Why Charter Schools? The Princeton Story

October 1, 1999

Foreword

The debate over choice and charter schools usually focuses on troubled urban settings and melted-down inner city schools. What need would parents in pastoral suburbs have for an alternative? What good would competition do in a community whose public school system already enjoys a solid reputation for quality?

Why Charter Schools? The Princeton Story reveals that the need for choice and competition is not restricted to families in inner cities. When parents in Princeton, New Jersey, one of America's most privileged communities, became frustrated by the absence of clear standards of learning in their public schools, they first approached teachers and principals. When they got no satisfaction, and the education status quo remained, some of them ran for seats on the school board. Some of the reform-minded parents won, but their victory turned out to be hollow, as the real power over key education decisions continued to be wielded by the teachers' union, which was able to resist curricular reform by insisting that such decisions properly belonged in the hands of professionals.

The story told in this report shows how difficult it is for education-minded parents in a community to reform their public schools, despite the American tradition of local control and despite the many education assets in a community like Princeton. It also reveals how deeply parents themselves can be divided over the kind of education that their schools should provide. In Princeton, as events unfolded, the only way to satisfy both factions was to offer families a choice of schools. New Jersey's new charter law made this possible. The final hope of the reform-minded parents of Princeton was to create their own school, one founded on the principle of a systematic curriculum that embodies high standards and builds steadily from year to year. Today, the Princeton Charter School, now in its third year, appears to be a brilliant success.

This captivating story is told by Chiara Nappi, one of the parents who took part in the struggle for rigorous academic standards in the public schools of Princeton. Why Charter Schools? is an abridged version of a book she is writing. Dr. Nappi is a theoretical physicist at the Institute for Advanced Study. (During the 1999-2000 school year she is a visiting professor at the University of Southern California.) Disappointed by what she encountered in the public schools attended by her children, Dr. Nappi ran for a seat on the school board. She was elected and served on the Board of Education of the Princeton Regional Schools from 1993 to 1996. She later enrolled her youngest child in the Princeton Charter School. (Her other two children were already in high school and thus could not attend.) The story she tells in Why Charter Schools? The Princeton Story is a first-hand look at the obstacles that make education reform so difficult, even-one might say especially-in the most highly regarded of public school systems. Readers wishing to contact Dr. Nappi directly may write to her at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0484 or send e-mail to nappi@physics.usc.edu.

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is a private foundation that supports research, publications, and action projects in elementary/secondary education reform at the national level and in the Dayton area. Further information can be obtained from our web site (http://www.edexcellence.net) or by writing us at 1627 K St., NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20006. (We can also be e-mailed through our web site.) This report is available in full on the Foundation's web site, and hard copies can be obtained by calling 1-888-TBF-7474 (single copies are free). The Foundation is neither connected with nor sponsored by Fordham University.

Chester E. Finn, Jr., President
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
Washington, DC
October 1999

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Why Charter Schools? The Princeton Story

Contents

Foreword