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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Mother Crusader: Paterson Collegiate Charter School Approved. What Now?

Mother Crusader: Paterson Collegiate Charter School Approved. What Now?:


Paterson Collegiate Charter School Approved. What Now?

Yesterday Education Commissioner Cerf approved two new charters for New Jersey.  Both will be located in Paterson, where as Jersey Jazzman has reported, some serious reformyness seems to be underway.  

One of the applications approved, Paterson Collegiate Charter School, is founded by Boston native Steven Wilson who is also the president and founder of a Charter Management Organization (CMO) called Ascend, based in Brooklyn. Ascend licenses their educational materials from Sabis Educational Systems, which originated in Beirut, Lebanon and conducts US operations out of Eden Prairie, MN.

Clearly, this school will have deep roots in Paterson.

Both Wilson and Sabis have had long histories of failure running charter schools across the country, but of course this is not mentioned in the application to the state. Wilson was removed as CEO of his first for-profit