We, the undersigned, hereby request that you deny the charter school application from the prospective "McCorristin Charter School". We do so in support of Hamilton Superintendent Dr. Scott Rocco, in line with letters he previously submitted to the New Jersey Department of Education[1].

We urge you to deny this application for the following reasons:
1. Lack of Community Notice or Involvement: The Hamilton and Trenton communities have not received any adequate notice that this proposed charter school application was being evaluated. We have only heard oblique references to it in Board of Education meetings, and information on this application has been locked-away behind closed doors. This is unacceptable and disrespectful to the residents and taxpayers of Hamilton, whose public school dollars would be diverted to fund the Charter School.
Furthermore, the charter school process in New Jersey is fundamentally undemocratic and dismisses local communities. Charter school applications are only evaluated by the state Department of Education, with no requirement to provide notice or documentation to the public until the end of that process - AFTER the decision has been made. This is despite the fact that, if approved, Charter Schools pull taxpayer money and students out of local public schools, hurting local communities' ability to educate their children.

2. Lack of adequate oversight: The New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) does NOT publicly release evaluations of individual charter schools to the public. The charter school application evaluation process and state oversight of charter schools are giant black boxes with no input or oversight by the communities severely impacted by these NJDOE decisions.[2]

3. Severe Financial Burden placed upon Hamilton's and Trenton's School Districts: Hamilton Township School District is one of the largest in the state, in the 9th most populous municipality in the state. It is a district with very old buildings and a large special education student population. In addition to other factors, this has and will continue to put a strain on the district's finances, if we do not begin to address these concerns. These are concerns that, in a very straightforward fashion, can be addressed with sufficient funds. We cannot afford to divert at least $5M - $8M million dollars a year to fund another charter school that would operate outside of local public oversight. We desperately need that funding for key district priorities, such as school facilities upgrades and our special education program.
Additionally - although data has not been made available to the public on the impact this charter school would have on the Trenton School District’s budget, we expect a similar financial burden to be placed upon Trenton. Considering that Trenton is a district with significant financial needs, we cannot imagine that it can afford yet another charter school burdening its already inadequate school budget.

4. Prevalence of Charter Schools in the Area: There are already 8 charter schools that, per the DOE Homeroom website, are located in the Trenton/Hamilton area.[3] This includes 5 in Trenton, 1 in Hamilton, and 2 others in nearby towns. Another charter school is unnecessary, and would overburden both Trenton - a district with 5 charters that has struggled, in part, because of the financial burdens these charters have placed upon the district - and Hamilton, for the reasons previously mentioned.

5. School Segregation: Research has consistently shown that charter schools serve fewer English language learners and fewer low income and special needs students, leading to those students being concentrated in local public schools without the resources to provide them with a high quality education - in part because the funding required to support those resources is diverted to charter schools![4] Charter schools also increase racial and ethnic segregation.[5] The state of New Jersey is already being sued in federal court on the grounds that our state has a segregated school system. Continuing to expand the use of charter schools, an institution with racist roots straight out of the Heritage Foundation and Koch brothers playbook, shows a severe lack of awareness and understanding.

6. Hamilton Township Public Schools (HTPS) provide a superior public education: As Dr. Rocco documented in his letter, HTPS provide a "more comprehensive and challenging curriculum", including more AP courses, honors courses, career pathways, etc. HTPS has also passed the NJ Quality Single Accountability Continuum evaluation in the last two review periods. There is no evidence to show the prospective charter school would be able to meet this standard.

It is not our local community's responsibility to bail out a private school with our tax dollars, defunding our public education system in the process. Every child has a right to a quality education, and there is a mountain of evidence that a strong, robust, public school system with local control and community input provides the best mechanism to ensure this right is delivered in an egalitarian manner.

For all of the reasons above, we urge you to do the right thing for the children of Hamilton, Trenton, and this region as a whole: reject McCorristin Charter School's application.

Respectfully,
Our Revolution Trenton Mercer and the undersigned individuals/organizations

Sources:
[1] Letter from Superintendent, Dr. Rocco, to Mayor Jeff Martin and Hamilton Council: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AKb1V4juhrEo7Z-5amUoFuKg9lN68Sqo/view?usp=sharing
[2] https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2015/11/15-11-23-op-ed-hold-charter-schools-to-same-standards-as-district-schools/
[3] https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/charter/cscounty/21
[4] Reardon, S. F., & Owens, A. T. (2019). Charter School Enrollment and Income Segregation: Evidence from California. Stanford Education Policy Lab Working Paper.
[5] Orfield, G. and Park, J. (2020). Choice and Segregation: Charter Schools and the Reshaping of Public Education. UCLA Civil Rights Project at the Institute for Social Equity and Justice.

Funding estimates from
- Hamilton Public Schools Budget Presentation, Feb 2024 School Board Meeting: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nGjLKhlsCqZE2_LaImngiyx4A76aIdGc/​
- Hamilton Public Schools Budget Presentation, Mar 2024 School Board Meeting:​https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pgkYJfaA0wRBDUPonjFFIy41jn15s5A0/