Woo hoo! The Camden City Board of Education (finally) approved the formation of a charter school campus under the aegis of the Urban Hope Act. The new public schools will be run by KIPP, one of the charter organizations lauded yesterday in the CREDO study of NJ’s charter schools. From the Courier-Post:

A defeated proposal to create a Hope Act school campus was reconsidered and approved by the school board late Tuesday night.

The proposal was initially voted down in September by a 4-4 vote, with one abstention…

The Hope Act allows for the construction of up to four schools in Camden, Newark and Trenton. Only Camden has considered the Hope Act, in part due to pressure applied by the state Department of Education. After failing quality measures, the district was told to move forward with the proposal to approve Hope Act schools.

For background and context, see my commentary here for WHYY Newsworks.