Gov. Chris Christie met with parents at Village Charter School in Trenton
TRENTON - Gov. Chris Christie championed his message that charters schools are a boon to urban communities across the state during a visit to Village Charter School in Trenton Wednesday.
During a roundtable, several parents spoke highly of the school's social and emotionally nurturing environment.
Christie's visit comes on the heels of last week's New Jersey Charter School's Conference in Atlantic City, where sweeping reforms that would benefit charter schools were unveiled.
"I was just thrilled to come here and meet with parents cause this is what this battle is coming down to," Christie said.
Christie vowed to continue pushing for the advancement of charter schools even amid the opposition from the state's largest teachers union.
"I gave a speech ... at the charter school conference last week and within an hour or less the teachers union put out a statement saying 'that this is just another example of Governor Christie's investment in the failed charter school movement,'" Christie said.
"Well, I'd ask Wendell Steinhauer to get out of the palace on State St., get out of his luxury car and come and talk to parents - urban parents - and let them talk about their experience in a traditional public school versus their experience in these charter schools," he continued. "Maybe his conscience would be shaken and maybe he would stop with the inflammatory, crazy stuff that they put out."
Steinhauer, the president of the New Jersey Education Association, had criticized Christie's expansion of charter schools, which he said draws money away from traditional public schools.
"The results speak for themselves," Christie said Wednesday. "With less funding, with lesser facilities, they're producing better results across the state."
The charter schools in Trenton, for example, have 1,000 families on the waiting lists.
Village Charter School, according to figures provided by his office, spends approximately $5,800 less per pupil than Trenton Public Schools and less than the state's average total per-pupil cost of $19,652.
"I've been fighting this since I started running for governor in 2009 and I'm not going to stop until I leave office," Christie said. "I'm sure once I leave, whatever I do in the private sector, I'm going to find a way to be supportive of this movement as well because it's a mission for me."
Teachers and union officials in Trenton's school district have been among the biggest critics of the charter schools, saying that they pick and choose which students to enroll and take money away from the district.
"We lose too many of our students to charter schools and we know that the money follows the child," State Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) said at an April 25 school board meeting when the layoffs were being protested. "The money leaves the district, but at the same time, the needs still exist.
"These charter schools are not taking the special-needs students and they're not enrolling the students who have English as a second language," she continued. "So you need more money in order to educate those students and we're not providing that funding."
Greg Wright may be reached at gwright@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregTheWright. Find NJ.com on Facebook.