Bus travels, Tour and transport

Township resident Yanbin Ma is among a group of area residents who have applied to start the Hanyu International Academy, one of two Mandarin Immersion charter schools that could accept Millburn students in fall 2012. The schools would charge no tuition, but would receive 90 percent of the average per-pupil costs from the local public school districts.
Ma, who is President of the Millburn-Short Hills Chinese Association, said he and others were looking for options to teach their children Chinese. Beyond private school, weekend classes and short-lived after school programs, the choices they found were scarce.

"We want our kids to know Chinese, to read and write Chinese when they grow up," he said.

Ma says the language offerings in the public schools are not commensurate with the growing Asian population. He said he and other Millburn parents gained the support of former language supervisor Adrienne Tator in pushing for Chinese education at the elementary and middle school levels, but the effort did not go further. The only time Chinese is taught is at the AP level in high school.

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Two charter schools that plan to offer Mandarin immersion programs at the elementary level may be drawing students - and funding - from the Millburn public school system in the near future.

Superintendent of Schools James Crisfield said at the April 11 Board of Education meeting that the New Jersey Department of Education has received application for the two charter schools. The schools would pull students from the Millburn, South Orange-Maplewood and West Orange districts.

"This is a complicated issue," he said. "We should all understand the impact."

Crisfield said the way charter schools are funded could have big implications for Millburn's budget. Millburn would pay 90 percent of the per-pupil cost of each student attending the school. There is supposed to be a cost reduction to compensate, but this is not always the reality.

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