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Star Ledger - Gov. Christie proposes private firms manage some failing N.J. public schools
njspotlight.com - Re-educating Camden -- One School at a Time...Democratic power-broker George Norcross wants to see eight charter schools in Camden, and Gov. Christie has some ideas, too
Philadelphia Inquirer - Backed by Norcross, Christie pushes another education initiative
Press of Atlantic City - Gov. Christie’s plan would pair some southern New Jersey schools with private companies
Star Ledger - Gov. Christie proposes private firms manage some failing N.J. public school
Star Ledger - Gov. Christie proposes private firms manage some failing N.J. public schools
Published: Friday, June 10, 2011, 6:00 AM Updated: Friday, June 10, 2011, 8:39 AM
By Star-Ledger Staff
TRENTON — He called it a pilot program, an "experiment," a restoration of hope.
It was also — for better or worse — an historic moment.
Gov. Chris Christie proposed Thursday that private companies play an unprecedented role in public education, managing some schools and creating others from the ashes of dysfunctional ones.
The governor said the state would launch its experiment in five chronically failing schools where students are hopelessly mired in traditional approaches to education that have utterly collapsed.
"This pilot program will provide an innovative alternative for those children who need it most, bolstering our efforts to ensure opportunity for every child in our state," the governor said. "This program will begin to restore hope in communities where failing schools deny children hope and opportunity."
Districts wanting to participate in the five-year program would have to apply. If selected, they could either allow a private company to come in and manage a failing school or authorize a company to launch a new school.
The schools would report to the local school boards and get 90 percent of the per-student taxpayer money the traditional schools spend. The management companies would be responsible for the costs of any construction involved in creating new schools.
If the program is successful, it could expand to more districts, officials said.
The pilot program, which needs approval from the Democrat-controlled Legislature, is the latest in a growing list of education reforms backed by Christie, including overhauling teacher tenure, changing the way schools are funded and offering merit pay to the best educators.
Christie announced his plan for the five "transformation schools" at Camden’s Lanning Square Elementary School. Standing alongside the governor, Camden Mayor Dana Redd, a Democrat who has worked with the Republican governor on education issues, praised the proposal and said she hopes a Camden school will participate.
"Today’s announcement offers Camden and other urban centers another unique academic opportuntiy for our children," Redd said.
But the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, was quick to critize the proposal, calling it a veiled effort to "funnel tax dollars" to the private sector.
"This proposal is nothing more than an attempt to walk away from the state’s obligation to provide a thorough and efficient education to every student by handing over our students and our tax dollars to private companies," NJEA president Barbara Keshishian said in a statement.
While non-profit companies like the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) have been successful in opening new schools, education experts say for-profit firms have a tenuous track record of taking over failed schools.
Under Christie’s plan, both types of firms could participate in the program.
"It’s a terrible idea to bring in for-profit managers because their first obligation is to their stockholders and investors, not the students," said Diane Ravitch, a research professor of education at New York University.
There’s not much empirical research on for-profit companies’ takeover efforts, but the few studies that do exist draw similar conclusions.
When Edison Schools Inc. lobbied for a contract to take-over 20 failing schools in Philadelphia, the for-profit company promised greater academic achievement and a lower per pupil cost than what the state could provide.
The results Edison Schools achieved did not match its pitch.
One study found students in the company’s schools scored no better on standardized reading and math exams than their peers in other city schools.
Elsewhere, school management organizations improved attendence in Florida’s Dade County and enhanced school building repairs in Baltimore and Hartford, Conn., a 1996 federal Government Accountability Office report found, but they did not boost student test scores.
Acting state Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf has experience in public-private school partnerships, having formerly led Edison Schools, now called Edison Learning. He left the company in 2005.
Christie is also connected to for-profit education companies, including Cerf’s. From 1999 to 2001, he was a registered lobbyist at a law firm that lobbied state government on behalf of Edison Schools, according to filings with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. While the firm, Dughi Hewit and Palatucci, was representing the company, Cerf was its general counsel.
The firm also represented Mosaica Education, a for-profit charter school operator, and the University of Phoenix, a for-profit online university. At the time, the firm listed two lobbyists, Christie and William Palatucci, a political ally of the governor who is a partner in the firm.
By Ginger Gibson and Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger © 2011 NJ.com. All rights reserved.
njspotlight.com - Re-educating Camden -- One School at a Time...Democratic power-broker George Norcross wants to see eight charter schools in Camden, and Gov. Christie has some ideas, too
By John Mooney, June 10 in Education
This time, Democratic power-broker George Norcross wasn’t on stage with the governor, but at the rear of the sweltering crowd gathered yesterday for Gov. Chris Christie’s second visit to Camden in a week.
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Christie "Transformation Schools" Proposal
The governor was introducing his "Transformation Schools" plan, a small pilot program that would permit private companies to take over the management of select poorly performing public schools.
But even though the governor was at the podium, much of the attention was on Norcross.
With good reason.
Norcross -- who characterized the Camden public school system as a "prison" and a "sewer"— spoke to reporters at length and said that his family foundation and the Cooper Health System and University Hospital, of which he is chairman, plan to provide resources for what could be a chain of charter schools.
The priority for Norcross is a charter built on the site of the former Lanning Square Elementary School, adjacent to the construction site for Cooper’s medical school in downtown Camden. But that's just the beginning.
Norcross said he has held meetings with a number of charter management organizations already in Camden, including Mastery and Camden Promise. And he said action on the proposal would come soon, even if no application has actually been filed with the state as yet
Schools Development Authority
The property itself is in the hands of the state’s Schools Development Authority (SDA), and has been slated for a Camden district school under the court-ordered school construction program.
Those plans have been put on the back burner, and while not speaking about Lanning Square specifically, SDA officials said last week that they are considering a number of different options about a variety of properties.
"We are considering a number of possibilities on all SDA-owned properties as we determine the best approach to meet the facility needs that exist in SDA districts while ensuring fiscal responsibility," said spokeswoman Edythe Maier. "Until decisions have been made and a public announcement is appropriate, the SDA is not in a position to discuss the future plans for any SDA-owned sites."
A Man with a Plan
But Norcross sounded like a man who viewed those more as formalities than obstacles. He spoke at length about the crisis in Camden schools and the urgency in providing choices to families. He said some of his plans could also incorporate Christie’s for public-private partnerships, but the central point is a new school that will be located on the Lanning Square site.
"We’re moving ahead regardless," he said. "There is no question there will be a school there, but the question is will it be a charter or something like the governor discussed today."
He called some of Camden’s public schools little more than "juvenile prisons."
And standing outside on South 3rd Street, where the governor’s press conference was held, Norcross said the foundations providing the same kind of financial support to Camden public schools would be equally fruitless.
"See that sewer drain?" he said, to a gathering group of a half-dozen reporters. "That is what giving them money would be like."
Norcross wasn't stopping with one charter school either. "I would be happy if we had eight charter schools under the Cooper engagement," he said, roughly a quarter the size of Camden’s entire district.
Coming Out
The comments continued an extraordinary coming-out in the past few months for Norcross on school reform issues. Known to be a bit camera-shy, Norcross last week stood with Christie at a graduation to push for school vouchers and the Opportunity Scholarship Act.
A close ally of Camden Mayor Dana Redd and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and now a Christie stalwart, Norcross is in good position to press his visions for reform in Camden’s schools.
The new proposal from Christie and his acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf adds some more twists to governor’s own agenda. Under the plan, local school boards would petition to the state to be one of five pilot districts that could use "education management organizations" (EMOs) to run their lowest-performing schools.
New Jersey has more restrictive rules than most, but EMOs can now run charter schools, under some conditions. Christie’s proposal would move EMOs into local district schools as well, and would be the equivalent of the districts themselves remaking their most troubled schools. Still, the new schools would be accountable to the state, Christie said.
It’s not a new idea, either, and EMOs are currently operating schools in 31 states. They have become a prime option with federal turnaround grants as well.
"We’re putting this together with our other education reforms, and hoping that the legislature will pick it up," Christie said.
Cerf said local buy-in was critical. "It’s a different kind of public school," he said. "It's all about local decision-making."
Still, the proposal will be controversial in itself, especially with both Cerf and Christie, to a lesser degree, having histories in for-profit education. Cerf in much of the 1990s was president of Edison Schools Inc., a pioneering private management company that operated schools in Philadelphia to limited success. Christie as a private lawyer lobbied for the same company.
When asked by a reporter, Christie yesterday dismissed his history with Edison as influencing his proposal, only saying all options should be considered to improve the schools. Edison also has since moved away from school management.
Christie said he was not guaranteeing that Camden would be among those chosen under his plan if the proposal is enacted, but he didn’t hide his preference as he stood before the temporary Lanning Square School.
"Let’s get the legislation passed first," he said. "And then I can come back to Camden to sign it."
The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the teachers union, quickly came out to denounce the proposal.
“While the details of Gov. Christie’s plan are very vague, the objective is clear," said NJEA president Barbara Keshishian in a statement.
"It is part of his ongoing effort to privatize public education in New Jersey. Under the guise of helping students, he is attempting to create a system that would funnel taxpayer dollars to private companies."
Philadelphia Inquirer - Backed by Norcross, Christie pushes another education initiative by Mark Katz
South Jersey Democratic political powerbroker George E. Norcross III, CEO of Cooper University Hospital, is supporting education reform in Camden.
Standing in front of a 136-year-old public school in Camden this afternoon (and, it should be noted, without taking off his suit jacket), Gov. Christie said he was pushing a bill that would create “transformation schools,” possibly run by private companies, in places like Camden.
He wants the bill passed before the end of the month, although some Dem legislators say they know nothing about the proposal and don't know if that's even remotely possible. The language of the bill hasn't even been released yet, and the teacher's union is staunchly opposed to what it calls the "privatization" of education.
Like a charter school, transformation schools would receive 90 percent of the per-pupil funding that goes to public entities. Unlike charter schools, which are run by non-profit entities and selected by the state, transformation schools would be run by a for-profit or non-profit school managagement organization, and would require authorization from the local school board.
The transformation schools could take over a failing public school, as as has happened with mixed success in Philadelphia, or build a new school from scratch. Five would open in New Jersey during a five-year pilot pilot period.
Christie, a Republican, did not promise Camden a school, but with Democratic Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd at his side at the press conference — and with the unofficial leader of the Democrats in South Jersey, George Norcross III, standing in the back — the implication was that at least one school is targeted for Camden.
Christie stood in front of the former Fetters School, which is now run as part of Lanning Square Elementary School. The school is so old that a plan to hold the press conference Thursday in the auditorium was nixed because it was actually cooler outside — at well over 90 degrees.
For about a decade, there have been plans to build a new school in the Lanning Square neighborhood. During the Corzine administration, plans were approved for a state-of-the-art building next to where Cooper University Hospital and its chairman, Norcross, are creating a new medical school.
Millions of dollars was spent on clearing the land and taking people’s homes via eminent domain.
Those plans were suddenly halted this year by the state, for reasons that were unclear at the time. The project scored better than others that were given a green light by the state Schools Development Authority.
Christie said the halt to construction and his new public-private schools initiative are not connected.
Still, under this new model, the project might be back on.
“The governor, obviously by being here, has a high priorty for the school,” Norcross said afterward in a rare, if not unprecedented, improptu press conference.
Norcross has spent more than two decades running the Democratic organization in Camden County from behind the scenes. Education reform is the first policy issue he has supported in such a public manner, and despite the difference in party he is completely aligned with Christie on this.
Norcross’s Cooper University Hospital also stands to gain from a transformation school next door to its university.
“What we’re trying to do is bring educational change to the communtiy for some of our 5,000 employees who would consider sending their children there,” he said.
Press of Atlantic City - Gov. Christie’s plan would pair some southern New Jersey schools with private companies
Posted: Thursday, June 9, 2011 10:02 pm By DIANE D’AMICO Education Writer |
Gov. Chris Christie wants to let local boards of education in struggling school districts partner with private companies to take over chronically failing schools or start new ones.
The proposal presented Thursday, if passed into law, could allow the school boards in Atlantic City, Pleasantville, Wildwood, Woodbine, Millville, Bridgeton and Fairfield Township to apply to the state
Department of Education to form the partnerships. Those districts house 15 of the almost 200 schools in the state that are considered chronically low-performing, state Department of Education data s
“This pilot program will provide an innovative alternative to those children who need it most,” Christie said, “bolstering our efforts to ensure opportunity for every child in our state.”
School board presidents in two local districts said they did not know if they would do it, but also said they felt that responsible school boards should at least be willing to consider outside proposals if they might help students.
“It is an interesting idea and something I’m sure everyone would talk about,” Atlantic City School Board President Shay Steele said. “But we’d really have to see the details. There would be a lot of issues involved. It would be like having a district charter school.”
Millville School Board President William Herman said boards would be foolish not to at least consider a proposal, but he is not sure it really would be effective.
“We hire private consultants now,” he said. “We already do all we can to help struggling students. I’m not opposed to looking at the idea, but we’d have to look pretty close since they’d be using our money. There are a lot of issues involved.”
The New Jersey School Boards Association supported the concept because it gives local school boards a voice in the process, spokesman Frank Belluscio said. Currently anyone can apply to the state to open a public charter school, and the local school board has no say at all despite having to provide funding to the charter school.
The New Jersey Education Association harshly criticized the proposal as an effort by Christie to privatize schools.
“This proposal is nothing more than an attempt to walk away from the state’s obligation to provide a thorough and efficient education to every student by handing over our students and our tax dollars to private companies,” NJEA President Barbara Keshishian said in a statement.
The so-called “Transformation Schools” program would begin with a pilot project of five schools. The school management company must show successful experience in running a school and have the support of the local board of education. The state commissioner of education would approve the schools. The Transformation Schools would be funded by the local school district in a method similar to charter schools, receiving 90 percent of the per-student cost in the district where they are located.
An outline of the proposal says if an existing school is converted, all students in that school would automatically be enrolled in the Transformation School, unless they choose to opt out. Additional students could be added on a random selection basis until the school is full. If a new school were opened, enrollment would be open to all students in the district. The schools would be authorized for five years, then could be reauthorized by the commissioner.
The proposal is one of several ideas Christie is pushing to try to expand options for students in troubled school districts. He has supported more charter schools, and allowing students to attend other public schools through the “school choice” program.
He has also endorsed a proposal to give businesses 100 percent state tax credits for funding scholarships to let students in failing public schools attend private schools, but the Legislature has yet to approve that measure.
“None of these things are silver bullets,” Christie said at a press conference in Camden on Thursday. The governor framed his latest proposal as an experiment that could offer lessons to other schools.
Christie has talked before about new ways to run struggling schools, and privatized schools have become part of the landscape of education, particularly in cities, during the last two decades — though not in New Jersey.
Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf is the former president of the world’s largest for-profit operator of public schools, Edison Schools Inc. Christie once worked as a lobbyist for the firm, which has since changed its name.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Diane D’Amico: amico@pressofac.com
