New Jersey may require voter approval for some future charter schools

Creating a new charter school in New Jersey could require voter approval.  Today (an Assembly committee takes up the idea in Trenton. The measure is sponsored by Assembly education committee chairman Pat Diegnan. He says some boutique charter schools have opened without the support of local residents. “That’s just not helpful at any level. I mean it’s not helpful in terms of support for charter schools across the board and also obviously this is taxpayers’ money. The citizens should support where that money is going,” said Diegnan.The proposal for voter approval is opposed by New Jersey Charter Schools Association CEO Carlos Perez. “What we don’t want to see in the process of opening up a school is a school leader who is focused on creating a public education environment for kids to have to go and wage a political campaign to get their school open,” said Perez.The bill allows opening charters in districts under state control without voter approval.