A new study from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools finds that, across the country, enrollment in traditional district schools is down 3% (1.5 million students) while enrollment in public charter schools is up 9% (300,000 students). Many people thought the flight from district schools was a pandemic anomaly and that students would return. They didn’t.

New Jersey shows the same pattern of growth: According to the data in the report (from the NJ Department of Education), while traditional school enrollment in the state school system declined by 2.12% from 2019-2023, charter enrollment increased by 8.24%. Most of that increased came from families of color: Black enrollment in NJ charter schools rose by 11.4% while traditional schools’ enrollment  of Black students declined by 5%. Latino enrollment in charters increased by 2.6%.

According to last spring’s test results,  Black and Latino students enrolled in New Jersey’s public charter schools outperform Black and Latino students in their comparative districts by 17 points in reading and 10 points in math. Currently 45% of public charter school students are Black, 40% are Latino, and 90% of all public charter school students attend schools in Schools Development Authority (SDA) or former Abbott districts. 

Here is the Alliance’s full description of changes in New Jersey’s charter sector over the last four years:

New Jersey is home to some of the highest-performing public charter schools in the country. Over the past four school years, enrollment in charter schools increased by 8.24%, or more than 4,000 students, while enrollment in district schools declined. Even more families are eager for an opportunity to attend a charter school, as evidenced by strong parent demand. And yet, in 2022, a number of high-performing public charter schools were denied the opportunity to expand to serve more students. One school,
Achievers Early College Prep in Trenton, was cut off at a single grade—9th grade—and blocked from completing their high school, ultimately leaving these students educationally homeless.

Other schools, like Uncommon Schools-North Star Academy in Newark, one of the finest schools in the country, were prevented from expanding to serve more students despite massive wait lists.

Based on these denials, the New Jersey charter community sprang into action. Led by the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association, the charter school community and their supporters embarked on a campaign to get decision makers to approve more seats for schools with proven records of success the following school year. Through direct meetings with the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE), the Governor’s Office, elected officials, community organizations, and key allies, these high-performing schools made the case to key stakeholders. Parents and students attended rallies, wrote op-eds, met with local officials, and participated in a paid media campaign telling their stories. The entire charter school community also participated in a collective call-to-action highlighting data that was undeniable—public charter schools are knocking it out of the park, and parents who choose these schools must be supported.

In 2023, the NJDOE approved 100% of high-quality public charter school expansion requests, a huge win for students and families in the Garden State. Overall, 2,300 new charter school seats were approved.