Funding for New Charters Underscores Push to Keep Standards High
Trenton debates closing of Emily Fisher Charter School while NJ finally wins start-up grant.
On a day the Christie administration proudly announced it had won a federal grant to help its newest charter schools, top officials were also dealing with the fallout over closing one of its oldest. Gov. Chris Christie and acting commissioner Chris Cerf announced Tuesday that the state had finally won an elusive $14.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help with the start up of new charter schools and expansion of others. The state had lost out on the grant the past two years, and faced some criticism from reviewers in the process for not having the capacity to best use the money. But yesterday, Cerf and Christie touted the new grant as evidence of the administration's commitment to quality charter schools. Through an …
