NJ ‘pushing ahead’ with charter school expansion, Christie says

Parents of children in New Jersey's "failing school districts" need options for their children, Chris Christie said during Wednesday night's "Ask The Governor" program on New Jersey 101.5.

Christie again championed the growth of charter schools in the state, saying there will be a significant amount of expansion in the coming year.

"We are pushing ahead on expansion of charter schools in New Jersey," Christie said, adding that he wants to continue to open charter schools in districts that are underperforming.

"When a traditional public school is failing we need to present parents with options."

The governor has made an especially strong push for charter schools in Newark. The city's public school system has been under the state's control for decades and earlier this month Christie announced he was adding $27 million for Newark schools to the state's budget.

While some charter schools, such as North Star Academy elementary school and Alexander Street School in Newark are performing well, other charter schools have not done as well.

"We've closed some charters schools — 15-16 in recent years that were failing," Christie said. "We've had some amazing successes."

Christie said he's not too concerned with the ongoing opposition to charter schools in the state.

"Charter schools are a very important part of the public school system in New Jersey," he said. "There will always be opposition, but I don't care about that."

Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.