According to the Center for Education Reform’s new Parent Power Index, New Jersey has something to celebrate: the State Legislature took a big step towards equitable funding for public charter schools by passing a new law, the “Public Charter and Renaissance School Facilities Loan Program,” that, says CEF, will “allow charter schools located in specific school districts [to] access loans to make critical upgrades to facilities, start major construction projects, or perform much needed renovation and rehabilitation efforts on buildings.”

In January, when Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill, NJ Public School Charter Association president Harry Lee said,

“With Governor Murphy’s action today, New Jersey is taking a monumental step toward equity for public charter schools who will finally have a state funding solution for much-needed projects to replace broken boilers and air conditioning systems, fix leaky roofs, repair classrooms that have flooded, and create space in century-old buildings in our most under resourced communities. Today’s bill signing is truly a watershed moment for the New Jersey public charter school community and could not have been achieved without the support of our legislative champions. As the 221st Legislative Session begins, we will continue to work with the Legislature and Governor to make sure that public charter school students are fairly funded and have access to safe, clean, modern buildings so that they can reach their fullest potential.”

CEF also notes that, while no new charter schools were authorized under our sole authorizer, the New Jersey Department of Education, “in 2023 most renewals and expansions were approved, contributing to an 8% increase in enrollment statewide.”

The Parent Power Index includes other gains made by New Jersey:

• “99.9% of students in New Jersey can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds. But there is still work to be done. 1,278 students still need more bandwidth for digital learning.”

• “Impressively, New Jersey is home to 9 school districts that are members of the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools. The League of Innovative Schools is a national network of school leaders in 150 districts in 38 states that aim to enhance and scale digital learning opportunities for students across the nation.”

• “Dual enrollment and CTE are encouraged by the state’s DOE. According to the state, there are approximately 77,000 secondary students participating in CTE career pathways aligned to New Jersey’s key industries, such as Construction & Energy, Finance, Health Care, Technology, Manufacturing, and Transportation, Distribution & Logistics.”

• Digging through school and district information on the DOE’s homepage is clunky. But “educational options are easily found within the ‘Families → School Options’ section of the Department of Education homepage, further increasing transparency by giving parents access to information they need to make decisions.”

We still have work to do, according to CEF: our charter school law ranks in the bottom half of states, we have no private school choice programs, and we don’t use student learning data to inform teacher evaluations. Yet education improvements come in increments, not seismic shifts, and it’s heartening to see NJ moving in the right direction.

[photo credit] Flickr: Phil Murphy