The Department of Education today announced its receipt of 45 new applications for charter schools in New Jersey. The applications will now undergo a rigorous review, which will include scrutiny by department staff and input from local boards of education and superintendents of the state-operated school districts. I strongly believe that parents should be able to choose the most appropriate educational program for their children.
Charter schools offer the opportunity to provide such choice.
Charter schools, which are part of our public school system, are intended to be places where innovation can flourish. Charter school teams from the Department of Education will immediately begin to review the applications submitted. In addition, the applications will be reviewed by local boards of education that would be affected by the prospective charter schools, as well as by the state superintendents in affected state-operated school districts. The Department of Education may request subsequent information from the applicants if it feels such information is necessary to complete its review. Five additional charter schools have been approved for operation but have chosen to open in the 2000-01 school year.