PIACS is again trying to find a home, 14 months after receiving approval from Governor Corzine’s Department of Education. The New Jersey charter school regulations were intended to increase school choice for populations that were being underserved by public school options. PIACS does NOT fit that bill. It is, in my opinion, a private school that is seeking to convert into a charter school despite NJ regulations that prohibit such a conversion.
The state allowed this even though the application was a sham. Applications to open charter schools are freely available from the state. The state even posts a helpful powerpoint presentation to walk applicants through the process and provides tips to navigate the application as well as “pitfalls” to avoid. As I read through those documents I noticed the application would require three things that are clearly absent.
1.) Charter school applicants are to identify a location of the facility and include details in their financial plan regarding the acquisition and renovation and the financing of both acquisition and renovation. Clearly PIACS could not have fulfilled this requirement as they are still without a home and without a plan 14 months later.
2.) Charters are to demonstrate a “need” for the school within the districts. Does WW-P really under-serve elementary students by not immersing them in Chinese language and Singapore math? Is creating another administration and additional facilities the most efficient means to address these supposed shortcomings? PIACS requires child study teams, English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction for non-English and non-Chinese speaking students, as well as all other special education services and additional transportation resources. All of these are available in public schools, so why do we re-create them at PIACS? Is Chinese immersion really the better option for ESL students who are not Chinese native speakers? Does any of this make economic sense as every public service needs to compete for scant resources?
3.) Conversion. NJ allows public schools to convert to charter designations. NJ does not allow private schools to convert to charter schools. PIACS shares staff, philosophy and (it appears) buildings with its predecessor school YingHua. Not all YingHua students will become PIACS students we are told. Not all are eligible, because not all live in the three affected sending districts, but some do and some of them would be expected to save their parents the $12,000 tuition by applying to PIACS. Does anyone doubt that this is a conversion?
YingHua needs only a fraction of the space under consideration for PIACS. Can YingHua be considered a viable school with only 2,515 square feet? The average American home is larger than the entire campus dedicated to three grades plus the pre-K program. Last year a YingHua parent from Edison noted that he felt that YingHua staff were focused solely on PIACS, to the detriment of YingHua. He felt that his child would be left out in the cold when PIACS opened and YingHua floundered. His letter was published in local papers but I never heard anyone address his concerns.
The state approved the charter and now we have to deal with this loony idea. Somehow the creation of another management and administrative structure, the addition of more busing needs and the increase in the number of educational facilities will lead to greater efficiency in education in New Jersey. Really? This makes no sense at all. But the state has complete authority and they blessed PIACS. When I am forced to pay for someone else’s private consumption it feels unfair. PIACS is a private school that finagled a Charter School designation and because of that, I will be paying for some kids’ private school. And I think that’s unfair.
On the South Brunswick discussion of the proposed site of PIACS: PIACS application to South Brunswick contained details that were reported in the local press. They describe 16,295 square feet of repurposed warehouse space. This space will support two distinct school facilities. PIACS will house 170 kids in 13,780 square feet and Ying Hua will house its operations in 2,515 square feet. Does this make any sense? PIACS needs 81 square feet to educate kids in EXACTLY the same curriculum that YingHua can do in just a fraction of the space.
Do the math, if 80 square feet are needed, then YingHua will have space for roughly 30 kids, in four different grades. If 80 square feet are not required, then why divide the property such that PIACS will have almost 85 percent of the space (and presumably a proportionate amount of the expense)? Why do we even bother with the charade that YingHua is somehow separate from PIACS?
Lastly, it seems curious that PIACS continues to be tone-deaf, even as this process has dragged on for more than a year. PIACS is very selective about disclosure, just peruse their website and see what I mean, half of their document links are actually E-mail short cuts. There is very little actual information. They may feel besieged, and those feelings may well be justified, but they are rocking the boat and touching the third rail of New Jersey property taxes, education funding. This is serious business affecting thousands of families and millions of dollars. One would think that a “good neighbor” would be more forthcoming.
Sean Sheerin
West Windsor
