Another case of education politics failing us

It's fine if you hate charter schools, but you should never block success for marginalized kids

Charter schools are the place where “progressive” politics cease being about the uplift of marginalized people.

That’s a big statement, and I don’t intend to defend it well here. But, here’s a short story to illustrate my point.

New Jersey’s Central Jersey College Prep is a top-rated high school where 89% of the students are of color, 65% are enrolled in Advanced Placement courses, 100% of this year’s seniors are graduating, and 100% have been accepted to colleges - some to Harvard, West Point, and Rutgers.

In this world of achievement gaps that never die and enduring social inequalities in education, you might assume CJCP is heralded as a success worthy of replication.

But, no.

My colleague Laura Waters has bad news for those of us who think successful student outcomes like those mentioned above should draw praise and public investment.

CJCS has won many honors.  U.S. News and World Report recently announced in its annual nationwide ranking of high schools that CJCP ranks as the top public charter high school in the State of New Jersey and also ranked the school #32 among all 406 high schools ranked in New Jersey and #707 out of nearly 24,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia.  The U.S. Department of Education previously named CJCP a “National Blue-Ribbon School,” the highest possible designation granted to a K-12 school and has also been awarded by the New Jersey Department of Education with a Tier 1 designation, the highest possible ranking for a public charter school in the State.  

In fact, the school is so popular among Central Jersey families of color— 89% of students are Black, Brown, or Asian— that 1,400 students applied for 150 seats in the most recent lottery, which is weighted to  provide an advantage for low-income and homeless students.

Nonetheless, this hasn’t stopped the Murphy Administration from denying a long-planned expansion to New Brunswick, where currently fewer than 1 in 2 high school graduates attend college.

The Murphy she speaks of is one Philip D. Murphy, a former board member of the NAACP, a twenty-year veteran of Goldman Sachs, and current governor of the Garden State.

I can’t get my head around the idea that the governor, a progressive-ish man in a role that is theoretically responsible for ensuring every kid in the state has an equal opportunity to learn and thrive, would pump the brakes on expanding a successful school opening its doors to a list of waiting families who want in.

I know what you’re thinking. I’m glancing away from the pink elephant out of fear that that big bastard will trample me to death and then return to stomp me again at my funeral.

Teachers’ unions. Big, powerful, political, Democrat, and territorial about education dollars to the point that their motto is always “kids better have my money.”

They hate charters, and, as such, so must their grantees and mouthpieces.

Yet, even that beast shouldn’t have a license to kill successful schools, especially when you consider the fact that surrounding schools have abysmal results with students of color.

And, that’s where anti-charter politics get local and savage.

Several of the surrounding subprime school districts near CJCP sued the state to prevent CJCP from growing, partly by arguing to the courts that the growth in opportunities for students would "have a negative impact on public school district funding" that could lead to "drastic and debilitating cuts.

In the contest between the perpetuation of a poorly-performing system that wants to continue performing poorly, and a school offering a path toward better student achievement for families that desperately want it, who should win?

You know what I think. Power to the pupil.