Three-year charter moratorium will hurt N.J. schoolchildren

By Keisha Usher-Martin

There is a proposal in the New Jersey Assembly calling for a three-year moratorium on charter-school expansions. We cannot allow this bill - A.B. 4351, which was introduced by Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D., Middlesex) and Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D., Essex) - to pass. More than 20,000 children are already waiting for a place in charter schools. How many more will have to wait in the ensuing three years?

Camden is the poorest city in New Jersey and one of the poorest cities in the country. More than half of the children are living in poverty. In 2013, only three students in the district were deemed "college-ready" by the SAT standardized test. We must vow to do everything in our power to make sure statistics like these are a thing of the past.

Children in communities like Camden must have better school choices. I would argue that they need even better educational opportunities than those afforded their counterparts in the state's wealthy towns and cities because they are already so far behind.

Charter schools are one way to ensure better choices for the children of New Jersey. Many charter-school students live in cities like Camden, Trenton, Newark, Paterson, Plainfield, Atlantic City, and Asbury Park. These areas, which are underserved by their district schools, desperately need quality educational options. That's why more than 20,000 children in New Jersey are on waiting lists for a seat in a charter school, hoping for a chance at a first-rate education.

In Camden, Freedom Prep Charter School is proving that all students, regardless of what zip code they are born in, can perform at high academic levels. We seek to transform not only the lives of our students, but also the expectation of what public schools can achieve.

Charter schools are here to support, not defeat, the public school system. Charter schools are here for the children who too often are left behind. They are the best option for many families that have been failed by the public school system.

Three years is a long time in the life of a child. It's the time it takes to go from learning to count to learning how to multiply. In that time, a child goes from learning to read to writing stories of her own. These children can't afford a three-year moratorium.

Haven't the children of New Jersey waited long enough? Join me in telling the Assembly that we will not wait one day, we will not wait one year, and we most definitely will not wait three years. Please join me in notifying the Assembly Education Committee that A.B. 4351 will prevent children from enjoying the educational opportunities that charter schools can provide.