State questioning charter schools' results Thursday, October 05, 2006 • BY JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff After 10 years in New Jersey, the charter school movement can boast some of the best-performing schools in the state, and a couple of the worst. The small, privately run public schools have their critics who contend they drain too much money from traditional public schools, and advocates who maintain their schools are among the best hopes for public education. Now, with dozens of new charter schools seeking to open and the critics not going away, state officials have begun looking anew at how they oversee the schools. The state Board of Education yesterday got its first look at proposed changes to the regulations governing charter schools. And it was clear that board members wanted to go beyond a perfunctory review of regulations. "How successful are they? Are they working?" asked Kathleen Dietz, a board member from Hillsborough. "I'm thinking this is a good time to do a review." Another board member questioned why the state continues to embrace charter schools when their results are mixed. "If they are not seeing any significant increase (in student test scores), what is the purpose of the charter schools?" said Edward Tay lor, a board member from Somerdale in Camden County. Starting with 13 schools in 1997, New Jersey now has 54 charter schools operating across the state, serving about 14,000 students. But the growth has slowed markedly in recent years, due in part to both start-up difficulties and tougher reviews and monitoring by the state. State officials yesterday said they hoped the new regulations will ease some of the most burdensome parts of the process, while not los ing accountability. The regulations are likely to take months to approve, including public hearings. One new proposal would re quire charter-school applicants to document the need within the community for their proposed school. Justification could include public school performance or interest within the community, officials said. "We find people have these great ideas for a school, but haven't really analyzed the needs in the community, including whether there are even enough students," said Rochelle Hendricks, a state education director who oversees charter schools. "Our intent is not to create hurdles, but just the opposite," Hen dricks continued. "We are recognizing there are hurdles out there, and trying to deal with them up front." Much of the discussion before the board yesterday focused on new deadlines the state had proposed for the application process and the different information that is requested at each point. The timeline has been a source of tension lately after state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy pulled the charter of a new Atlantic County school on the eve of its opening this fall. The state board then reversed Davy's action, and the school opened three weeks late. John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at jmooney@star ledger.com, or 973-392-1548. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.