Ascend Learning, a company with deep ties to New York City’s charter school sector, will run one of the schools. The other school’s founder is Nihat Guvercin, who already runs schools in Paterson and Garfield.
State Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf said the two schools selected to open this fall stood out among the other applicants. They are not, he said, part of a plan to boost charter school enrollment in Paterson, the state’s fourth largest city.
“There is nothing about Paterson in particular,” Cerf told njspotlight.com. “These were the ones that emerged with the highest probability of success. These are proven models with strong track records, and they both happen to be in Paterson.”
Since Gov. Chris Christie took office in 2010, 46 charter schools have earned state approval and 25 new schools have opened while five schools have been closed due to poor performance and financial mismanagement.
Picture: Focus Wall
