By Paul O’Neill

A thriving charter sector that serves roughly a third of the 55,000 students there is now a crucial part of an upswing in scores and parent satisfaction. But in December, Superintendent Roger León sent an open letter to the state education commissioner attacking charter schools, Paul O'Neill says. We should be working together, he says.
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Almost six years ago, I co- founded a non-profit organization called the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools to help families who want to exercise the same sorts of school choice opportunities for their kids with disabilities as are available to other children. Since most charter schools are independent public schools that operate outside of district control, we found that there were few coordinated efforts in the charter sector to ensure access, equity and strong academic outcomes for kids with disabilities. Across the country charter schools, authorizers and other stakeholders are communicating and collaborating, and sharing best practices, but there is still a lot more collaboration to do.
More and more, the center is finding that our work takes us beyond charter, into places where common challenges are impacting children across all public school options, including in Newark. Traditional public schools, charter schools and other sorts of alternative schools here are all part of the mix and can be strengthened by mutual supports and collaboration. We see no benefit to drawing lines that we won’t cross or building walls between charter schools and districts. But not everyone seems to view public education from this perspective. Especially lately.
Political rhetoric has ramped up as we begin a big election year. Too often we encounter an antagonistic divide between proponents and opponents of charter schools. Advocates for the traditional public school structure often call for limits to charters, or at least to for-profit charter schools (a confusing term; charters are public schools and a small percentage of them are managed by for-profit organizations that provide services to a school by contract).