NEWARK, N.J. – Enrolling in charter schools just got a lot easier for parents in the Newark school district, but some question whether the plan runs afoul of federal law.

As of Monday, parents may fill out a single application form to enroll their children in any of the district’s schools, as well as 16 of Newark’s 21 charter schools. The plan is known as “One Newark,” and is being hailed as an innovative way to streamline the enrollment process and ensure that disadvantaged students have access to high-performing schools, reports the Huffington Post.

NJ.com reports the new system allows families to “submit one application with up to eight school choices, both charter and district, ranked in order of preference. One central lottery (will) be used to determine placement.”

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The plan will spare parents from going school to school and dealing with various deadlines and requirements.

“One Newark” is also designed “to give greater preference to students with special education needs, students who are eligible for free lunch, and students who want to attend a school in the community where they live,” writes Mashea Ashton, CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, for the Huffington Post.

“Unfortunately, this could jeopardize charter funding, as current state and federal laws do not allow schools to prioritize these high-need students in their enrollment processes,” Ashton writes.

Ashton warns the universal enrollment plan might not be allowed to take full effect until the feds change “this poor policy.”

A side note: This concern about federal rules should put to rest the tired and misleading charge by government school apologists that charters are allowed to “cherry-pick” their students, leaving traditional public schools with all the tough-to-teach students.

A handful of Newark charters are not participating in the universal enrollment plan, out of concerns that it takes too much power away from the independent, alternative schools.

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However, most Newark charter schools are participating in the plan, which is the brainchild of Newark schools Superintendent Cami Anderson.

“It’s a level of collaboration in the service of children that we haven’t seen anywhere in the country,” Ross Danis, CEO of Newark Trust for Education, told NJ.com last November. “For a district to say, ‘Instead of resisting charters and complaining about them, let’s embrace them’ is remarkable.”