Categories: NewarkTrenton

New WHYY Post: What’s Next for Jersey Ed Reform after Newark and Trenton Losses?

Today’s column here:

Among various New Jersey elections yesterday, Newark and Trenton’s mayoral contests pivoted on concerns about the growing influence of education reform on the state’s traditional public education system.

In both cases, the “education reform” candidate lost. In Trenton, Jim Golden came in third; Eric Jackson and Paul Perez will have a run-off election on June 10. In Newark, Shavar Jeffries lost by nine points to Ras Baraka, foe of reform-minded Superintendent Cami Anderson and defender of Newark’s educational status quo.

It’s easy to conclude, then, that initiatives like rapid charter school expansion, tenure reform, and data-driven teacher evaluations are bygone fads, no more relevant to city politics than hula hoops.

Traditional public education stands strong, asserted Analilia Mejia, head of the union-funded super PAC New Jersey Working Families Alliance today on PolitickerNJ, bolstered by a growing populist movement against hedge fund managers, Wall Street executives, and “corporate America.”

A grim day indeed for those of the education reform ilk, unfairly and, in almost every case, inaccurately linked to profiteering shysters. Are these election outcomes, then, harbingers of demise? What happens next?

Read the rest here.

Laura Waters

View Comments

  • "It's easy to conclude, then, that initiatives like rapid charter school expansion, tenure reform, and data-driven teacher evaluations are bygone fads, no more relevant to city politics than hula hoops."

    School 'reform' has never had anything to do with city politics. It has always been imposed by outside forces who 'know better' what's good for often-disenfranchised urban populations.

    It will be interesting to see what Newark's elected leader can do vis a vis the city's state-appointed schools' chief.

Recent Posts

BREAKING: Statement from JerseyCAN on State’s Long-Delayed Release of Student Test Results

This is a statement by Paula White, Executive Director of JerseyCAN, on the New Jersey…

2 years ago

NJEA: Murphy’s Elimination of Teacher Performance Test Is a Major Win for Students and Educators

This is a press release. Earlier today, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill to eliminate…

2 years ago

Murphy Signs Bill Eliminating EdTPA Test for Teacher Certification

Today Gov. Phil Murphy signed Senate Bill 896, which prohibits the New Jersey Department of…

2 years ago

LILLEY: Blue States Had More School Closures and More Learning Loss — Just Like NJ under Gov. Murphy

The 74 conducted a study of the relative learning loss in Democratic (Blue) and Republican (Red) states and…

2 years ago

One of Newark Superintendent’s New High Schools Tolerates Racism Against Black Students

In October 2020 Newark Superintendent Roger Leon announced with great fanfare the opening of district’s…

2 years ago