Legislation promoting Camden 'Renaissance' schools now law

Legislation clearing the way for an additional "Renaissance" school operator to come to Camden and expanding the powers of the three already approved in the city is now law.

The bill, which passed easily in the Senate but squeaked by in the Assembly, extends the application deadline for Renaissance school projects, and permits the use of reconstructed facilities and temporary space while the organizations build new schools.

It was fiercely opposed by the teachers' union and community members who traveled to Trenton Monday, the day of the Assembly vote.

While the New Jersey and Camden Education Associations "strongly opposed legislation amending the Urban Hope Act, we recognize that nothing - no outcry or reasoned appeal from educators, parents, or the general public - was going to change the minds of legislators predisposed to pass it," NJEA president Wendell Steinhauer said in a statement. "As a result, we are now focused on ensuring that Camden's public schools, which still serve the vast majority of students in the city, receive the resources, and staffing stability they need to succeed at the highest level."

The original bill included retirement incentives for Camden teachers, but Gov. Christie, in a conditional veto, took out that portion, to the disappointment of the teachers' union.

The Senate voted, 32-1, two weeks ago in favor of Christie's revisions. The Assembly accepted Christie's revisions Monday with 42 in favor (41 were needed).

All three of the district-charter hybrid schools - Uncommon Schools, Mastery, and KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy - opened this fall.

Under the latest amendments, Camden now has until January 2016 to approve one more nonprofit operator to open a Renaissance school. The legislation was created in 2012 to bring more options to the struggling school district, which scores among the lowest in New Jersey on state exams.

Already, KIPP, Mastery and Uncommon have contracts with the district to enroll up to 9,000 students total. About 11,500 students are enrolled in Camden's traditional public schools, with 5,000 more in charter schools and about 1,000 in Catholic schools.

Traditional public school advocates fought the bill, some protesting Monday in Trenton, arguing that it would pave the way to privatizing the district.

The Camden school district currently allots $72 million of its budget for charter and Renaissance school transfer funds.

In August, a group of parents associated with Save Our Schools New Jersey, an education advocacy group, announced a lawsuit against the state, arguing that acting Education Commissioner David Hespe did not properly assess the "financial and segregative impact" of approving additional Renaissance schools to open in the city.

The district called the vote "a win for kids." "Camden's students deserve high-quality schools in state-of-the-art facilities, like those in more affluent parts of the state," said district spokesperson Brendan Lowe. "And as we work to significantly improve our existing district schools, this bill helps us take us a step toward achieving that vision."