Students take over Newark Public Schools HQ calling for superintendent’s resignation
NEWARK (PIX11)– Dozens of students have occupied offices of Newark Public Schools Headquarters since Tuesday night, demanding the resignation of Superintendent Cami Anderson.
The sit-in started around 8:30 p.m. during a Newark Public Schools advisory board business meeting when the students went to the 8th floor where Cami Anderson’s and other administrators’ offices are.
It has been a long heated battle between students and administrators.
The young protesters say “One Newark” that was implemented last September does not work.
It includes relocating school communities, changing school leadership, expanding charter schools, and a controversial plan to have a lottery system to get placed in desired schools.
It’s not the first time the student has organized a sit-in.
Last year, Newark students forced a Newark Schools meeting to finish early and that last 17 hours.
Anderson was appointed by the state in 2011. Newark School District has been controlled by the state since 1995, but this protest is timed days before the deadline when the state has to decide if it will renew Anderson’s contrct in the state-operated district.
A spokeswoman for Newark Public Schools says the sit-in is “not the appropriate forum to engage in productive conversation.”
“Over the past several months, we’ve worked to engaged this group of students and listen to their concerns,” Brittany Parmley, executive director of communications said. “Despite our best efforts to work together, they have repeatedly ignored district requests to meet and engage in a constructive dialogue.”
There are city leaders who have praised the superintendent saying that she has done a lot to get the district back on track, but it is also worth nothing that the teachers union also opposes the One Newark plan, saying it is untested and hurts neighborhood schools.Students take over Newark Public Schools HQ calling for superintendent’s resignation | New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV: