PENewark outreach to reform Newark schools is a waste of time, money, critics say
Published: Friday, November 12, 2010, 6:35 AM Updated: Friday, November 12, 2010, 6:57 AM
EnlargeNewark Mayor Cory Booker (left) joined the other volunteers from PENewark as they canvas Newark residents for their opinion on Newark schools and school reform. He spoke to Rayshon Cross while going door-to-door. (Amanda Brown/The Star-Ledger)Hitting the streets in Newark gallery (4 photos)
NEWARK — Six weeks after Newark’s mayor and New Jersey’s governor stood in the Oprah Winfrey spotlight and received a $100 million grant to overhaul the state’s largest school district, politicians, experts and others say the reform effort is already getting off course, with questionable spending and wasted effort.
Critics are zeroing in on the city’s effort to knock on 91,000 Newark doors asking for views on how to improve schools, calling it an unnecessary use of resources which yields only predictable responses: better teachers, safer schools, more after-school programs.
"So much hope was generated from the $100 million gift, and to have the first million spent in a questionable manner is not the way to start this program off on the right foot," Assembly Education Chairman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex) said. "The premise of community outreach is always a good idea, but $1