Dispelling Five ‘Falsehoods’ About Newark’s School System
Having served as New Jersey's Commissioner of Education from 2011 to 2014, I have had an inside view into efforts to improve Newark's struggling school system. Superintendent Cami Anderson's recent letter goes a long way toward countering the narrative of failure that has taken hold about the Newark school reform effort. Between a recent "New Yorker" piece and Mayor Baraka's astonishingly inaccurate "New York Times" op-ed, however, the blogosphere has reached a verdict that the tumult in Newark signals a lack of success and that more effective "community engagement" might have yielded a better outcome. This assessment of the work in Newark is incorrect in virtually every respect.
Here are five falsehoods worthy of dispelling:
Falsehood 1: The work of the past 3.5 years (Superintendent Anderson's tenure) has been a failure:
Falsehood 2: The 1995 state takeover has failed.
Falsehood 3: Anderson's "One Newark" plan is a conspiracy to "privatize" public schools by replacing the traditional system with charters.
Falsehood 4: "One Newark" resulted in closing dozens of schools
Falsehood 5: Had there been better "community engagement," these positive changes could have been achieved in a more harmonious way.
Dispelling Five 'Falsehoods' About Newark's School System
Despite narrative of failure, former state education chief says Newark has met with success on numerous fronts
posted by Whitney Tilson at 11:49 AM
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