Federal reviewers cite some progress, but still withhold funds for third year straight.

New Jersey has again lost out on federal funding for charter school startups, with reviewers citing continued weaknesses in the state’s oversight. They also cited the state's 15-year old charter law, which is now under debate in the Statehouse.

This is the third straight year the state has fallen short in the competition, losing a bid for $15 million. New York and Florida were the only winners out of 18 applicants.

But at a time when Gov. Chris Christie has made charter school expansion a centerpiece of his education reform agenda, losing for the second time under his administration was a jolt.

Last year, when the state missed out on $14 million, several charter schools said they were hamstrung without additional startup funds critical to their opening. This year, just a third of approved charters are opening in the fall, with some advocates saying the lack of federal grants was a factor.

The state Department of Education (DOE) put the best face on the rejection, saying there were a number of positive reviews for the progress the state has made. The reviews backed up the claim.

But state officials also pointed to the legislature, which has stalled in making proposed changes to the charter school law. These include adding new authorizers to approve and oversee the state’s charters. Currently, the DOE is the only authorizer, and until recently it was a badly short-staffed one.

"Unfortunately, our law is our greatest deficiency," said Carly Bolger, director of the charter school office. "We lost whole points for not having multiple authorizers, no appeals process besides the courts, not enough autonomy."

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