By Charles Love

I am a native Newarker, a former employee of Newark Public Schools and a father with children who have attended both district and charter schools in Newark.

I have lived in Newark for a long time and have experienced both the highs and lows of the Newark education system both as a parent and as a student.

I'm headed to Trenton to share my story with lawmakers because my son attends high school at Uncommon Schools North Star Academy, which was ranked last year by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 25 high schools in New Jersey. Eighty percent of North Star's graduates have either graduated from college or are on track to graduate from college.

When you consider that compared to a college completion rate of fewer than 60 percent of the highest income Americans, you realize that a charter school like Uncommon Schools North Star Academy should be protected and celebrated, not threatened with a "pause."

I am also a parent and school advocate. We need high quality schools all over the city and not just in parts of the community.

I'm sure most of us would agree that having options is a good thing. We wouldn't be happy if we couldn't choose what restaurant to eat in, what stores to shop in, or what car to drive. Yet when it comes to our children's education, there are special interests in New Jersey who don't want us to have a choice.

It wasn't always like that. When the legislature passed the charter school bill in 1996, it had support from both Democrats and Republicans and the teachers' union.

But that began to change as more charter schools opened up. It is true that not every charter school was a homerun--but those that are sending kids to college at five times the rate of a typical urban public school should be valued.

Instead of asking what are these schools doing right, the special interests looked for all kinds of reasons to explain away the results. They said charters weren't taking enough poor students, enough students who didn't speak English, enough special education students - all of which have been debunked.

The special interests weren't from our community. But they really knew how to drive a wedge through our community. As charters grew, neighbors began to resent one another. We looked at parents who sent their children to a district or a charter school as an enemy. We showed up at school board meetings ready to rumble.

What message were we sending to our children?

We've come a long way since then. What us parents have come to realize is that we can't possibly help our children when we are shouting at each other. With local control coming to Newark's schools, we owe it to our community and our children to do better.

For the last several years, parents in Newark have worked to build bridges. Just like me, many parents have children in both charter and district schools.

When I talk to other parents, I realize we all want the same thing - good public schools for our children, whether they are charter, district or magnet.

Parents are the key to their children's education. In a city like Newark, we have lots of choices for our children.

Many parents opt to send their children to neighborhood schools. Others choose a charter school. There's no right answer. It's whatever works for your family.

Yes, we still have a long way to go before every child in Newark has access to an excellent education. But I know that we would be taking one giant step backwards if we were to limit a parent's ability to choose the right school for their child.

Charles Love is resident of Newark and a father of three children who have attended both district and charter schools.

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