If urban districts are failures, why is Christie's man in Newark touting progress?| Editorial
Parents, teachers and community activists protest outside the Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology, where Gov. Chris Christie met with a small, invitation-only group to discuss his "fairness formula." (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Chris Christie has been traveling around the state arguing that efforts to improve urban education in New Jersey have utterly failed. But now, his own former schools chief in Newark is providing clear evidence of progress. Awkward.
The latest results show kids in Newark district schools improving their reading and math scores faster than the state average, narrowing the achievement gap with their wealthier peers.
Newark's graduation rate has risen, too, from 56 to 70 percent over the last four years. This is all according to test data provided by Christopher Cerf, the governor's former education commissioner, who more recently became head of the city's schools.
The hope is New Jerseyans will reject this demagoguery, but there's plenty to be nervous about. Christie is persuasive.
When Christie nominated Cerf to lead the state's school system back in 2010, he hailed him as "a nationally recognized expert in comprehensive school system reform." Surely the governor has no reason to doubt him now.
Other urban districts are doing even better than Newark, and some are doing If urban districts are failures, why is Christie's man in Newark touting progress?| Editorial | NJ.com:
