Saturday, July 7, 2012

We Can't Allow NJDOE To Deflect Blame For Regis Fiasco!

ONE,

TWO,

THREE...

FOUR!
Regis Decision

I hate to say I told ya so, but...


District officials and community members have been alerting the Office of Charter Schools for months that eviction proceedings were underway.  How that office saw fit to move forward with a preparedness visit on a facility that seems to have materialized out of thin air, is beyond me.  

Amir Khan and the NJDOE need to release the terms of Amir Khan's "deal" with the owners of the former Living Faith Christian Academy, and they need to release them NOW! 

And this is from the above letter...

At no point during the site visit or thereafter did Regis seek to explain the ownership of the property, or Solid Rock's ability to lease the property to Regis, which is particularly curious given the prior issues that Solid Rock had with the Original Facility.

Ya know what I find "particularly curious?"  That the Office of Charter Schools didn't REQUIRE that information before they conducted the preparedness visit at the "New Facility" when the effected districts and communities had been informing that office for MONTHS that they were facing eviction from their "Original Facility."


PLEASE!

To throw Amir Khan under the charter school bus deflects blame from where it belongs - squarely of the Broad (pun intended - check the link!) shoulders of Acting Commissioner Cerf's New Jersey Department of Education and Amy Ruck's Office of Charter Schools. 

By inspecting that "New Facility" the NJDOE became complicit co-conspirators, and to not accept that blame along with Amir Khan is disingenuous at best.

This is why this battle will rage on.  It was very clear early on in my battle with Tikun Olam that the issues involved were not specific to that application.  The NJDOE gives the districts effected by an application absolutely NO VOICE in the application process.  And the more districts fight back against this disenfranchisement, the more, according to the DOE and charter proponents, they are "defending the status quo" or "protecting the interests of adults, not children."

PLEASE!

Tikun Olam and Regis are perfect case studies of what happens when the people are ignored, and the agenda of an unaccountable state agency is allowed to supersede the good sense and judgement of the local community.

This WILL NOT stop until we stop battling district by district and we start fighting as a STATE.  

Please, take the time now to sign up for Save Our Schools NJ to stay informed and sign our petition which will tell your legislators that you want local control over charter school approvals.  Read Jersey Jazzman as often as you can.  


Stay engaged, stay informed, and stay strong!

The quote below was left as a comment on the Facebook page of Speak Up South Jersey, on a post congratulating Rita McClellan, tireless parent advocate for the Cherry Hill schools, on her resounding victory.  I found it truly inspiring, and I hope it inspires all of you to stay involved!  


The children of New Jersey need all of us to keep fighting!  On to the next battle!!  



"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed 

people can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that 

ever has."  - Margaret Mead

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