Yesterday the Assembly Education Committee approved Assembly Bill 4496, sponsored by Assembly Leader Craig Coughlin, that would restructure the Schools Development Authority, a scandal-plagued agency of the government in charge of school construction. Most importantly, the bill would allow public charter and renaissance schools to be eligible for facilities funding just like traditional district schools.

“This is a big bill. We’re talking about billions of dollars in school construction money, so I want to get it right,” Coughlin said in an interview with Politico.

There is predictable pushback from those who oppose public school choice in the form of public charters, which are subject to far more oversight and higher standards than district schools. The relevant section of the bill is below. Also from Politico (pay-walled): “Representatives from the Newark-based Education Law Center, New Jersey Education Association teachers’ union and others have argued there isn’t enough construction funding to meet all of the needs in the state and that spending taxpayer funds on privately owned schools would run counter to the landmark Abbott v. Burke court case and accompanying legislation that created the SDA district designation in 2007.”

And,

Those defending maintaining funding for charter schools in the final bill, including Coughlin, say including charter schools is a question of equity. Students who attend charters live in the same struggling communities as those who attend traditional public schools, they argue, and deserve to learn in adequate and safe classrooms.

Coughlin said he thinks the bill will continue to be “rounded into shape” as it moves through the legislative process and the end result will be a measure that “people are familiar with” even if they are not in favor or “comfortable” with it.

From the bill:

School Facilities Projects of Charter Schools and Renaissance School Projects in SDA Districts:
The amended bill provides a State funding mechanism for school facilities projects undertaken by charter schools and renaissance school projects located in SDA districts. Under current law, charter schools are prohibited from constructing a facility with public funds other than federal funds and renaissance school projects are required to build a school facility at the sole expense of the nonprofit entity that created the school.

Under the amended bill, charter schools and renaissance school projects located in SDA districts would be eligible to receive funding for 100 percent of the final eligible costs of the project. To secure the funding, a charter school or renaissance school project would submit an application to the SDA. The SDA, in consultation with the Department of Education, would annually review the applications and thereafter create a Statewide charter school and renaissance school project facilities strategic plan to be used in the sequencing of school facilities projects of charter schools and renaissance school projects in SDA districts. The Statewide charter school and renaissance school project facilities strategic plan would include a Statewide educational priority ranking of the school facilities projects based upon the SDA’s determination of critical need.

Under the amended bill, the SDA would authorize a charter school or renaissance school project to undertake a school facilities project following the determination of final eligible costs for the project. A charter school or renaissance school project authorized to undertake a school facilities project under the bill would be subject to the provisions of the “Public School Contracts Law.”