NJ Education Report

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack, under investigation by the FBI for extortion  as well as other offenses, has replaced a member of the Trenton Board of Education with  his nephew, James Rolle Jr.  Trenton is a Type 1 district, which means that the mayor appoints the school board.  Rolle, a graduate of the exclusive Lawrenceville School outside of Trenton, told The Trentonian that neither the eight other board members nor the superintendent, Franciso Duran, has been informed of his appointment.

Rolle has a private law firm in Trenton. His office also housed the Tony MackCares Foundation and Mack’s campaign headquarters. Rolle  served as Mack’s campaign treasurer, says the Trenton Times, adding that  “Rolle apparently remained treasurer of the campaign account until the mayor amended those forms just days before the FBI raided Mack’s home in July 2012.”

Nothing really new here. This past April Mack fired the School Board President, Reverend Toby Saunders, dismissing him with a one-sentence email. In May 2012 he canned two other Trenton School Board  members after they voted to select Duran as the new Trenton superintendent. Mack retaliated because he preferred another candidate who was African-American,  not Hispanic.

Here’s some good news for Trenton students: the NJ DOE just announced the approval of three new charter schools and two of them are in Trenton: The International Academy of Trenton Charter School and Trenton STEM-to-Civics Charter School. (Details at NJ Spotlight.)