Aims to clarify issues regarding charter schools

Iam continually troubled by articles such as the one in the Oct. 29 issue of the Sentinel, "Board: Charter School Brings 'Quite an Impact'; E.B. Officials Working With Attorney on Hatikvah Issue."

While a healthy discussion on this topic seems appropriate, articles such as this one and others that appear slanted against the charter school seem to only paint part of the picture, leaving out significant points.

The fact is that applying for a charter school is a right open to all residents who feel their needs are not being met by the current system, as good as it may be. In fact, the charter system is not new, and it seems surprising, and perhaps a bit arrogant, that the school board never considered the "risk" that a group of parents may have the impudence to say that the East Brunswick school system does not meet their needs.

While the article does fairly point out that the East Brunswick school district will still receive 10 percent of the funding for the predicted 100 or so students who are expected to attend the new charter school (and for which it won't be providing services), what it fails to point out is that hundreds of students in East Brunswick attend private primary and secondary schools each and every year for which the school district receives 100 percent of the funding.

Related to the previous financial point, the article also neglects to mention the fact that parents who choose to send their children to private schools are impacted to a much greater degree by the economic fluctuations. This can be because of a personal loss of income, because of the need to make up for other parents' loss of income, or because of a change in the financial status of major contributors; one only needs to look at the number of private schools that are on the verge of closing because their funding base has diminished. The public system is basically guaranteed funding every year.

While I am not personally familiar with the details of the East Brunswick school district budget, perhaps some hard decisions may need to be made when deciding whether or not to fund anything outside of a core mission of providing the strongest secular education possible. These choices may involve funds for extracurricular activities as well as installation of state-of-the-art technology.

Lastly, I think it always needs to be pointed out that this charter school is not a religious school nor is it a replacement for children who are currently enrolled in the yeshiva system.
Eric Towler
East Brunswick