We’re well into the lame duck session of the NJ State Legislature and, while there’s still hope for passage of education reform bills, the clock is ticking. Last week in NJ Spotlight John Mooney noted that the “legislature’s lame duck session that was expected to be busy with education reform debate is looking sleepier by the day.” And on Friday Senate President Steve Sweeney, in an interview with New Jersey School Boards Association Ray Pinney, confirmed the narcoleptic vibe.

On the most ambitious bill, Sen. Teresa Ruiz’s proposed tenure reform legislation, Sen. Sweeney said, “we’re working hard to come up with a tenure reform bill that will work” but “there is a possibility it won’t get done in lame duck.” However, he asserted, “tenure reform will come to New Jersey.”

Pinney asked the Senator for his views on charter schools, in light of several new bills on the docket: “I’m not opposed to charter schools but I don’t think they’re the whole answer.” In reference to a current battle in Cherry Hill over the prospect of a new charter school (the Sen. was referring to Regis Charter School, already approved by the DOE ) he noted that Cherry Hill is a very good school district and “I understand why people are up in arms. Charters need to be in the discussion but they’re not solely the answer.”

In reference to a bill (A 3582; here’s my take) that would require a community vote before approval of a charter, Sen. Sweeney said, “that’s one of the debates we’re dealing with…Can you require a vote in an urban area but not in a suburban one?”

[My two cents: no one I’ve ever spoken to regards charter schools as the “whole answer,” but simply part of the fabric of a well-developed public education system. Re: 3582, Sen. Sweeney is conceding that passage of that bill would effectively halt charter expansion, suburban and urban. A small fraction of kids attend charters, so how many people are going to vote for a school that their kids are unlikely to attend? Lastly, it’s not unreasonable to focus political and educational energies on expanding school choice in sections of the state where the traditional public schools have been failing for decades. Anyway, Regis proposes to accept kids not just from Cherry Hill, but also from Voorhees, Somerdale and Lawnside. The location in Cherry Hill is due to the fact that the only building available to Regis is in Cherry Hill. Since NJ offers no facilities aid to new charters, Regis has to go to the brick and mortar.]

On the prospects for passage of the Opportunity Scholarship Act, Sen. Sweeney said, “Look, I’ve seen at least 15 versions of the bill. I can’t comment until we have a bill we can agree to.” In an oblique reference to Senator Ray Lesniak’s insistence that the shrinking list of eligible districts include Elizabeth, Sen. Sweeney said that the list “continues to change.”

He added, “some of my concerns are [the effect on public education] but go look at Camden. In Camden now there are 2,500 kids on a waiting list to go to a charter schools.” But “the charter movement in this state has exploded, and not in a good way…we need to rein it in somehow.”

Finally, on the new bill posted that would offer school districts the option of moving school board member elections to November and give them a bye on budget votes if the proposed budget comes in under the 2% cap (see here for more detail): “I saw the bill…there’s a real possibility that we’ll take action in lame duck…if a district stays in cap it shouldn’t have to go before the voters.”