N.J. Charter Schools Receive Less Money From Private Sources Than N.J.’s Traditional Schools

Laura, a few correction of misinformation in your post:

First, this study is from a very ideological department and is based on five year old data, so seeing the report first is particularly key.

Second, as the Star Ledger article points out, private funding is concentrated, with about a third of all NJ charter schools receiving most of it. That's not surprising. National charter chains like KIPP and Uncommon are likely to receive a large portion, as would charters in wealthier communities such as Princeton or those attended by wealthier residents of mixed income communities, such as in Hoboken.

Third, NJ charter schools do receive subsidized facilities funding, just not from the NJDOE.

Fourth, NJ's charter law does not say that districts should give charters 90% of their cost per pupil. The law is much more complex than that. Districts are following the law in how much they transfer to charters. If they did not, charters could ask the NJDOE to intervene.

Fifth, the main reason that some NJ charter schools receive less aid is because of the demographics of the students they educate. Our school funding formula provides additional aid for Free or Reduced Lunch, Limited English Proficient, special needs and high school students. Charter schools with few or none of those groups of students receive less funding – sometimes dramatically less than other charter schools in their districts.

Sixth, charter schools in a few districts are also receiving less aid because some categorical aid is not passed through to them. The state could address that directly. Instead, the Christie Administration is forcing already underfunded districts to pay more to charters, regardless of whether those districts are actually receiving the categorical aid in question or not. Newark alone is being forced to pay more than $63 million over two years, although it receives almost none of those categorical aid dollars.

Finally, charter funding is also impacted by the lack of state aid, with a more than $6 billion underfunding of SFRA under Governor Christie. As district enrollments are growing and becoming more at risk, districts are having to reduce their base per-pupil funding amounts, which means fewer dollars for everyone, including charters.