Newark votes: Can public schools survive charter growth?
Newark voters go to the polls April 16 but the real question they face in the school board election isn’t printed on the ballot. It’s a question that’s brutal, clear and stark–a question that, maybe, no one wants to face:
Do Newark’s voters genuinely want to improve public schools or would they rather continue to allow scarce public funds to be used to replace public schools with privately-operated but publicly funded charter schools?
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, despite promises to support an independent school board, is once again backing a so-called “unity slate” that continues to support the growth of charter schools and the “One Newark” enrollment plan that feeds students to the privately-operated but publicly funded charters.
In his first run for mayor in 2014, Baraka demanded an end to “One Newark.” He quickly changed into a proponent of charter schools–although he publicly contends they are growing too fast. Backing pro-charter school board candidates is hardly a way of slowing their growth.
Baraka’s slate, powered by his political organization and fund-raising ability, will be difficult to beat but, this year, it faces a slate led by a popular incumbent, Leah Z. Owens, who, three years ago, ran successfully as a member of the mayor’s first “unity slate.”
Owens, a former Newark teacher and now doctoral candidate at Rutgers and adjunct professor at Essex County College and New Jersey City University, says she is running to “finish some unfinished business.”
Owens–joined by veteran activist Denise Cole and special education advocate Saafir Jenkins–say they want a full discussion of the impact of charter schools on CONTINUE READING: Newark votes: Can public schools survive charter growth? |