application is for both a charter school and a private school at the same location although Block stressed that no public funding for any private school that may move into the location would come from public dollars.  

He said South Brunswick officials are challenging the district’s zoning application in an attempt to delay the school’s opening.

"These attorneys are tasked with finding some way to keep the school from opening," Block said.  "We know their strategy because they know we have a deadline to open our doors.  So all they have to do is throw up enough legal challenges to run out the clock.  That's what they did last year.  They don't need to be right, they just need to not be wrong by the time we hit a deadline.”

South Brunswick Editor Davy James contributed to this article.