What will local control in Newark look like?
A veteran Newark teacher who knows she will be brought up on tenure charges when she returns to school in the fall writes she was “heartbroken” by events in Newark because it appears nothing much will change for teachers who spent their careers in the city and face dismissal or “rubber rooms.” A parent leader describes how the “One Newark” plan continues unabated and is clearly aimed at helping to expand charters. The new superintendent will continue the old superintendent’s policies because they were, after all, the policies of Gov. Chris Christie. The strong opposition that had been building to state control has vanished in the heat of the summer–and anyone who wonders why is branded a “crackpot” or “paternalistic” or worse.
Christie has won peace in Newark while he roams Iowa and New Hampshire in pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination, bragging about how he knows how to cut deals with those who disagree with him. While he hasn’t yet specifically spoken of the Newark deal, it’s only a matter of time. Christie already is pushing for charters and voucher schools and he blames teacher unions for the problems of urban schools–as if the problems of urban schools were created by job protections that have been in place for decades in urban and suburban schools.
Angry students, parents and school employees were ready to shut down traffic in North Jersey on May 22. Only 46 days later, a “March for Dignity” failed to take What will local control in Newark look like? | Bob Braun's Ledger: