Draft Charter School Bill Calls for Local Approval, More Reviewers

The outlines of a new charter school bill are taking shape, with a draft being circulated by Assembly Democrats that would add tighter controls on new charters and expand the number of organizations approving and overseeing the schools.

State Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex), chair of the Assembly’s education committee, hascompleted a draft that would require local voters to approve new charter schools and would add up to three “reviewers” from colleges and universities.

The draft would also restructure parts of the application process for charter schools and place new requirements on them to annually report and post their enrollment breakdowns and budgets.

Diegnan said yesterday that he expected still more changes to come before the bill is formally introduced in May, but he hopes his proposals at least start building a consensus on the long-delayed update of New Jersey’s 18-year-old charter school law.

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