Charter-school founder addresses critics in Cherry Hill

For weeks, Cherry Hill school officials and residents have campaigned to block a charter school from opening in the township, arguing that the redirection of state education funds would harm the top-ranked district.

On Tuesday, charter founder Amir Khan, pastor of the township's Solid Rock Worship Center, attempted to answer his critics after the district this month filed a challenge to the school's approval.

"The schools today are exactly the same as they were 100 years ago, when we were an industrial economy," he said in a speech at the church. "You have so much time for math, this much time for reading. The world has changed, and how we educate our children needs to change, too."

The event was billed as a news conference, but it turned into a town-hall-style meeting, where hundreds heard Khan and charter-school advocates make the case that nontraditional alternatives are the solution to a national educational system that they said has fallen behind the rest of the world's.

"It's hard to find people who don't support school reform. The issue is at what pace," said Therman Evans, pastor of the Morning Star Community Christian Center in Linden, N.J., who has approval to open a charter in the fall in Union County.

"No two children learn the same way at the same time," Evans said. "It makes no sense to keep educating our children in this same rigid approach."

Khan is part of a coalition of African American ministers that supports charter schools as a way to close the achievement gap between minority and nonminority students.

In an interview last week, Cherry Hill Superintendent Maureen Reusche conceded that there was an achievement gap in Cherry Hill, but said the district was working to close it.

"The more time children spend in our district," she said, "that gap narrows."

Khan's Regis Academy has received approval to open in September. The secular school, to be located on Solid Rock's Evesham Road campus, eventually would include kindergarten through eighth grade.

It will be based on the MicroSociety model, which aims to foster entrepreneurialism in an academic environment based on the "real world." For instance, students are given tickets for running in the halls and have the opportunity to argue their case in mock courts.

The academy, which plans to open with an enrollment of 250, will accept children from Cherry Hill, Voorhees, Somerdale, and Lawnside.

At Tuesday's gathering, audience members questioned the need for a charter in a district where overall student achievement was high.

Larry Wang, a member of the local parent-teacher association, said he also was concerned about the degree of oversight that township taxpayers would have over Regis.

"With the school district, I can vote on the budget. I can go to the board meetings and say, 'I don't want you to make these cuts,' " Wang said after the meeting.

"Look what happens here today. They shut down the opposition once it comes up," he said, referring to one critic whose microphone was silenced.

As part of his school-choice agenda, Gov. Christie hopes to substantially increase the number of charters in the state. There are now 80 such public schools, most in urban areas.

In the suburbs, the spread of charters - some offering a nontraditional curriculum - has generated heated opposition from those who consider them publicly funded private schools.

The projected $1.9 million in funds lost to Regis would harm the district's educational mission, Cherry Hill officials have argued. The state appellate court is expected to issue a decision in the case no earlier than March.

After Tuesday's event, Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt released a statement in support of the district's position.

"Trenton is undermining the sanctity of our school system," the statement read. "Cherry Hill residents, whose property taxes already support one of the best public schools in the country, should not have to subsidize a private school run by Pastor Amir Khan."

Founding charters in suburban districts, where residents often pay high property taxes in hope their children will receive a quality education, is increasingly proving a tough sell.

Carlos Perez, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Charter Schools Association and a speaker Tuesday, said he had advised charters to address opposition through open forums.

"Part of our role is to provide honest information and keep the facts out there," he said. "A lot of people don't understand charters."