Mayor Liz Lempert Opposes Princeton Charter School Expansion

PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert has come out in opposition to the proposed Princeton Charter School expansion, Lempert confirmed to Princeton Patch by email on Thursday.

Lempert recently told the Princeton Packet that she is concerned about the impact it will have on the entire school district due to the cost.

She also said she’d rather see the final decision be left up to voters locally, possibly through a referendum, as opposed to have lawmakers in Trenton make the final decision.

Last month, the Princeton Charter School filed an application with the New Jersey Department of Education to introduce a weighted lottery system that would benefit economically disadvantaged children and to expand in grades K-2.

Princeton Superintendent of Public Schools Steve Cochrane has said that if students transferred to the charter school from the public school district, it wouldn’t be enough to reduce grade populations to the point where the district would need to employ fewer teachers and staff members, but it would be enough that the district would have to pay the charter school additional tuition, under state guidelines.

It also wouldn’t help with the public school district’s growing population problem, as Cochrane has said the biggest problem is at the high school level.

Princeton Charter School Board of Trustees President Paul Josephson has said the charter school won’t be taking students from the school district, but instead help accommodate the growing population of students.
He also said “it is plain that the enrollment spike is affecting all grades at PPS, not just the high school,” and it will continue in the coming months.

The public school district was to hold a pair of information sessions for residents on the subject this week.

Patch file photo