Charter Non-Starter

Via Capitol Quickies, looks like the courts still aren't giving in to charter school demands for 100% funding:

A state appeals court today affirmed a trial judge’s rejection of an attempted class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of 3,100 Newark children attending charter schools who sought to overturn the portion of New Jersey’s charter school that provides charters 90%, rather than the full 100%, of per pupil funding provided to traditional public schools.

I started in a charter (not in NJ). My personal experience is that a charter brings very little to the table that a good public school doesn't already do. School uniforms and homework hotlines and "research-based" curricula are usually gimmicks. But for some kids, it can be a better fit than the neighborhood school.

That said, if you're going to free a charter from the state's unfunded mandates, it's pretty reasonable to expect at least a 10% savings. If you can't do that, put all the mandates back in, take all of the students who apply (regardless of their spec ed needs), and see if you measure up.