Reject Destructive Changes to New Jersey's Charter School Regulations

On Wednesday July 11th the New Jersey State Board of Education is set to vote on a series of regulatory changes proposed by Acting Commissioner Cerf.  One of the primary goals of these changes is to allow virtual charter schools to operate state wide in New Jersey, despite the fact that the law does not permit them.  Virtual charter schools in other states, especially ones operated by K12. Inc, a for-profit online charter schools company, have shown poor academic performance and fiscal mismanagement.  In addition, the state would be forcing local school districts to give the virtual charter schools 90% of the per pupil costs as they do for brick and mortar charter schools, even though the cost is much lower.  If Acting Commissioner Cerf is sincere in his promotion of high quality charter schools in New Jersey, the regulatory changes should be rejected and he should be forced to produce his evaluation of current charter schools in New Jersey that
was promised 'as soon as humanly possible' well over a year ago, before
regulatory changes are considered.

I encourage you to sign a petition against these regulatory
changes at:

http://www.change.org/petitions/reject-destructive-changes-to-new-jersey-s-charter-school-regulations

Support responsible change to our charter school regulations
that include careful analysis of what is currently working and of what has not
worked - Virtual charter schools - in other states.  We have one of the
best public school systems in the country.  We should be protecting its
quality, not opening the doors to virtual charter schools that empirically do
not offer the standards of excellence that all our children deserve.