Paterson schools superintendent urges state not to approve new charter schools
PATERSON — The city’s top education official is asking the state not to approve any new charter schools in Paterson, the latest salvo in a dispute that has been going on for more than a decade.
Superintendent Eileen Shafer sent a letter last week to the New Jersey Education Department asking for “a moratorium … on new charter schools” in the city.
That request won’t affect the Brilla Public Charter School, which already has state approval to open in Paterson in September. Moreover, education officials said there are no pending applications for any other charters to begin operation in the city.
That hasn’t stopped supporters of charter schools from feeling aggrieved.
North Jersey: Rooftop dining overlooking Paterson's Great Falls? Here's the proposal
Shafer’s letter said she was writing on behalf of the Paterson Board of Education. The school board’s president, Nakima Redmon, said a majority of board members directed Shafer to send the letter based on an informal “straw poll.”
But Theodore Best, the director of the Paterson Charter School Roundtable group, said the straw poll was “a secret vote” that he argued violated New Jersey’s Open Public Meetings Act.
Special report: Paterson's schools are decaying — and are hurting kids and staff. How can they be helped?
Best said board member Jonathan Hodges had tried to convince his colleagues to approve a resolution calling for a charter school moratorium earlier this year but was unable to get anyone to back his proposal at a public meeting.
Best asserted that charter school opponents circumvented the public meetings law by holding a private poll on the moratorium.
“The 6,000 Paterson families who attend charter schools and the 3,000 on wait lists want to know where the board stands,” he said.
Hodges would not reveal who conducted the straw poll.
Our view: What can fix Paterson's schools? Focused aid from Trenton, Washington | Editorial
Enrollment in Paterson charter schools has increased over the past five years, from 3,677 in 2018 to 6,013 in 2023, according to district records.
As the enrollment has soared, so has the amount of state funding the Paterson district has been required to pass along to the charter schools. That figure rose from $46.8 million in 2018 to $103.8 million this year. Officials estimate that the amount of funding sent to charters will surpass $120 million in 2024.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ charter schools opposed by Paterson Public Schools
