NJ Education Report

I do try to see all sides, and so here’s a  post from reporter Ted Cohen, who is accusing Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson of refusing to respond to open records requests for information about Newark’s involvement with Turnaround for Children Inc.

Turnaround was originally conceived as a mental health agency for children traumatized in NYC by the World Trade disaster. It’s since evolved into a an organization that, according to its mission statement, “strives to fulfill the promise of education by helping high-poverty, low-performing public schools create positive learning environments that foster healthy intellectual, social, and emotional growth in every student.”

According to  Cohen, both Anderson and Turnaround are withholding information regarding both plans for Newark and a failed intervention in Orange.

From Cohen’s article:

Turnaround officials issued a prepared statement defending their Orange pullout. “Our hope was to expand the partnership, to deliver a significant amount of professional development to teachers and to increase our engagement district-wide,” said Kate Felsen, vice president of communications. “Unfortunately, Orange Public Schools did not have the capacity to take on the professional development we had to offer during the 2011-12 year. For this reason, we ended our partnership amicably.”

One of Turnaround’s many funders is Tepper Family Donor Fund. David Tepper also funds Better Education for Kids, an education reform advocacy group based in New Brunswick.
Cohen’s article, by the way, is posted on a site called Ed Notes Online, which defines itself as an anti-education reform organization. The site, among other curiosities, features a rap song:

[Chorus]
They’re spreading edu-lies,
Playing with a hedge fund pair o dice.
They’re spreading edu-lies,
Playing with a hedge fund pair o dice.
They’re spreading edu-lies,
Living in a hedge fund paradise.
They’re spreading edu-lies,
Living in a hedge fund paradise.