NJ Education Report

Timing of State Takeover: Mark Murphy in today’s NJ Spotlight considers “the plight of the kids caught in Camden with nowhere else to go. Suffice it to say that 23 of the 26 Camden public schools are on the State’s lowest-performing list, financed almost entirely from court-mandated funds made possible by the income taxes paid by all of us.”  But is it time for a state-over? “The answer,” he says,  is surely, “Not Yet.’”

Evidence of poor management: for $23K per kid, you’d expect textbooks.  The Philadelphia Inquirer  interviews parent Kevin Barfield, whose children get photocopies of textbooks instead of actual books; Barfield thinks that the district, which has had a state monitor for several years who can veto any school board decision, has only gotten worse.  Continues the Inquirer, “the state plans to fill many teaching vacancies now covered by regular substitutes, and, as soon as the takeover begins, all children are promised access to books and technology that they do not have now.”

Camden’s over-reliance on substitute teachers: the Courier-Post describes the  Camden School Board decision in 2012 to outsource substitute teachers because of “extensive teacher absenteeism in Camden classrooms” and “a shallow pool of qualified substitute applicants.”

The Camden Principal union reaction: NJToday reports that “Calvin Gunning, from Camden’s Principals and Supervisors Union, questions whether the governor will follow through with his pledge to include the union in this transition. ‘I’m concerned about what I didn’t hear today. I didn’t hear about cooperating with our union,’ said Gunning.”

On the status of the Camden Board’s superintendent search, which, last told, is down to three finalists: Says George Norcross in NJToday,  “Education in an urban environment is a very difficult condition to address, but certainly they have to come out with new leadership.”

And the new leadership, he said, will include the continuing search for a new superintendent. “The old superintendent has been gone probably nine months. They were in the process of a search and Gov. Christie said today that they’re going to continue that search nationwide to try to bring an agent of change.

Or not. Here’s the Courier Post: ” it’s unclear if any of the three candidates presented Tuesday are in the running.”

Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer names the three finalists for superintendents during the search conducted by the Camden School Board: “Though the board spent close to $20,000 on a search firm and narrowed the field to Willingboro Superintendent Ronald Taylor; Denise Saddler, of the Oakland, Calif., school system; and Heidi Ramirez, a former Philadelphia School Reform Commission member, state officials said they would conduct a fresh national search.”

NJ Spotlight is hosting a Roundtable in Camden this evening at 5. You can livestream it and tweet via the handle #CamdenEd. Speakers include:

    Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, LEAP Academy Charter School
    Karen Douglass-Collins, teacher,  Poynt Middle School, Camden
    Pamela Garwood, Priority Schools Initiative, NJEA
    Ryan Hill, executive director, TEAM Charter Schools
    Patricia Kenny, assistant superintendent, Camden Schools
    George Norcross III, chair, Cooper Health System
    MoNeke Ragsdale, Camden community and parent advocate
    Kathryn Ribay, former member, Camden school board