TRENTON — Charter schools in many of the state’s most disadvantaged districts do not look much like the communities they serve, according to a study to be released today by public school advocates.
According to the report, the schools—concentrated in Camden, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, Plainfield, and Trenton—educate significantly smaller percentages of poor students, those from non-English speaking families, and special education students, than do the public school districts they serve.
“It’s problematic,” said Julia Sass Rubin, an associate professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and one of the authors of the study, which was conducted in conjunction with Save Our Schools NJ, a pro-public school group which she helped found.
Rubin said even charter schools outside the seven urban areas also served significantly smaller percentages of economically disadvantaged students.
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