TRENTON — State officials are considering new rules that could impose greater oversight on New Jersey’s 86 charter schools after a year of increased scrutiny from media outlets and politicians.

The state’s Senate Education Committee heard testimony Monday from experts who urged lawmakers to ensure that existing oversight laws were enforced and, in some cases, to write new laws requiring more public disclosure and oversight in regard to spending and administrator salaries.

“Clearly, there’s some work to be done,” said state Sen. Paul Sarlo of the 36th Legislative District, which represents 11 municipalities in Bergen and Passaic counties. “There are some bad actors out there.”

The legislators cited a series of reports from NJ.com and other media outlets that took aim at charter schools’ high administrator salaries, allegations of nepotism, and accusations that some former school leaders personally profited from their positions. The Asbury Park Press also scrutinized a charter network with campuses in Asbury Park and Neptune.

Deborah Cornavaca, director of policy for the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, urged legislators to establish a task force to review numerous impacts of charter schools, to require more transparency and add disclosure rules for charter schools.

“When we see things that are going wrong… it is incumbent upon us to make sure that taxpayer dollars are being responsibly spent and that the students… are the priority of where the money is going,” Cornavaca said.

Harry Lee, president of the New Jersey Charter Schools Association, said that a majority of these publicly funded schools, which serve about 63,000 students, are not skirting rules, but are rather giving parents in low-income communities access to high-quality education. The schools are also improving academic outcomes for many of New Jersey’s Black and brown students, he said.

“In middle school, charter school students overall are outperforming the state average in reading, despite serving twice as many low-income students,” he said before the Senate Education Committee on Monday. “The longer you stay in a charter school, the more likely you will be able to read at grade level.”

While charter schools are given more flexibility than traditional district-based schools to educate at-need students, they also use taxpayer money in their mission. Yet, charter schools are not held to all the same oversight rules and regulations that district public schools must follow, according to critics.

“It is a privilege, not a right, to operate a charter school in New Jersey, and there are simply higher expectations (for positive academic results),” said Lee. “We stand by that, and we agree that there should be accountability for schools that aren’t doing the right thing.”

The flexibility given to charter schools is why they are succeeding where nearby traditional districts are not, he said. Many charter schools have adopted longer school days and a longer school year to achieve results, he said.

When charter schools fail to meet their educational missions, they are closed, Lee said.

“That is the ultimate accountability,” he added.

Since 2020, four schools have closed, surrendered their charter, or not had their charter contract renewed, according to the state Department of Education.

Asbury Park: We have no proof that over 60% of charter school students even live here

One of the charter schools that has faced criticism in the press is College Achieve Public Schools, which has sites in Asbury Park and Neptune. Michael Piscal, CEO and founder of the charter school group, made $516,084 in the 2022-23 school year, according to filings obtained through GuideStar, an organization that provides information about American nonprofit organizations.

Piscal also made an additional $279,431 in compensation that year from the school and related organizations, according to the tax documents.

For comparison, the average school superintendent pay in New Jersey was $187,737 last year, according to state Department of Education records.

A representative of College Achieve told the Press that administrative salaries have since between reduced.

MORE: Asbury charter school network in crosshairs of legislative scrutiny over high salaries

State Sen. Vin Gopal, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said he expected amendments to New Jersey’s charter school law to be proposed sometime in 2025.

“There needs to be more accountability on how that (charter school) money is spent,” he said.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 16 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.