- This week, Cami Anderson, Newark's Superintendent of Schools, was literally booed off the stage when she announced the closing of several "failing" schools.
Anderson attempted to bring her blueprint for school reform to parents and community leaders at Rutgers-Newark's Paul Robseson Center, but she left the stage when the crowd noise became too loud to speak over.
"I look forward to smaller meetings. I look forward to your input. I look forward to coming together on behalf of our kids," Anderson said as she exited he stage before finishing her presentation.
Anderson's move further enraged some in the volatile crowd and left others in disbelief. Some community members angry over the proposal to close some failing schools began clapping and chanting "Not our schools!"
[...]
Parent Lakeisha Jones said she left work early to attend the meeting because her son, a third grader attends Miller Street school, one of the schools scheduled for closure and said she "couldn't believe" Anderson walked away.
"I'm a parent of a child affected by these decisions and I don't have a full understanding of what will take place," Jones said. "I'm not sure what will happen to my son. I'm going to have to move out of Newark."
Newark hasn't had control of its own schools for 16 years. Cami Anderson was brought in by Cerf from New York, where they worked together under the autocratic reign of Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein. She's been happy to throw around platitudes about Newark's schools needing "better leadership," even as she has appeared to ignore the composition of the student bodies in Newark's various schools.
As Rutgers professor of education Bruce Baker points out, the schools targeted for closing have high concentrations of poverty and, therefore, perform as well on standardized tests as you would expect. There's no evidence Newark's charters are doing any better when taking student characteristics into account.
But ACTING Commissioner Cerf doesn't point this out; nor is he interested in giving up state control of the district. Expect more resistance from parents and teachers in the months ahead.
- The Assembly Education Committee just approved bills requiring both local approval of charter schools and great accountability in reporting on student demographics. The bill is a clear response to the growing opposition to charters in high-performing districts across the state.
I've reported extensively on the controversy surrounding Regis Academy, slated to open this fall in Cherry Hill; Darcie Cimarusti has done the same on Tikun Olam in Highland Park. Our reporting confirms that decisions on granting charters at the state level are far too prone to political meddling, and that local control is the best firewall against this interference.
Christie himself has clearly backed away from imposing charters on his suburban base; I doubt very much, however, that he will follow suit in the cities.
- Jersey City still has not regained full control of its schools, and ACTING Commissioner Cerf is taking advantage of this to interfere in the appointment of a new superintendent. Cerf himself is a graduate of the Broad Academy, a training ground for school leaders with a corporate reform agenda. Parents and citizens are rightly concerned that Cerf is looking to install another Broadie without their input.
To be clear: I am all for strong state oversight of school districts, with clear reporting and reasonable accountability. But Christie's high-handed approach to "reform" has shifted too much power to Trenton and away from the people whom actually teach, raise, and pay to educate our kids.
If Christie expects to run again, he'd best understand that his continual interference in our schools is not going over well with a large part of the electorate. The fight for local control is not even close to being over. |
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