Three Camden charter schools fell below the law's benchmarks for 2005; two of them met standards in 2004. Three other charters in Camden are new and their students have not yet been tested. Burlington and Gloucester Counties do not have charter schools.
Like many public schools in the region, some of the charters got warning letters for the first time for failing to meet standards because the states raised the bar.
Charter schools are funded by taxpayers but are independent and not subject to all the regulations that apply to traditional schools.
In Harrisburg and Trenton and across the country, officials are grappling with the dilemma of what to do with failing charters.
This new scrutiny comes under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The charters that are its most likely targets have been around at least three years and have established records of failing to meet even minimum standards.
"We are past the growing pains part of the movement," said Rochelle Hendricks, who directs innovative programs and schools in the New Jersey Department of Education.
Nationwide, she said, agencies that oversee charters are mulling the same question: "At what point do you say 'this is the make-it-or-break-it point'?"
But before that happens, officials are trying to help charters. Both the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Philadelphia School District plan to send experts into the most academically troubled schools.
"What they have done thus far on their own appears not to be working," said Sally Chamberlain, who heads the state division that monitors school improvement.
"What we are trying to do is help charters without taking away their independence," said Paul Vallas, the Philadelphia School District's chief executive. "At the end of the day, I am not going to be successful if our charters are not successful."
