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Saturday, February 8, 2014

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:



Newark Parents Give It To Gov Christie's Ed Flunky Cami Anderson!









Parent Ms.Natasha Allen Runs Cami Out of NPS Advisory 



This took place at Newark's First Avenue School. The camera work is a little frantic, but you still can get the sense of righteous anger and determination for Newark's parents to control the educational destiny of their children. Newark's public schools are controlled by the state Dept of Education and not by Newark's parents because several years ago, its public school system was deemed a "failure" and the citizens of Newark were/are assumed to be too ignorant or corrupt or incompetent to run their own schools.


National Coverage of Newark School Fight Proposal

February 6, 2014 at 2:52pm
I recently started an effort to draw more national attention to the Newark struggle against privatization of the public school district.  I have approached several national journalists of mainstream media networks as well as several national blog sites.  So far the only success – albeit a very notable one – is this very fine, detailed and poignant piece that details the Newark fight and puts it in the context of the privatization drive statewide in NJ and nationally in the US:



http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/31/new-jerseys-education-cerf-dumb/



This same article was reblogged by David Rutherford’s local Plainfield View site:



http://plainfieldview.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/new-jerseys-education-serf-dumb/



Perhaps as a response or maybe just to continue her fight against the Newark community, the unaccountable Christie /  Booker appointed Cami Anderson has placed an article at the Huffington Post site.



The escalation by the state of its propaganda battle against the Newark community increases the importance of our continuing to press for more national attention for the Newark perspective of the struggle.  Therefore, I am inviting any and all to participate in a concerted effort to get more national attention: from the mainstream media, from national blog sites, from the Black and Spanish language press and from whomever we can induce to get

the Newark perspective out.



At the end of this article is a sample letter that you can use, revise as need be and feel free to put your own name below it to try to get coverage of the issue from the Newark perspective.



The media is still very interested in everything to do with the

unraveling Christie story and the Newark battle might just be the most significant aspect of it and the most ignored aspect of it!



We can be successful in getting our point across for more national attention which can lead to statewide, regional and national support of the struggle to block the privatization of Newark schools – which helps the rest of the state and nation that has similar battles in various stages.



Some of the ways we can further this effort:

1.       Make direct contact with mainstream media as well as bloggers who are covering any aspect of the Christie scandals.  Send them the below letter and continue to follow up with additional information.

2.       Suggest to national blog sites that they either create their own article, use the Counter Puhch article (http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/31/new-jerseys-education-cerf-dumb/ ) or offer Bob Braun or Jersey Jazzman or another local blogger an opportunity to publish and overview nationally.

3.        Invite radio and television news and talk shows to interview the key players on the community side in the Newark fight.

4.       Invite campus media to cover the story.

5.       There are many other ways to approach this – if you have an idea – write it up below and just do it!



Please provide feedback on the proposal or offer your own ideas below.  Also, feel free to share information of any effort you make in this regard.



Sample letter:



Dear ______________ (editor, reporter, blogger, commentator),



Congratulations on your poignant coverage of the Christie scandal as it continues to unfold.  One aspect of this scandal that has been largely ignored by national media thus far is the bullying of the Newark community In Christie’s drive to privatize Newark schools.  In fact just days after Christie’s famous “I am not a bully’ speech, he contradicted that assertion by attempting to fire Newark principals who had attended a local meeting on the unilateral state plans to close Newark public schools and to replace them with privately run schools.



The whole strategy of the NJ through the Christie appointed superintendent Cami Anderson has been to steamroll and intimidate any and all opposition.



On the other hand, the bullying and heavy handed tactics of the Christie Administration has united every sector of the Newark community in a fight against the privatization drive. Newark could well represent the best chance nationally to derail the privatization drive.



This story merits your attention at  (name the outlet).  There are several ways you can cover the unfolding events:



(If a news service)  Cover the story with an initial over view story and continue to follow up as the issues unfold



(for blog services) 1. Review the information at these sites and produce an overview of the situation and produce an overview article:

 http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/31/new-jerseys-education-cerf-dumb/

http://bobbraunsledger.com/

http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/



2. Seek permission to rerun this blog article

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/31/new-jerseys-education-cerf-dumb/

or invite Bob Braun or the Jersey Jazzman to produce an overview ariticle.

Please reply with your feedback on these ideas and please rest assured that we can assist in continuing to provide research on the issue to support any coverage you can provide.



Meanwhile, please follow the daily developments in this effort at the following Facebook site:https://www.facebook.com/groups/savenewarkschools/



Sincerely,

Your name here