LIVE: Newark student activists 'occupy' district offices
NEWARK — A handful of Newark youth have staged a sit-in of Newark Public Schools' headquarters in protest of Newark schools superintendent Cami Anderson's leadership.
The sit-in, organized by the Newark Student Union, started around 8:30 p.m. during a Newark Public Schools Advisory Board business meeting when the students ascended to the 8th floor where Anderson's and other administrators' offices are located, said activists and board members.
"We are asking for her resignation," Rutgers student and NSU co-founder Thais Marques. said in an phone interview. "We are going to stay until she resigns."
The activists, which are broadcasting their sit-in through live video, contend that Anderson has not engaged with students and parents about the district's controversial reforms.
The union is also opposed to the district's One Newark plan, which they argue is untested and hurts neighborhood schools.
"The 'One Newark plan is not what we want," Marques said.
In addition to the periodic live stream, the students have organized a twitter campaign to support the protest with the hashtag #OccupyNPS.
It's not the first time the student group has organized a sit-in. Last May about a dozen student activists forced the Newark Public School Advisory Board to end its business meeting early this evening after staging a protest.
But this protest is timed days before the deadline when the state has to decide if it will renew Anderson's contract in the state-operated district.
Newark Student Union President Kristin Towkaniuk said the students plan to stay for the long haul.
"We refuse to move until Cami Anderson comes and faces us students," she said.
Newark public schools did not immediately respond to comment.