Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week
Would Linda Brown's Parents Have Wanted a "Choice" District?
This weekend is this 60th anniversary of Brown v Board of Education, the landmark case that ended separate but equal public schools. The case was originally brought against the Topeka, Kansas school board by Oliver Brown, the father of Linda, a third grader.Oliver had tried to enroll Linda at their neighborhood school a few blocks down the street; he was told instead that Linda would have to go to
MAY 14
Where In The World Is Cami Sandiego?
UPDATE: Found her!"Mayor-elect Baraka and I worked together at Newark public schools and had a productive working relationship which I have every intention of continuing," Anderson said. "While we may not agree on all issues, we certainly share a common passion for creating equity for our young people." Baraka worked as principal of Central High School for several years under A
MAY 11
Ras Baraka & Newark's Last Grasp at Democracy
If you believe that America is a democracy, you must also believe, a priori, that Newark, NJ, is not part of America.For the last couple of weeks, it has become painfully, disturbingly clear that Newark -- like many other communities populated by working-poor and working-class people of color -- operates under a set of circumstances that simply wouldn't be tolerated in a free, democratic society:-
Teacher Appreciation Week Followup: The good, the bad and the ugly
Although Teacher Appreciation Week is officially behind us, I did promise you a Part 2 of my NJ BOE post—the testimony. But some other stuff happened after Part 1, and as a mom and teacher with only 5 weeks left of school, there's only so much I can fit into one day. I promise I'll get to it this weekend. In the meantime, here's what happened in the past week or so...The good: Newark has a new may
MAY 10
NJ Ed Truth Squad Call to Action Part 2: When bad things happen to good schools
In Part 1 I wrote about the recent Congressional vote on a charter school bill. Part 2 is about Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson's plans to convert Hawthorne Avenue School, a successful and beloved neighborhood public school, into a charter.A Newark teacher sent me this heartfelt post written in April by Hawthorne Ave PTSO President Grace Sergio about the successes this school has had under Pri
NJ Ed Truth Squad Call to Action! Part 1
We interrupt this Teacher Appreciation Week to bring you a call to action:Two pieces of information crossed my cyber desk this morning at the crack of dawn:1. The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve bipartisan legislation to expand access to charter school funding.2. This very sad accounting of Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson's conversion of one of the city's—and state's—m
Cami cuts 500 jobs
State-appointed Newark schools superintendent Cami Anderson is cutting some 500 jobs, including 200 teaching positions, 200 central office employees, and nearly 100 non-instructional workers, including clerks and aides. The resulting layoffs will follow tenure and seniority laws and regulations despite Anderson’s apparently failed effort to obtain permission from the state to ignore seniority. S
MAY 15
Chris Christie. Socialist
What really boggles my mind is this: Chris Christie says he is a conservative Republican and hopes he will take that ideology all the way to the White House in 2016. Conservative Republicans rail against what they often call “social engineering” by public institutions that try to ameliorate social problems. That’s why they don’t like public schools […]
MAY 14
Break a kid’s heart? Who cares?
Newark’s school superintendent, Cami Anderson, yesterday shrugged off the political embarrassment she dumped on Gov. Chris Christie—a national champion of education?–and stubbornly pushed her deeply flawed and unpopular “One Newark” plan. In a letter whirling with spin, Anderson tried to skip over the reality that thousands of city children and their parents were disappointed. The […]
MAY 13
Ras Baraka wins
Ras Baraka, a high school principal and the son of a poet, yesterday easily defeated a Wall Street-backed promoter of school privatization to become the next mayor of Newark. Baraka’s victory repudiated the policies not just of his rival, Shavar Jeffries, but those of Gov. Chris Christie, former Mayor Cory Booker, and state-appointed […]
Help us, people of Newark
This is not a burden they asked for, or even want, but, today, the voters of Newark go to the polls to decide the possible future of both public education and democracy as we now know them both to be. The race has become bigger than a contest between Ras Baraka and Shavar Jeffries. It has […]
MAY 10
Baraka for Newark mayor
If a city can be a victim, Newark is one. For decades, it has been the victim of an unfair tax system, cynical politicians, suburban dominance of the state Legislature, racism, greed, and a sense that it should be grateful for the pitifully small handouts it gets from the rest of New Jersey. […]