Chalkbeat

As his family self-deports, this teen is leaving behind his friends, his church, and his education dreams

2026-09-02T22:39:05+00:00

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This time last year, Bruno was picking out a new backpack, asking friends about their junior year class schedules, and starting college courses through his Newark high school.

The 16-year-old should be preparing for his first day of senior year, but instead, he’s packing his bags to head back to Brazil.

Bruno and his family, who came to the United States in 2022 to pursue a better life, have grown increasingly alarmed by the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. After months of consulting with their immigration attorney, his parents decided that leaving on their own terms, rather than waiting to be deported, would give Bruno and his 14-year-old sister the best chance of returning to the United States one day.

“Our dream is for our children to finish their schooling and go to college,” said Lourdes, Bruno’s mom, to Chalkbeat in Portuguese. (Chalkbeat is identifying Bruno and Lourdes using first names only due to risks associated with their immigration status.) “We are just hardworking parents. We shouldn’t have to live in fear of being pursued by ICE.”

Bruno will leave behind his friends, the church he serves, and his passion for making movies. But his family’s gamble has the biggest impact on his education.

Immigrants across the country are grappling with whether to stay and risk being swept up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, or return to their home countries and face an uncertain future. The Department of Homeland Security has said that more than a million immigrants have chosen voluntary departure since President Donald Trump took office, the legal option that lets people leave the country on their own by a set deadline. For Bruno’s family, the decision will be yet another setback to his educational journey.

The pandemic, moving to a new country, and learning English have already disrupted Bruno’s K-12 education. Now, moving back to Brazil could blow up the timeline for his schooling and nullify his coursework in both high school and college.

It also means Bruno won’t get to choose between attending seminary school or going to college to study filmmaking or biology. He also won’t get to shop for a tux for prom, or earn a high school diploma and associate’s degree in June.

Many people he’s met in the U.S. are “very important for me … and also I have more opportunities here than in Brazil.”

Parents hope self-deportation will help children’s future

Earlier this year, Bruno’s parents received an immigration summons letter in the mail for a meeting. The family was waiting on a judge’s ruling on their case, but in the meantime, they were still undocumented.

There were family friends who received similar letters and got deported. The number of ICE arrests and deportations grew in New Jersey over the summer. And they worried that being deported would make it harder for their children to secure U.S. student visas later.

Bruno is an active member of the Saint James Roman Catholic Church in Newark, New Jersey.

A deportation order also carries a reentry bar, a set period during which someone can’t reenter the country, although the details of that prohibition can vary.

So they applied for voluntary departure rather than wait for ICE to decide their case for them.

Still, Priscilla Monico Marin, executive director of the New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children, cautioned that self-deportation doesn’t guarantee future benefits and comes with risks.

“It’s one thing to be deported and fall into the shadows, but it’s another to be given the benefit of voluntary departure and not do it,” Monico Marin said.

The family was originally supposed to leave in May, but Lourdes asked for more time so Bruno could finish his junior year. The federal government gave them until Aug. 3 to leave, and they were supposed to receive plane tickets on July 20. But the tickets never came, and now the family has a self-imposed deadline to leave by October, with or without them.

“If we stayed here without authorization, my husband and I could be arrested, which would complicate matters and make our children even sadder than they already are,” Lourdes said.

In the meantime, Bruno goes to the gym, helps out at church, and works with his dad while his friends head back to school. He also enjoys walks around the Ironbound, his neighborhood in Newark, but he has to carry his passport around just in case ICE is nearby.

“My mother, she doesn’t trust me to walk alone some days,” Bruno said.

What a student loses when leaving the U.S.

Bruno used to spend his mornings at East Side High School taking classes and making documentaries with friends through a school club where he led the video production team.

In the afternoons, he would take classes at Essex County College. He was on track to earn a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in June 2027.

“I miss everyone there,” Bruno said.

In Brazil, the school year typically runs from February to December, Bruno said. So arriving in October would put Bruno towards the end of Brazil’s school year. Bruno says he will likely have to repeat his junior year from scratch.

Bruno poses for a picture outside East Side High School on July 29, 2026, in Newark, New Jersey.

After pandemic-related education disruptions in Brazil, Bruno came to Newark midway through seventh grade but said he “didn’t speak English so I couldn’t understand anything.” Bruno said he didn’t really start learning English or class material until his freshman year at East Side.

Despite all that, Bruno’s optimistic things will improve and that he’ll stay in touch with his friends: “I will try to talk through Instagram, WhatsApp with them sometimes. So I’m trying to figure out what good things can happen.”

Bruno’s plans once he’s back in Brazil are modest. In addition to enrolling in school and finding work, he wants to continue serving as an altar boy. He’s been in that role at Newark’s Saint James Roman Catholic Church, which has served as a steadying force in his life and reaffirmed his faith.

He hopes to come back to the U.S. from Brazil “one day.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

As federal immigration arrests rise in New Jersey, teachers share strategies to help students

2026-08-31T17:03:02+00:00

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As New Jersey students head back to school, teachers say they are preparing for a school year shaped by uncertainty for immigrant families.

The impact of stepped-up immigration enforcement is showing up in classrooms, particularly in schools with larger immigrant populations. Immigration enforcement isn’t a new topic for students, but teachers say the situation is now taking a heavier toll, even as they try to create a sense of normalcy in school.

Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New Jersey rose by nearly 150% from May to July, and reached the highest level for any month in at least four years. The number of deportation orders and voluntary departures also increased in New Jersey courts from May to June.

At a rally over the weekend outside Delaney Hall, a federal immigration detention facility in Newark, teachers from Newark, Orange, and Passaic joined labor unions and Newark library workers to speak out against immigration enforcement activity they say is disrupting students’ education.

They described the steps they will take to support students who may be grappling with immigration issues at home. Some teachers said they will create classrooms for students to talk through what they’re seeing and hearing, including discussions of immigration enforcement throughout U.S. history. Others said they are trying to make room for students to process anxieties or fears and validate their experiences.

In New Jersey, ICE agents generally can’t enter public schools without a judicial warrant signed by a judge, per the state. But state and local policies aren’t always clear to students, and teachers are often the ones to explain them.

Tracey Luz, a Newark Public Schools high school teacher in the Ironbound, a neighborhood where most of the residents are immigrants, recalled last spring when news about an ICE raid at a nearby seafood depot reached students mid-class. Based on what they were seeing online, students thought ICE agents were at the school, until Luz clarified the situation, she said.

“They were really upset,” Luz said. “We talked about it and told them you have to keep one foot in the reality that these people are stalking your neighborhood and your family, but you also have to keep one foot in the reality that you’re a senior, and you’re going to graduate.”

In the Passaic Public Schools district, U.S. history and geography teacher Terry Fitzgibbons said he’s focused on building the topic into the curriculum itself, rather than addressing it head-on, so students can open up more easily.

“I certainly don’t have all the answers and can’t 100% relate to what they’re going through,” Fitzgibbons said.

He said he weaves in lessons on migration, labor, and the history of political movements, and lets students engage with the topic on their own terms.

A comment from one of his students last year stuck with him: “‘Hey Mr. Fitz, we are more vulnerable than we appear.’”

For other teachers, the current political climate calls for acknowledging what students are experiencing, even if it means departing from how they usually handle classrooms.

Bradley Gonmiah, a former Newark Public Schools high school physics teacher, recalled an instance this past school year where a student pulled out his phone mid-class to show classmates a post about ICE activity near a school.

Instead of telling the student to put his phone away, as he would have in other situations, Gonmiah said he acknowledged that the situation was “messed up.” A short conversation about the issue followed.

“Validating that it’s something that’s affecting us inside and outside the classroom is something that needs to be addressed,” Gonmiah said.

Some teachers say talking things through is not always the right answer. Sonya Noebels, a math teacher at Orange High School in the Orange Public Schools district, said she and her colleagues try to keep classroom routines consistent and give students time where they don’t have to focus on what’s happening outside of school.

“Some of these students who are living this just need a place where they know what’s going to happen and where they don’t have to be thinking about everything that’s going on, and they can just be kids and do school,” said Noebels.

For Andrew Worthington, an English teacher also at Orange High School, making students feel comfortable and helping them think critically about the political landscape is crucial.

“Hopefully they can start thinking about these issues themselves, which they already are but maybe not in the most organized or structured way,” Worthington added.

While teachers are struggling to find the balance between incorporating conversations about immigration during class time and creating a sense of normalcy in school, some advocates say schools should offer more direct support to students.

The New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children has a partnership with Jersey City Public Schools to offer free legal services to high school students through the Beacon program, an effort other school districts could replicate, said Katarina Martucci, an attorney with the program. Students can enter the program by themselves if they don’t want to involve an adult, Martucci said.

Martucci and her team also speak with teachers who often say they don’t know how to help students. She said simple things like putting up “pro-immigrant welcoming posters are a good way to show students that their existence at school is also important and helps instill trust.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s chronic absenteeism rate drops to 8.5%. Here’s what district leaders say is working.

2026-08-28T01:12:51+00:00

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Newark Public Schools’ chronic absenteeism rate hit a historic low for the 2025-26 school year, dropping to 8.5%. District leaders said on Thursday that it’s also the sharpest turnaround seen in a few years.

New Jersey’s largest school district had a decrease in chronic absenteeism from 27% in the 2018-19 school year to 10% in the 2024-25 school year, per state data. Rates improved across all student populations, with Black students and students with disabilities seeing the largest improvements, according to Rochanda Jackson, executive director of the district’s Office of Data and Research, who presented the attendance data during Thursday’s board meeting.

The improvement puts Newark ahead of the state, although the New Jersey Department of Education has not yet released chronic absenteeism rates for last school year. In the 2024-25 school year, the state’s chronic absenteeism rate was 14.4%, according to school performance reports.

During Thursday’s meeting, Co-vice President Vereliz Santana said the improved rate is ”incredible,” given that under state operation, the district was at risk of being placed on a corrective action plan because of dismal chronic absenteeism rates. During the 2016-17 school year, the chronic absenteeism rate was 29.7%, per school performance reports.

“We have demonstrated great improvements,” Superintendent Roger León said about attendance and graduation rates and other student achievement data presented on Thursday.

The numbers mark a stretch of steady improvement in Newark’s chronic absenteeism rate even as school districts across the country continue to recover post-pandemic.

León told board members at their annual retreat meeting over the weekend that a change in how New Jersey calculates chronic absenteeism helped boost those rates. Jackson, who presented Thursday’s attendance data, said the district changed the way it calculates chronic absenteeism rates to align with the state’s new rule on how it counts chronically absent students. It’s unclear how much the change influenced Newark’s rates. Per the new state rule, students need to be enrolled for at least 90 days out of 180 to be included in the count, up from 45 days.

“We did extraordinarily well this past year simply because the state of New Jersey actually changed the rules to assist more school districts in their chronic absenteeism rates, at least that is from our perspective,” said León during the August school board retreat.

Advocates for Children of New Jersey, a nonprofit that works with state and local leaders to implement education policy, says the state usually flags when a rule change affects how attendance data is compared year over year. Chronic absenteeism, defined by New Jersey as missing 10% or more of the school year.

León pointed to the gains in chronic absenteeism as a sign that his strategies are working during a Wednesday presentation of the 2026 Newark Kids Count report from Advocates for Children of New Jersey. Since 2018, when León was appointed to his role, the district has revived the attendance department previously closed during state operation, created individualized intervention plans for at-risk students, established a truancy task force, and distributed district-wide attendance updates.

The district continues to use a back-to-school campaign called “Give Me Five,” requiring district employees to call families of five students to urge them to show up for the first day of classes, León said Wednesday. The district also has launched incentive programs offering gift cards and hockey tickets to high school students who improve their attendance.

The Kids Count report, released this week, also found that homeless students were chronically absent at a rate of 25% in the 2024-25 school year, more than double the district’s 8.5% rate in the 2025-26 school year, even as León touted progress. In the 2023-24 school year, 26.4% of homeless students were chronically absent, per state school performance data.

León on Wednesday added that he’s working with the city’s reengagement center to support students who face barriers in getting back to school. The center provides local services such as school placements, access to academic enrichment programs, and modified instruction.

The district also tracks attendance through dashboards divided by school, class, grade, and individual student. Those reports are sent to district and school leaders.

Lauren Meehan, executive director of Arts Ed Newark, said during Wednesday’s Kids Count presentation that the district’s efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism correlate with its efforts to expand access to arts education.

“We know that when students have something creative to do, something exciting to do, that helps motivate them to be in that building every day,” Meehan said.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s 2026-2027 school goals: AP growth, new programs, and serving as a model for other districts

2026-08-25T19:15:56+00:00

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The first day of school for Newark students is two weeks away, and Superintendent Roger León’s goals for the year are aimed at improving student achievement, boosting literacy and writing skills, and growing enrollment in advanced classes.

León shared his goals for the new year with school board members during Saturday’s annual board retreat. He shared plans to continue an early childhood enrichment program that pairs pre-K students with high schoolers, plans to enroll more students in AP Seminar, and a requirement for more public speaking and writing opportunities for students as the district continues to integrate AI into classrooms.

This school year marks the seventh of León’s 10-year strategy, “The Next Decade: 2020-2030,” and so far, the district has seen improvements in graduation rates and enrollment, but reading and math scores continue to lag behind statewide averages.

The plan lays out six priorities, each with specific actions, milestones, and benchmarks. The district checks progress on each priority at five points over the plan’s 10 years, which began with assessing the 2020-21 school year and ends with examining years 2027–30. The priorities are:

Unify and align systems so district resources and departments are following each priority and initiative.
Create a strong framework for curriculum and instruction that helps students learn about different perspectives.
Develop a strength-based and responsive culture by creating a plan for building and maintaining positive school and classroom culture.
Ensure a climate of continuous learning by providing staff the resources and funding to promote professional development and learning opportunities for parents.
Strengthen the district’s ability to offer student support services and evaluate them.
Develop strong partnerships to help the district and schools work more closely with outside organizations.

This year is the district’s fourth checkpoint to confirm that the groundwork laid in earlier years is moving into real progress, according to the strategic plan. On Saturday, León said, year seven is a time to ensure that “everything that we say we are doing, we are actually doing.” He added that the district aims to have nearly all of the strategic plan in place by next year.

The district will focus on several key initiatives this year, including “B4K,” or before kindergarten initiative, which prepares pre-K students for kindergarten, and transition plans for second graders entering third grade, a critical year when research says students should already be reading. The B4K program on Saturdays is continuing to expand this year with volunteer high school students mentoring 3- and 4-year-olds in ballet, soccer, basketball, and STEM skills. León said the initiative fits into a broader research model based on the idea that before third grade, children spend their early years learning to read so that by third grade they can start reading to learn.

León said the district also will push to increase enrollment in AP Seminar, an English course for sophomores. He said 97% of sophomores who take the course pass the state’s English language arts test the following year. The district also will add new college-level courses, such as AP Cybersecurity and AP Business with Personal Finance, as well as a new police and firefighter program offered in partnership with the city.

Writing is already part of every subject, and fourth graders already take a writing assessment, León said at the retreat. This year, the district will introduce public speaking practices to students as early as third grade and build it into the curriculum review across all grades. In grades six through 12, students also will get more writing and speaking opportunities across all subjects along with a new speaking assessment in eighth grade.

Other new programs include the new Jet Black Pilot Program, a partnership with United Airlines pilot Captain Carole Hopson, who aims to train 100 women of color as pilots by 2035. Hopson started the program with the district this summer by working with 14 Newark high school students.

The district is also working with the John C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at Rutgers University Newark “to study this 10-year plan” so that larger districts can draw intervention strategies from Newark’s approach and smaller districts can see “how you can actually improve your district.” León said Newark’s wards are comparable to school districts across the state, such as the South Ward and Camden, and the North Ward and Union City. Because of that, he said, Newark’s strategies can be utilized in other school districts, which he called the ultimate goal of the 10-year plan.

The initiatives mark the district’s latest push to turn León’s decade-long plan into classroom results. District leaders have implemented programs like Saturday school and before- and after-school tutoring for elementary and high school students to help them refine their skills in English language arts and math. Those efforts have helped Newark students recover faster than most, but the latest state test scores show ongoing support is needed.

Newark Teachers Union president John Abeigon said they want to continue working with the superintendent, but more work needs to be done to ensure a “uniformity of message.”

This year, the union’s two priorities are to continue teacher-led collaboration through the School Leadership Council, an initiative born out of the union’s collective bargaining agreement with the district in 2024. The superintendent’s goals can lose precision as they move down the chain of command, Abeigon said. He added that the current structure “hinders effective communication” with teachers and said the information that passes through leadership “turns into a game of telephone,” with each layer of leadership interpreting it differently.

The result is, he said, “in 60 different schools, you get 60 different messages.”

Still, Abeigon said, the district needs to keep retraining administrators between León and teachers so they can act as “resource providers.” Rather than giving orders, Abeigon said, they should ask teachers what they need to accomplish district goals.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Back-to-school: 6 things to watch in Newark Public Schools this year

2026-08-20T19:51:21+00:00

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Newark Public Schools students head back to school next month amid major state and local changes, including a statewide cellphone ban and new district leaders.

Just over 43,200 students are enrolled in the state’s largest public school district, a slight decrease from the prior school year, with thousands more attending Newark’s 15 charter networks across the city. Newly elected school board members are settling in as literacy remains a top issue for the city. State test scores are delayed, new principals are taking over schools, and decades-old school buildings will keep infrastructure needs front and center.

This year also marks Superintendent Roger León’s ninth leading the district and the seventh of his 10-year strategy, known as “The Next Decade: 2020-2030.” León’s strategy is aimed at reopening closed schools and programs and improving chronic absenteeism, school infrastructure, and curriculums.

León will be held accountable by the nine-member school board, which is responsible for helping manage this year’s $1.67 billion budget, including charter school payments, building needs, and support for the district’s multilingual learners and students with disabilities, who require specialized instruction and support services. Last school year, the Newark school board approved León’s contract through 2030.

Here are six things you need to know ahead of Newark Public Schools’ first day of school on Sept. 8.

Bell-to-bell ban on cellphones

This is the first school year New Jersey districts will implement the state’s new phone-free school law, which requires every district to develop a bell-to-bell ban for K-12 students on cellphone use during the entire school day. Former Gov. Phil Murphy signed the law in January, which also provided funding to help districts buy phone storage systems, such as Yondr pouches. In June, the school board approved the purchase of Yondr pouches, at a cost not to exceed $99,000.

Newark Public School students will be allowed to carry cellphones if they remain off and stored in the pouches from the first bell of the school day to the last. The district piloted the new policy this spring, with a district teacher reporting positive results, mainly due to staff enforcing the new rule.

New Media High School welcomes freshman

Newark’s newest specialized school, New Media High School, opens this fall focused on preparing students for careers in content creation, video production, and entertainment management. But its freshman class will start at Bard High School Early College while renovations continue at its permanent home in the South Ward.

If work stays on track, this year’s freshmen will move into the renovated building as sophomores in the 2027-28 school year alongside a new incoming class of freshmen. The district has used this staggered approach to open schools before. It’s part of León’s broader plan to open new schools and expand the district as student enrollment grows. That’s a sharp turn from when the state oversaw Newark schools between 1995 and 2020. New Media High School will eventually sit next to the new Lionsgate Studios planned for the South Ward.

Old school buildings continue to push infrastructure needs

Newark’s building crisis continues to be one of the district’s most pressing challenges this year.

Many schools across Newark require extra work to their roofs, facades, boilers, and air-conditioning units. In the East Ward alone, schools are, on average, a century old. But the public school system doesn’t have the legal authority to build new schools itself. That power sits with the state’s Schools Development Authority, which recently promised to build a new University High School.

This school year’s budget includes an extra $12.1 million for maintenance work, school lease increases, and environmental remediations, district officials said in March. The district is also waiting for state and school board approval of its proposal to open the new Riverfront Elementary School. Per the proposal, the district would lease the property from 56 Freeman Street LLC, which owns and would manage the construction of the new school at 56 Freeman St., across from St. Aloysius’ Roman Catholic Church.

A wave of new school leadership

Students and parents will see nine new principals, five new directors, and five new assistant principals starting this fall. The promotions come as the district replaces a round of longtime staff members who recently retired.

Most of the new principals are internal promotions, ranging from longtime district teachers to vice principals and administrators. Only one of the nine is from outside the district.

Several former principals are also moving into assistant superintendent roles this school year, overseeing the district’s School Leadership Teams.

Newly elected school board members guide the district

Newark’s school community will see new board members at meetings this school year. Quamid Childs, Mark Comesañas, and Jordy Nivar join the six other school board members in making decisions that will impact Newark Public Schools students.

The new members were sworn in in May after winning the April school board election. The board’s responsibilities include reviewing and approving policies addressing some of the district’s biggest ongoing challenges, including finances, academic recovery efforts, services for students with disabilities and multilingual learners, aging school buildings, overcrowding, and youth mental health.

State test scores delayed as academic recovery efforts continue

New Jersey students took the state’s standardized tests this spring, but families and the school district will have to wait until the fall for the results, according to state education department officials.

The state rolled out a new assessment this past spring, the NJSLA-Adaptive, an updated online test that adjusted question difficulty in real time based on how a student was performing. Because the state still has to set new scoring benchmarks and get them approved by the New Jersey Board of Education, the education department has said results from the spring 2026 tests will be ready this fall, later than the usual summer release.

That means Newark parents, teachers, and school leaders will start the school year without a clear picture of where students stand. That’s a problem for city and school leaders who are working to boost literacy rates and student performance on state tests. Last year, only 34% of students in grades 3-9 passed the state’s English language arts tests, a percentage point under 2019 proficiency levels. Across the state, 53% of students passed the same test last year.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark charter school’s new $51 million facility to join wave of South Ward development

2026-08-17T18:33:13+00:00

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A charter school organization’s plans to transform the South Ward’s Clinton Hill corridor are moving forward.

The BRICK network’s new K-8 building for the Gateway Academy was approved by Newark’s Central Planning Board in May. In addition, the network’s wellness center is set to open in 2027 that will offer prenatal care among other services. BRICK is also planning on building 70 units of affordable housing for residents.

The charter network says its $51 million project to replace its old elementary and middle school campus will benefit the entire community, not just its students, and that its work will help create an “ecosystem” of care and housing for families. The new building will have the capacity to grow Gateway’s current student population at a time when Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger León has fought to slow charter school enrollment growth citywide. Meanwhile, advocates for schools that provide wraparound services for students and their families say the charter network’s growing footprint in the South Ward should serve the entire community.

BRICK’s new building is also part of a broader wave of redevelopment happening in the South Ward.

Gateway Academy’s nearly 470 elementary and middle school students currently attend classes at a rented Clinton Avenue building with no windows, gym, or playground, according to charter school officials.

Students and staff have been in that building ever since the 2024 merger of People’s Preparatory and Achieve Community charter schools established Gateway Academy. People’s Prep left the previous space it rented from the district that same year, following a tense four-year legal battle with Newark Public Schools over contract and rent issues. That departure has allowed León to reclaim the space for district students, one of his top priorities.

The future Gateway is slated for a 2028-29 school year opening and will house 810 kindergarten through eighth grade students on Jelliff Avenue. It will include a full working kitchen, a community room, and a gym that BRICK officials say will be open to South Ward sports leagues and nonprofits.

Shavon Harris, managing director of housing and real estate for BRICK, said the new facility will be “more than a school” and will act as a community hub in several ways, while also improving opportunities for its students.

“We’re not trying to take on more than we can,” Harris said. “We need this for our babies. Our students deserve it. Our staff deserves it.”

Yet state advocates who provide academic and social services to families say all Newark students, not just those in the South Ward, also deserve and need what BRICK is promising to provide.

“I think that these community-based things are needed, are necessary, and as long as the entire public has access to these things then [that’s] fantastic,” said Julie Borst, co-founder and co-director of the New Jersey Institute for Community Schools.

The new Gateway Academy is just one notable project underway in the South Ward, where a $125 million Lionsgate film and TV studio is under construction and scheduled to open in 2027. The district is also expanding its presence in the area: New Media High School, which will focus on content creation and entertainment, will move its students to a building next to the studio in the 2027-28 school year.

Khaatim Sherrer El, executive director for Clinton Hill Community Action, a local advocacy group, declined to comment on the future Gateway Academy facility specifically, since it is outside the area his group focuses on. But he said all developers in the South Ward should think broadly about their projects’ impact.

“The South Ward deserves the investment, and all of these developers must answer to today’s residents — for whom are these projects intended?” he said. “This must include conversations about access to opportunity, good-paying jobs, and respect for the rich culture and history that is already here.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Free backpacks, supplies, haircuts: Newark groups host back-to-school giveaways

2026-08-11T19:37:47+00:00

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As Newark families count down to the first day of school, city leaders, local churches, nonprofits, and other groups are stepping in to help cover the cost of getting students ready.

Backpacks, notebooks, pencils, uniforms, and even haircuts can strain a family’s budget before classes start. A typical basket of school supplies will cost families nearly 8% more than last year, according to an analysis by Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation.

Organizations across Newark are hosting giveaways to help close that gap. Here is a list of back-to-school events happening this August.

Saturday, Aug. 15

Essentially Yours From the Heart is hosting a Back-to-School Community Giveback. The event is free for all families, but children must be present.

Where: 508 Central Ave.

When: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 15

The Back 2 School Supply Giveaway and Block Party is hosted by the Young Disciples Community Development Corp., Love of Jesus Family Church of Newark, and Bishop Barbara Glanton.

Where: Love of Jesus Family Church of Newark, 88-94 Boylan St.

When: Noon to 6 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 16

Rev. and Council Member At-Large Louise Scott-Rountree will give away 200 backpacks while supplies last.

Where: Krueger-Scott Mansion, 601 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

When: Noon to 2 p.m.

Tainas Unidas and Trike Masters will host a backpack drive and community care day.

Where: Omar’s Cafe PR, 646 Mt. Prospect Ave.

When: Noon

Tuesday, Aug. 18

The New Jersey Reentry Corporation and other local businesses will provide backpacks and school supplies to children whose parents have been incarcerated or are in recovery from addiction.

Where: New Jersey Reentry Corporation Newark site, 936-938 Bergen St.

When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 20

Teach For America New Jersey is hosting two giveaways in the Central and West wards with Council Member At-Large C. Lawrence Crump, Central Ward Council Member Amina Bey, and West Ward Council Member Dupré L. Kelly.

Where: CityPlex Movie Theater, 360-394 Springfield Ave., in the Central Ward; and Boylan Street Recreation Center, 916 South Orange Ave., in the West Ward

When: 1 to 4 p.m. in the Central Ward and 4 to 7 p.m. in the West Ward

Friday, Aug. 21

Great Oaks Legacy Charter School is hosting its annual Back-to-School Bash.

Where: Downtown Elementary School, 909 Broad St.

When: 2:30 to 5 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 22

Mayor Ras Baraka and the Newark Workforce Development Board will host a backpack giveaway for city students.

Where: Newark Youth One-Stop Career Center, 375 McCarter Highway, third floor

When: 10 a.m.

Mujeres Valiosas y de Poder is hosting its first annual backpack and school supply giveaway.

Where: Cafecitos Bakery, 113 Broadway

When: 2 to 6 p.m.

High Rollaz and South Ward Council Member Patrick Council will host a back-to-school giveaway. Children must be present with a parent or guardian.

Where: St. Peter’s Park, 378 Lyons Ave.

When: Noon to 5 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 26

Teach For America New Jersey will join South Ward Council Member Patrick Council and other city partners to host the annual South Ward back-to-school pop-up at three local schools.

Where and when: 1 p.m. at Avon Avenue School, 219 Avon Ave.; 3 p.m. at Belmont Runyon Elementary School, 1 Belmont Runyon Way; and 5 p.m. at Hawthorne Avenue School, 428 Hawthorne Ave.

Thursday, Aug. 27

Newark Police’s 4th Precinct will host the precinct’s annual Back2School event.

Where: West Side Park, South 17th St. entrance

When: 1 to 3 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 29

Newark leaders are hosting the Student Success “Back 2 School” Readiness Initiative and community cookout. Students can get free backpacks, haircuts, hair braiding, school uniforms, and more.

Where: Peshine Avenue School playground, 433 Peshine Ave.

When: Noon

Sunday, Aug. 30

St. Luke AME Church will distribute backpacks and other school supplies.

Where: St. Luke AME Church, 146-156 Clinton Ave.

When: 12:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 9

East Ward Council Member Michael J. Silva and city groups will host a back-to-school event for families, including free haircuts for students.

Where: St. Charles Field at Ironbound Stadium, 109 St. Charles St.

When: 4 to 6 p.m.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark piloted the state’s cellphone ban with positive results. Here are lingering concerns.

2026-08-10T10:00:00+00:00

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Newark Public Schools will join districts across New Jersey this fall in banning students from using cellphones in class.

The move follows a new state law requiring all schools to develop a bell-to-bell ban on using phones for K-12 students, although there are certain exceptions related to health, translation services, and other issues.

Schools must ban the use of cellphones and other personal internet-enabled devices for the entire school day. It’s up to individual school districts whether they store the devices for students, or if students are responsible for keeping them off and storing them, according to guidance from the New Jersey Department of Education.

In Newark, students will be allowed to carry cellphones as long as they are stored in pouches and remain off — not on silent or vibrate — from bell to bell. In June, the Newark school board approved the purchase of lockable Yondr pouches to store phones during class, using state funds.

Parents and teachers who spoke with Chalkbeat said they believed the ban will cut down on distractions, although they also noted concern about being able to contact children in emergencies and whether students will be able to work around the ban. And at least one expert warned the transition could lead to more anxiety and feelings of social isolation for students. Per the new law, school district policies should also include guidelines on how students can use phones during an emergency.

Joicki Floyd, a vice president of the Newark Teachers Union and teacher at Malcolm X Shabazz High School, said the district piloted the ban at her school after spring break last school year. Except for one or two instances where students learned how to open pouches or would steal them, the pilot was successful due to the collaboration among staff to enforce the policy, Floyd said.

The school also set up consequences for students who misused pouches or broke the policy, such as fines ranging between $5 for a warning or up to $20 to cover the cost of replacing the pouch, Floyd added.

“Students were definitely more engaged, more focused, and then we were able to see where they lacked in certain skills, so that we would be able to … accommodate what they did not know or what they needed to learn,” Floyd said.

State lawmakers have long said limiting cell phones in schools would help keep students focused. Former Gov. Phil Murphy in January signed the ban into law, which also provided funding to help districts buy phone storage systems such as Yondr pouches. Gov. Mikie Sherrill has expressed support for the new mandate.

Students like Malaya Lhill, a 14-year-old rising freshman at University High School, said her school last year made students store their phones in lockboxes. The state’s phone ban won’t be new to her, Lhill said, but it took time for her to adjust to it at her previous school.

“Sometimes I’d reach my hand in my pocket and I would think my phone’s there, but it’s not,” Lhil told Chalkbeat on Thursday. “And I like my phone because I can get in touch with my mom during school.”

National survey data from earlier this year showed that the majority of teens opposed a bell-to-bell ban and preferred rules that required students to put their phones away during class time.

During Newark’s last school year, Floyd, the Newark teacher at Shabazz, said it was helpful to incentivize seniors to follow the policy as a way to promote student participation among younger students.

“Then you had the underclassmen who were noticing that, oh the seniors have their pouches. Okay, we just got to do what we need to do,” Floyd added.

Lhill’s mom, Royanda Phillips, agrees that having phones during class time can be distracting. But she thinks there needs to be a balance between the policy and students’ needs.

“So I get it on both ends, but as a parent, I just feel like if I need to contact my child directly, I’ll have to call the office,” Phillips said. “And then it’s like, ‘OK hold on, let me see what class she’s in, let me try to see where she is in the building,’ instead of having direct contact (with my child).”

The law directs districts to spell out exceptions in cases where students may need phones or other internet-enabled devices during the school day. The state education department discourages parents from contacting their child’s personal phone during the school day, but it leaves it to schools to plan how parents can get in touch with them.

Shawna Rosenzweig, CEO of Campfire, an organization that connects students to outdoor experiences, urged parents to have conversations with their children ahead of the new school year, to get a handle on the new law and exceptions to it, and to work with schools to figure out other ways parents and children can contact each other if necessary.

“Transitions can be stressful and nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing for young people, and so, really, it’s about … how do we support all the feelings that are going through their minds and bodies in those moments?” said Rosenzweig.

Chalkbeat also asked parents in a South Newark residents Facebook group how they feel about students going without cellphones during the school day. Several parents expressed support for the ban, noting that it was important for students to stay engaged during instruction.

One of them, Erica Wright, is an incoming teacher at Marion P. Thomas Charter School and a former educator in the Orange Public School district. She said her previous school’s ban last year had a positive impact on students’ social skills.

But teachers’ biggest challenge, she said, was getting students used to having their phones locked in pouches.

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Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Free Newark summer reading program still has open seats for parents to sign up their kids

2026-08-04T20:30:15+00:00

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The national literacy nonprofit Reading Partners came to Newark two years ago to help tackle the city’s literacy gap.

This past school year, the group recruited 500 volunteer tutors to provide one-on-one support to Newark’s youngest readers online or in person across city libraries. The tutors were trained in research-backed methods like the science of reading to prepare for the summer sessions.

But only about 200 students signed up for tutoring, and program leaders say making parents aware of the program has been a challenge.

The Reading Partners program provides reading support to kindergarten through fourth grade students and enrolls students on a rolling basis. The group said there’s still time to join, and any parent can sign their child up for one or two 45-minute tutoring sessions per week this summer or throughout the school year. The summer reading program ends Aug. 31 and in-person and virtual tutoring during the school year restarts on Sept. 28.

Daniela Palacios, the founder of Para KIDS! set a goal to sign up at least 15 students for its first bilingual summer camp. She got eight. At the Van Buren Branch Library in the East Ward, Christopher, a rising fifth grader at Ann Street School whose family is from Brazil, spelled out the word “generous” in English and Spanish.

Three years ago, only 19% of public school third graders read on grade level, prompting Mayor Ras Baraka to launch a 10-point action plan built on community partnerships, local initiatives, and city events. Reading Partners and Para KIDS! are among the organizations struggling to get students through the door for tutoring despite the clear need. Both say filling seats has been difficult this summer.

Last spring, only 34% of Newark Public Schools’ students in grades 3-9 passed the state’s English Language Arts test. Although that was an improvement from levels right after the pandemic, students are still behind. City leaders continue to raise concerns about low reading rates, but if programs built to close literacy gaps can’t fill their own seats, the challenge isn’t a lack of resources. It’s getting families to use them.

Naima Ricks, managing director of partnerships and growth for Reading Partners, said part of the challenge is that the organization is fairly new to the city. Reading Partners came to Newark in 2024 with funding from the GreenLight Fund Greater Newark, which recruited the national nonprofit to fill the city’s need to offer free, personalized tutoring outside of schools, said Tish Johnson, the fund’s executive director.

Ricks isn’t sure why more parents aren’t signing their kids up. Summer can be a tough enrollment time for academic programs nationwide as vacations and work schedules can make it difficult to convince parents and their kids to practice their reading skills during the summer months. Lower-income families are also less likely to participate in summer learning opportunities or day camps due to cost and a lack of awareness about what’s available.

Mateo, a rising first grader at Lafayette Street School, is reading with Mideademide Johnson, a junior at Penn State University, at the Reading Partners program at Newark Public Library Van Buren Branch in Newark, N.J.

“We’re still figuring out the best ways to connect with parents and other caregivers to get their students signed up for tutoring,” Ricks said.

Reading Partners recruits college students, retirees, and anyone who wants to support students learning to read. The program started a new partnership with the Newark library this year and expanded to all city libraries this summer. It tutored 300 students this past school year and has roughly 200 this summer, according to Ricks. But that’s just a fraction of the more than 20,000 kindergarten through fourth graders enrolled in Newark charter and public schools in 2025, according to the New Jersey Children’s Foundation data explorer tool.

Palacios, a Newark Public Schools alum and Columbia University graduate, thinks the current political landscape could be a factor. She started the bilingual camp to help students embrace their multicultural backgrounds and practice English and Spanish with their peers. She specifically targeted East Ward families for the program, an area where the majority of residents speak Spanish or Portuguese.

But ongoing immigration enforcement in the East Ward has made some parents afraid to visit the library at all, Palacios said. Just last week, three staff members at the Van Buren Branch library told Chalkbeat they saw Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrest someone in front of the building.

Ariana, a rising fifth grader who’s homeschooled, said she loves the bilingual summer camp because it helps her practice her Portuguese so she’s able to talk with her grandparents, who don’t speak English.

A student is reading with her tutor at the Reading Partners program at Newark Public Library Van Buren Branch in Newark, N.J.

Like Reading Partners, Palacios shared flyers about the program, posted videos on social media, contacted school principals in the area, and tapped East Ward Councilman Michael Silva to raise awareness about her program. She still fell short of her enrollment goal.

“I feel like there’s a lot of opportunity here in Newark, and it’s just a matter of making (parents) feel comfortable during these times, like feeling like, oh, this was made for me,” Palacios said.

Johnson, of the GreenLight Fund Greater Newark, wants to find better ways to connect families to literacy support and other resources like housing and food assistance.

“I think there’s just a lack of knowledge that these things exist and a lack of coordination to help families get access to multiple services,” Johnson said.

Maylin Vargas said her mom wanted more reading opportunities for her brother Mateo, a rising first grader at Lafayette who attends Reading Partners, this summer. Her mom learned about the program from another parent at school. Mateo doesn’t struggle much with reading, so he wasn’t eligible for mandatory summer school, but his mom wanted him to keep up reading skills during the summer.

Paula White, executive director of JerseyCAN, a statewide education advocacy organization, and member of Reading Partners’ advisory board, said getting parents to understand the importance of tutoring is key to filling seats for summer reading programs. She wants to move up the timeline for releasing state test results and integrate those scores into report cards so parents can better understand their child’s performance and needs.

“I do think that it really starts with an engaged parent community,” White said. “So that means making sure that parents are engaged and educated to the greatest extent possible around what the curriculum demands are and where their child sits relative to those demands.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Students at Newark’s newest high school will have a temporary home in September

2026-07-27T17:16:06+00:00

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Students at Newark’s newest high school will have to wait a year before moving into their permanent home. Until then, they will spend their first year at another school.

Freshman students at New Media High School, which will open in September, will spend their first year at Bard High School Early College while renovation work continues at the former Dayton Street School building, the district announced this month. If that stays on schedule, this year’s freshman cohort will move into the renovated Dayton Street building as sophomores in the 2027-28 school year, joined by a new class of freshmen, said Superintendent Roger León during March’s budget hearing.

Newark’s newest high school will focus on preparing students for careers in content creation, video media production, and entertainment management.

Superintendent Roger León’s plan to expand Newark Public Schools and open new schools like New Media is a stark shift from former superintendents who closed buildings during the period when the state had oversight of Newark schools. The former Dayton Street School, the future home of New Media, closed in 2012 under Superintendent Cami Anderson during state control.

New Media High School will be the district’s 12th school that’s opened since León became superintendent in 2018. The list of schools opened in the last eight years includes the Newark School of Fashion and Design in 2021, Nelson Mandela Elementary School in 2023, and the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design in 2025 after a three-year delay.

This month, the district also announced that Steven Oliver, former vice principal at Dr. William H. Horton Elementary School, will be New Media High School’s inaugural principal.

Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, did not respond to a request for comment on how many students will attend New Media at Bard this upcoming school year, or if construction plans at the former Dayton Street School remain on track.

New Media High School will eventually open in the city’s South Ward, next to the site where Lionsgate Studios Newark is building a production facility set to open in 2027.

This school year’s budget includes $27.5 million for renovations at the former Dayton Street building. During March’s budget hearing, León also said that the district plans to allocate additional funding in next year’s budget to help fund the renovation work at the site.

Like other specialized schools in the district, New Media will offer students apprenticeships and internships with industry partners such as Lionsgate Newark. Students attending the school for the upcoming year were selected based on their eighth grade report cards, attendance, and state test scores.

The school’s curriculum says ninth graders will learn the basics of storytelling, including scripting and short-form content creation. Freshman students will create 30-second commercials, five-minute interviews, and social media videos using editing tools like CapCut, iMovie, and Canva Video by the end of the school year.

By senior year, students will create full-length productions, develop their personal brands, master high-level editing techniques, and explore future careers.

This year’s freshman class will also learn core subjects such as English I, modern world history and geography, biology, Algebra I, and geometry. The district is currently hiring for teaching roles at the school, including a department chair, school counselor, and biology teacher, among other positions.

Earlier this year, León also said the staggered approach the district is using for opening New Media High School is consistent with how Newark has opened schools before. Previously, University High School operated inside Malcolm X Shabazz High School before moving into its own building. People’s Prep charter school also shared space with Bard High School but was forced to leave the district after a four-year legal battle.

“Our goal is not always to build the plane while flying,” León said during the March budget hearing, but added that the district under his leadership knows “how to do a lot with a little.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools shuffles leadership districtwide with 9 new principals set to start this fall

2026-07-21T18:50:04+00:00

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Nine new principals, five new directors, and five new assistant superintendents are stepping into their roles this upcoming school year as New Jersey’s largest school district replaces longtime staff members.

Seven of the new principals will lead elementary schools, and two will work at high schools, including New Media High School. The majority are longtime district principals, vice principals, and educators with years of teaching and administrative experience.

Other leadership changes include new directors of health services, adult education, special education, staff development, and student life. The district is also promoting three former principals to assistant superintendents and two assistant superintendents to oversee support services and teaching and learning.

The appointments follow the retirements of school business administrator Valerie Wilson, assistant superintendents Carolyn Granato, Sylvia Esteves, and Rosa Branco, and Director of Nursing Marguerite Leuze.

During the 2024-25 school year, Jose Fuentes, a former assistant superintendent, took on the role of school business administrator alongside Wilson, whose planned retirement that year was delayed. Fuentes will continue in his role as school business administrator this upcoming school year.

This year’s leadership changes continue the district’s broader push to diversify who leads Newark’s schools by creating teacher-to-leader pipelines and more paths from the classroom into school leadership. The move is the latest round of annual leadership turnover for the district. Newark named six first-time principals last year, eight new principals in 2024, and 10 in 2023.

The incoming school leaders will tackle several ongoing challenges, including boosting student performance as state test scores in math and reading remain below state averages, incorporating AI into classrooms, implementing a new statewide phone ban in schools, fixing old school buildings, and grappling with criticism from Republican lawmakers who are calling for more oversight of Newark’s spending.

Here’s an overview of who will lead the district in the 2026-27 school year.

District promotes eight staff members to principals, hires one newcomer

Steven Oliver, former vice principal at Dr. William H. Horton Elementary School, will lead New Media High School, the district’s newest specialized school focused on digital media, filmmaking, and entertainment. The school will welcome its first ninth grade class in September and operate at Bard High School Early College while its permanent home, the former Dayton Street School building, is renovated. Oliver joined the district in 2018 as a teacher lead and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Rutgers University, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Shadin Belal will lead Bard High School Early College this fall. A former vice principal at Malcolm X Shabazz High School, Belal has more than 15 years of experience as an educator and school administrator. She replaces Rafael Inoa, who took over as Bard’s principal last year in his first administrative role. Belal began her career as an English teacher at Orange High School after receiving a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Rutgers University, a master’s degree from Kean University, and a doctoral degree in education in leadership, management, and policy from Seton Hall University’s College of Education and Human Services, according to her school biography.

Amy Woods will lead Branch Brook Elementary School, a prekindergarten through fourth grade school for students with autism. She replaces Cristina Pennetti, the school’s inaugural principal when it opened in 2024. Woods previously worked as a supervisor in the district’s special education office.

Sharmaine McCree, a former district vice principal, was promoted to principal of Chancellor Avenue Elementary School. She began teaching in the district in 2000 and was promoted to teacher coach in 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile. McCree replaces Kashon Lopes, who was promoted to district director.

Nivin Papa, a Newark native and Newark Public Schools alum, will lead East Ward Elementary School. She has over 20 years of teaching experience in the district and was formerly a vice principal at East Ward, according to her school biography.

Marissa Falcon will take the helm of Elliot Street Elementary School this school year. She served as Elliot’s vice principal for the last five years. Before she joined the district, she spent 17 years teaching and in leadership roles at Elizabeth Public Schools. She brings 20 years of experience to her new role.

Rodney Point-Du-Jour, the only newcomer to the district among the new principals, will lead Nelson Mandela Elementary School starting in September. He brings more than 20 years of administrative and teaching experience and replaces the school’s first principal, Ryan Silver, who was promoted to assistant superintendent. Point-Du-Jour was formerly an assistant principal for the East Windsor Regional School District, a vice principal and educator at Franklin Township Public Schools, and an English teacher at Plainfield Public Schools, according to his LinkedIn profile.

April Adams, former vice principal at Wilson Avenue School, will take charge of Quitman Street School this fall. She started her teaching career in Newark, working with students in the Central and West Wards. She has worked as a district substitute teacher, classroom teacher, teacher coach, supervisor, and special assistant for the East Central Ward School Leadership Team. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and a master’s degree in educational administration from Saint Peter’s College, according to her school biography.

Khadijah Owen, a former vice principal of Weequahic High School, will lead Speedway Avenue School. Owen was also previously a math lead teacher for the district.

Former principals move into district leadership

Three former principals will lead the district’s School Leadership Teams as assistant superintendents.

Andres Barquin was promoted to assistant superintendent for the North School Leadership Team. Barquin, who had served as principal of Elliot Street School since 2022, started his career as a district elementary school teacher. He studied at Thomas Edison State College, Grand Canyon University, and Caldwell College.

Former Speedway Avenue School Principal Ashley Jiles was promoted to assistant superintendent for the South and West School Leadership Teams. She began her teaching career with the district in 2013 and worked her way up to vice principal at Dr. William H. Horton Elementary School.

Silver, former principal of Nelson Mandela Elementary School, was promoted to assistant superintendent of the East and Central School Leadership Teams. Silver was the first principal at Nelson Mandela when it opened its doors in 2023. Silver is a Newark Public Schools graduate.

Current assistant superintendents Samantha Lott-Velez and Sandra Marques will oversee support services and teaching and learning, a promotion for both after previously overseeing School Leadership Teams.

New directors take the helm after longtime staff retire

The district promoted Courtney Johnson, former principal of Quitman Street School, to director of adult education. Pennetti, former principal of Branch Brook Elementary School, was promoted to director of special education.

Lopes, former principal of Chancellor Avenue, was named director of staff development. The district hired Bertha Blackwell as the new director of health services and Vernon Pullins as the new director of student life.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools teachers get creative as wildfire smoke cancels outdoor summer programs

2026-07-17T16:27:03+00:00

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Newark Public Schools leaders moved summer school activities indoors for the second day in a row on Friday as smoke from wildfires burning across Canada rolled into the state this week.

“Due to the heat advisory and air quality conditions, all summer programs and activities will continue indoors,” confirmed Paul Brubaker, Newark Public Schools’ communications director, via email Friday morning.

The smoke turned the sky hazy on Thursday and into Friday morning, as temperatures almost hit 90 degrees in some parts of northern New Jersey. Rising heat and thick smoke forced teachers and staff to think quickly about indoor activities for students in limited spaces, according to two sources who asked to remain anonymous so they could share details with Chalkbeat.

This year, summer school is held across 15 elementary schools, 10 high schools, and two specialized schools serving students with disabilities. It is a mix of mandatory academic programs in the morning and afternoon enrichment activities, such as sports camps, visual arts programs, and outdoor play. Summer Achieve, the district’s mandatory academic program required for kindergarten through seventh grade students based on state test scores and literacy screener data, runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day.

The wildfire smoke is especially concerning for young children in Newark, where nearly 1 in 4 has asthma, far outpacing the national average of 1 in 11. Newark also closed all outdoor pools and urged residents to limit outside activities and remain inside when possible. The city is also distributing masks at several locations.

Teachers had little notice this week and even less space to work with as gyms built to hold a single class period now had to absorb activities that were supposed to spread out across playgrounds and fields. Most schools have air conditioning, and students “were cool for the most part,” according to one teacher who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Another teacher, who also shared details under the condition of anonymity, said staff is falling back on “good old school stuff.” On Friday, younger students were set to play silent ball, a quiet, low movement version of the schoolyard game made to fit in a classroom, while older students watched movies.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and the city’s Department of Health and Community Wellness issued an air quality alert on Thursday, warning that pollution from fires could push the Air Quality Index to 200, an unhealthy level. But on Thursday night, the air quality moved to the very unhealthy category, where anyone could experience poor health due to the smoke, according to Northjersey.com.

In 2023, wildfire smoke from Canada sent a thick, orange haze over the Northeast area. It also forced schools to cancel recess and move outdoor activities indoors. This week’s smoke was milder but came on a similarly short timeframe, giving schools little room to plan.

Air quality levels are expected to get better on Saturday. Residents can check their local air quality at the AirNow website, which provides state, local, and regional updates.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s new workforce program wants young adults to master AI before the job market demands it

2026-07-14T20:50:07+00:00

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Monajah Williams built her first website just a few months ago. Before then, she didn’t know how to code or use HTML.

After years of unstable jobs in retail and food service that left her feeling drained and unmotivated, Williams, 25, said she’s finally seeing a glimmer of hope for her career. At Hopeworks’ new training room in Newark, Williams is learning to code, build websites, and use artificial intelligence as she prepares for a career in tech.

The program is betting that young workers like Williams, between 17 and 26, can hold their own in an evolving and increasingly competitive job market being redefined by AI and emerging technologies.

Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., trainees work in an open-style layout, similar to that of a regular office. Conference rooms, a lunchroom, and couches for morning huddles give trainees a chance to collaborate on projects, interview with AI tools, and use other digital tools to support their work.

“It is hard to find a job right now but I feel like there’s a lot of opportunities with these careers,” Williams said.

Entry-level jobs that heavily use AI are growing fast, up 35% since 2019, while other entry-level jobs have shrunk 10% over the same period, according to PwC’s 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer. Those growing jobs also expect entry-level workers to bring senior-level skills such as judgment and leadership. Hopeworks says it’s training young adults for exactly those kinds of jobs.

“What we find is that employers want folks who can adapt quickly to emergent technologies, who have human skills, professional social emotional skills, take feedback well, and aren’t afraid of new technologies,” said Dan Rhoton, CEO of Hopeworks.

The nonprofit trains young adults in technical and workforce skills, prepares them for interviews and professional settings, and then places them in paid jobs. Hopeworks started in Camden, later expanded to Philadelphia, and this month opened its Newark site on Broad Street. Trainees spend two to three months learning web development, coding, GIS mapping, medical billing, and professionalism before moving into six-month paid internships at Hopeworks’ own businesses. From there, they are placed in full-time jobs with other employers.

Most Hopeworks trainees have never used AI but are curious about what it can do.

Williams said she uses AI regularly in her training. As she built her first website, she asked ChatGPT to explain concepts she didn’t understand and apply what she had already learned rather than finish the work for her. That’s a skill she was never exposed to in the city’s public school system, said Williams, a 2019 alum.

In recent years, Newark Public Schools has rolled out new AI, including Khanmmigo, an AI tutoring chatbot, Amira Learning, an AI literacy screener, and installed thousands of AI cameras across schools. Despite the aggressive expansion, the district has not said how it plans to keep students safe as it engages with new technologies.

For Trindalah DeLane-Smith, senior site director at Hopeworks Newark, that’s the key: teaching young adults to use AI as a tool rather than a shortcut.

“They are learning the platforms, they use AI as a tool, but they’re learning how to develop and build these platforms from scratch,” DeLane-Smith added.

Hopeworks' Newark trainees have access to Dell’s GenAI mock interview tool that puts their interview skills to the test.

Trainees also use Dell’s GenAI mock interview tool, which launched at Hopeworks Newark last week. The virtual assistant watches program trainees’ posture, eye contact, and interview responses, then generates a scorecard with tips on how to improve their interviews.

Although Williams hasn’t used the new tool yet, she is eager to put her skills to the test. She said she often gets nervous during job interviews but thinks interviewing with an AI tool first would help her feel more comfortable.

Rhoton says that’s another benefit of training the next generation to use AI. His team found that young adults will often play it safe with a human interviewer because they want the job. But with AI, they feel like they can fail, reset, and try a completely different approach to the interview with much less risk.

“I don’t know about you but I’m not really worried about what the AI thinks. Whereas this human, maybe an executive from J.P. Morgan, I’m going to do everything very buttoned up,” Rhoton added.

Across its three locations, Hopeworks currently places 20 to 30 young adults into jobs each month. At its Camden and Philadelphia sites, graduates earn an average salary of $43,276 and retain jobs at a 92.11% rate after 12 months, according to the organization’s 2025 impact report.

Trindalah DeLane-Smith, senior site director at Hopeworks Newark, said it's important to teach young adults to use AI as a tool rather than a shortcut.

Most recently, DeLane-Smith said a trainee who is still completing her internship was offered a job at pocstock, an AI company that shares Hopeworks’ Newark building. The trainee met the company’s CEO in an elevator and impressed him enough that he invited her for an interview with plans to hire her full time.

As Williams enters her fourth month of the program and prepares for an internship, she also hopes she can impress tech companies. She said she finally feels ready to apply for new jobs and “put myself out there.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Randi Weingarten said Newark Public Schools visit confirmed her fears about AI in the classroom

2026-07-07T18:53:13+00:00

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American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said recently that her visit to Newark’s Park Elementary School reinforced her worry about screens and AI in schools.

The day after her Newark trip, she proceeded with a high-profile call for a ban on student-facing AI in elementary schools.

“The classroom is very quiet, and it’s basically a super duper tutoring center,” Weingarten said in June, recalling her visit to see Khanmigo, an AI chatbot created by Khan Academy, in action.

The comments followed an awkward juxtaposition for Weingarten, who leads the country’s second-largest teachers union. The AFT partnered with OpenAI and Microsoft last year to provide AI training to its members and has also promoted the use of Khanmigo.

But following her May visit, Weingarten called for classroom screen time limits and a tax on big tech as she unveiled a 10-point plan that calls for no screens for students in pre-K through second grade, a ban on AI chatbots through age 16, and project-based, experiential learning.

Weingarten isn’t alone in her skepticism of AI in schools and echoes broader concerns from researchers. Experts are also concerned that there is little research on whether AI tools like Khanmigo are actually helping students refine key skills in math and reading, even as Newark has pointed to its own data as evidence of student progress.

During her visit to Park Elementary, Weingarten said she was upfront with Superintendent Roger León about what she was about to say publicly. She spoke with teachers about her concerns directly and saw how they were using Khanmigo to teach students new skills in small groups rather than as a class. Afterwards, she spoke with students about their use of the tool, and they told her Khanmigo reinforced their skills instead of teaching them anything new.

There was one moment when students got excited, and it had nothing to do with Khanmigo. Students lit up only when a teacher pulled a few students aside to do a science experiment, Weingarten said in June, a contrast to the quiet screen-based instruction happening in the room.

Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, did not respond to comment.

In the fall of 2024, the district said students who used the AI tool during the pilot phase showed improvements in their math scores. But that data is self-reported by the district and has not been released publicly. During an interview with León in 2024, the superintendent said Khan Academy is helping the district analyze state testing data to determine the impact Khanmigo is having on student progress. The district is also using the tool to support tutoring efforts and help teachers “influence the academic program” in schools, León added.

Khan Academy’s founder, Sal Khan, has praised the district’s use of Khanmigo and awarded them the first-ever Khan Academy Award for Excellence and Innovation in April. But that same month, Khan had expressed disappointment with the chatbot’s performance in schools.

Newark, New Jersey’s largest school district, was among the first in the country to test Khanmigo at First Avenue School on students in grades 5-8 during the 2023-24 school year. At that time, the district said the tool was primarily used to support students in math, reading, and writing.

Among district schools, First Avenue had the second-highest math proficiency rate in spring 2024 state test scores, but it’s unclear how much of Newark’s use of Khanmigo actually impacted student progress.

That uncertainty hasn’t slowed its expansion across Newark. The district expanded Khanmigo to 13 other schools and grades 3-8 in the 2024-25 school year after receiving a $25,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Newark has also adopted other AI technologies in school, including Amira Learning, an AI literacy screener tool, and installed thousands of AI cameras districtwide.

The aggressive expansion of AI in schools comes as New Jersey prepares for the first year of phone-free schools this fall and Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s concerns about students’ safety online.

León, in a press release about Weingarten’s visit, said Newark’s approach to Khanmigo shows “how AI can strengthen teaching and learning when implemented thoughtfully and collaboratively.”

Chalkbeat Ideas Editor Matt Barnum contributed to this story.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools schedules graduations at same time, forcing parents to make an impossible decision

2026-06-23T21:43:13+00:00

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Danielle Rose sat in her home on Monday night trying to figure out how to be in two places at once.

Her son’s eighth grade graduation at Dr. E. Alma Flagg in the North Ward started at 9 a.m. Tuesday. His little sister’s pre-K ceremony at The Leaguers, a preschool provider contracted by Newark Public Schools, started at 9:45 a.m. downtown.

But her son only had one request: He wanted both parents there.

“In one moment, my husband is like, okay, I’m going to go to this one, then go to the other one. And then my son comes in and says, “Can y’all please both come?”

Rose is not alone. In recent years, Newark parents with more than one student graduating have faced an impossible choice on what should be one of their family’s biggest days. The district packs dozens of ceremonies into the same time frame each June, resulting in scheduling conflicts, and during last week’s school board meeting, three members called it out publicly.

Superintendent Roger León at the June 18 school board meeting said the fix has been having elementary school graduations in the morning and high schools in the afternoon. But he warned that venue shortages across the city make that a hard promise to keep. On Tuesday, high schools such as East Side and Arts still had morning ceremonies at the same time as elementary schools.

León said the district’s hands are practically tied. The Newark Teachers Union contract requires the last day of school to also be the last working day for educators, León said. That means ceremonies can only happen on June 23 unless staff volunteer their time. Holding graduations before the last day, he added, “had increased attendance problems.”

Newark resident Danielle Rose poses for a picture with her son, a graduate of Dr. E. Alma Flagg Elementary School, and her daughter, a graduate of The Leaguers Preschool.

Those conflicts aren’t new. Two years ago, Yvonne Davis had the same problem and was forced to split up her family to celebrate a big milestone.

Her son was graduating from Malcolm X Shabazz High School, and her daughter crossed the stage at Avon Avenue Elementary’s eighth grade ceremony, both at 9:30 a.m. At the time, she said she called the principal and raised her concern, but was told it was the scheduling decision of the school board, not the school.

“I felt like the Board of Education should have considered that,” Davis said. “A lot of parents, we just got left out.”

Davis, a single mother, went to her son’s ceremony while her mother and her children’s father covered her daughter’s. She only saw her daughter’s graduation in pictures and said that she knew at least three other parents that year who faced the same impossible split.

My daughter “understood, but I wasn’t there,” Davis said.

During the June meeting, board member David Daughtey said he had already heard from parents and other community members frustrated about having to travel to multiple venues across the city for overlapping ceremonies. He called on the district to separate elementary and high school graduations into different time frames, as it had done in the past, Daughety said.

“I’ve already heard parents and community members reach out and ask and complain about all of it happening at the same time,” Daughety added.

Board member Helena Vinhas during the meeting also said she raised the same concern last school year and urged the district again to, at a minimum, separate elementary graduations from high school ones.

Yvonne Davis' children, Tariq and Samaiyah, pose for a picture during their 2024 high school and eighth grade graduations, respectively.

“A lot of the families do have difficulty by having children graduating on the same day and having to choose which one to attend,” Vinhas said.

Board member Kanileah Anderson proposed another solution during the meeting. She called for high school seniors and eighth graders to graduate on entirely different days while pointing out that families with children in both levels, increasingly common as the district pulls students from across city neighborhoods, have no realistic way to attend both.

“We all know that that is impossible,” Anderson said. “So I’m looking forward to the discussion, and actually a change for graduation classes of 2027.”

But León stopped short of a broader solution. He said high schools like Data Science and Information Technology are having their graduations in Montclair because of venue constraints.

“So, the idea that we have to maximize the space becomes an important factor,” León added.

On Tuesday morning, Rose and her mother, who traveled from New York, just made it to her son’s graduation at Alma Flagg after finding a parking spot. But by the time the ceremony was over and she got back in her car, she could not get back downtown in time for her daughter’s pre-K ceremony.

Luckily, she had explained the situation to her daughter’s teacher who allowed Rose to take photos before the ceremony with her daughter, in case she did not make it back in time.

“Unfortunately, no one was able to attend my preschooler’s graduation,” Rose said.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey invests record money in preschool, but serving multilingual learners is another story

2026-06-23T11:00:00+00:00

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Peter Rosario has spent years watching his teachers help Spanish-speaking preschoolers sound out English words at La Casa de Don Pedro, a Newark-based nonprofit organization that offers support for immigrant families and contracts with Newark Public Schools to provide state-funded preschool.

But Rosario says the state’s investment in programs like his hasn’t turned into clear and consistent support for the city’s youngest English learners.

“We have to beef up the infrastructure to support them,” Rosario said.

For young students learning English, the early years matter more than any other. Research shows that young multilingual learners who start preschool without having learned English can lose months of learning before they catch up unless classes are designed to teach in multiple languages at once. But while state laws mandate that New Jersey districts provide language support services to students, those services are implemented differently from district to district, with no real way to track their impact on preschool-aged multilingual learners.

Experts say that’s a problem requiring a more targeted approach to boost the quality of instruction, fund programs, and determine what students actually need to learn English.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill proposed a record $1.4 billion for preschool education this budget cycle, which would add more than 1,440 additional seats to the state’s preschool program. But it wasn’t until 2023 that New Jersey formally updated its codes to include preschoolers as multilingual learners. Before that, identification and language support policies primarily focused on K-12 students.

State leaders say they’re working to boost preschool offerings for young multilingual learners. Michael Yaple, spokesperson for the education department, said the state is revising the Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards to better align with the revised New Jersey Student Learning Standards for English Language Arts. Yaple did not provide specifics about what those changes would do but said in an email that the proposed revisions will “provide stronger, more intentional support for preschool multilingual learners by integrating evidence-based literacy practices with language development.”

But as the number of multilingual learners grows nationally, so does the demand for more services. In New Jersey, 282,000, or 47%, of young children ages 0 to 5, are multilingual learners, according to the Migration Policy Institute. In the 2025-26 school year, more than 11,300 students enrolled in preschool were identified as multilingual learners, according to state enrollment data. Across the state, multilingual learners made up more than 152,000 pre-K through 12th grade students enrolled in New Jersey’s public schools in the same year.

New Jersey is among the states with the strongest preschool policies for multilingual learners, earning eight out of 10 benchmarks measuring things like bilingual instruction, teacher qualifications, and family engagement, according to a 2026 policy brief from the National Institute for Early Education Research, or NIEER.

But the state isn’t tracking support for its youngest English learners, according to NIEER experts. While the 2023 state preschool update required districts to identify preschool-aged multilingual learners, the state has no way to verify whether that support is reaching students.

That’s a concern Alexandra Figueras-Daniel, a bilingual early childhood education senior policy specialist at the NIEER, raised during a June 10 conversation about the state of bilingual education in New Jersey, hosted by the Rutgers University Newark Joseph C. Cornwall Center.

According to Figueras-Daniel and other researchers, knowing how many multilingual children are enrolled in preschool and what type of support they are actually receiving is critical to closing language gaps before they become reading gaps and ensuring students are getting what they need before moving to kindergarten.

The state needs better data on programs that provide bilingual preschool programs to immigrant families through contracts with the local school district, such as Rosario’s, to understand where support for multilingual learners is reaching classrooms and where it isn’t, Figueras-Daniel said.

“I think we need ways to identify where implementation is strong, where gaps exist, and then where we can really put targeted supports in places,” Figueras-Daniel said.

The gap between policy and data shows up in classrooms too, said Vanessa Colon, a bilingual intervention teacher and community support advocate for multilingual learners who also spoke on the panel.

“Sometimes there’s a lot of disagreement between what we say and what we do in a district,” said Colon during the panel discussion. “We’ll say we support bilingualism, we support biliteracy, but then in the classroom, we make other choices.”

Those choices aren’t for a lack of standards, Figueras-Daniel said, but for a lack of consistency in how districts apply them.

“It could be that every district is calling their program or implementing it slightly differently,” she added.

Programs labeled “bilingual” are what researchers call transitional bilingual, which uses a student’s native language as a bridge into English, Figueras-Daniel said. She described one district where multilingual learners receive 30 or 40 minutes of English as a second language instruction a day, but students are having trouble exiting the multilingual status. That model is different from full-immersion programs that teach subjects like social studies and math in both languages throughout the school day.

A true language immersion program is built around a roughly even split between native English speakers and native speakers of other languages, but in heavily immigrant communities like Passaic, Figueras-Daniel said, there often aren’t enough native English-speaking students to make that balance possible.

Betiana Caprioli, a Morristown High School teacher who also participated on the Rutgers panel, said El Primer Paso, a similar organization with a bilingual preschool program in Dover, helped her own children learn English. That model is the “gold standard” that allows multilingual learners not to lose instructional time while they’re still figuring out English, Figueras-Daniel said.

“Access to high-quality preschool is one of the strongest predictors of positive outcomes for children learning multiple languages,” she said. That’s why it’s “critical that we continually recognize early childhood programs as part of this system.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey awards Newark $400K to boost tutoring programs built on AI and high-impact sessions

2026-06-10T21:03:20+00:00

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Newark Public Schools will receive $400,000 from the state to expand high-impact tutoring in the 2026-27 school year to help K-12 students who are struggling in math and reading.

Newark has already implemented high-impact tutoring, a model that relies on small group tutoring sessions with the same tutor three times a week. The district has also implemented tutoring before and after school, in the summer, and through its Saturday Academy programs designed to address pandemic learning loss and speed up academic recovery. The new funding will build on the district’s work to offer high-impact tutoring and continue its use of artificial intelligence to tutor students with teacher oversight.

The state Department of Education allocated $7.5 million through the third round of the New Jersey Learning Acceleration Program grant to 55 school districts and charter schools statewide.

The grant was created to support students disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. It targets school districts where student proficiency rates in English and math for grades 3 to 8 remain below 50%.

In Newark, New Jersey’s largest public school system, student performance in statewide math and reading tests last spring stayed below state averages but inched closer to pre-pandemic levels. In 2025, only 34% of Newark Public Schools’ students in grades 3-9 passed the state’s English Language Arts test, while 21.1% of students passed the math test.

Research says the high-impact tutoring model works better than after-school tutoring programs, but as the push to expand those efforts continues, school districts are still struggling to staff, finance, and schedule the programs.

In 2023, Superintendent Roger León said that federal COVID relief dollars were the district’s “saving grace” in expanding summer and tutoring programs.

But as that money ran out, states like New Jersey and Tennessee budgeted money to continue paying for high-dosage tutoring. Newark has received over a million dollars since 2023, when the grant was first created, according to the state education department.

The district also implemented Khanmigo, an AI chatbot developed by online learning giant Khan Academy that acts as a tutor for students and an assistant for teachers. Newark leaders said they decided to expand Khanmigo in 2024 after students who used it during its pilot phase in the 2023-24 school year showed improvements in their math scores. The expansion was backed by a grant from the Bill Gates Foundation.

But experts have said that more research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of AI in education, even as they gain popularity among school districts. And Khan Academy founder Sal Khan has admitted AI tutoring hasn’t motivated students or reached the level of success some had predicted. In April, Newark Public Schools became the first district in the nation to receive the Khan Academy Award for Excellence and Innovation for its districtwide implementation of Khanmigo.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark educators, students say schools could do more as clashes at Delaney Hall continue

2026-06-05T19:40:39+00:00

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Newark social studies teacher Michael Iovino knows when something is wrong with his students.

It was prom season when one of his seniors came up to him and asked, “Mr. Iovino, do you have any odd jobs?”

Instantly, Iovino’s mind went to the usual place, maybe he needed money for clothes, a ticket, or a corsage.

But the student didn’t need money for himself. He needed a way to afford a lawyer after his parents got detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Immediately, my mind is racing. It’s like, okay, but I have to go back to my classroom and teach a class,” said Iovino, Newark Teachers Union secretary and treasurer. “But for the people that are mostly impacted, it’s the end of any sense of normalcy.”

For immigrant families in Newark, the fear has been magnified as protests erupted outside Delaney Hall, the Newark-based immigration detention facility on Doremus Avenue. The protests and continued ICE activity around the city are taking a toll on students, educators say – and schools need to do more to make them feel safe and foster conversations.

Iovino, a Newark Public Schools teacher, said conversations about immigration enforcement have become an unavoidable presence in his classroom. But when current events come up, he doesn’t have to explain the situation about Delaney Hall to his students, they already know.

“This is something that every kid knows,” he said. “This is their 9/11. This is their war in Afghanistan.”

For more than a week, protesters have gathered outside Delaney Hall in support of detainees inside who are on a hunger strike alleging poor conditions, medical neglect, and denial of bond. Tensions escalated during Memorial Day weekend when confrontations between protestors and ICE prompted Gov. Mikie Sherrill to deploy the New Jersey State Police and Mayor Ras Baraka to send city police. Since then, state and local leaders have scaled back on police presence. But as of Wednesday night, clashes between ICE agents and protesters continued.

When ICE agents raided an East Ward business last year, city educators also raised concerns about the emotional toll the activity was having on students. In response, Superintendent Roger León last year said he would remind school leadership about their responsibilities to keep students safe and brief board members on specific district plans to keep ICE out of schools. He also encouraged students to seek an adult at their school for help if they needed it.

And on Thursday, Sherrill announced a $20 million increase to the Detention, Deportation, and Defense Initiative, which provides free legal help to New Jersey residents at risk for deportation. She also announced a coordinated Rapid Legal Response Initiative to expand legal capacity statewide for immigrant families.

Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, did not respond to questions about how ongoing ICE activity and tensions at Delaney Hall are impacting students.

For John Abeigon, president of the Newark Teachers Union, dealing with ICE is just part of living in an immigrant community.

“Many of them are hardworking, decent people, been here for years, generations,” Abeigon said.

Rafael Chavez, an organizer with New Labor, a Newark-based immigrant rights group, added that city residents are “just trying to survive.”

“A member from our group was taken by ICE last week in Newark before heading to work,” Chavez said.

That same fear doesn’t stay outside school doors.

Across the nation, educators and advocacy groups are sounding the alarm about the impact immigration enforcement is having on students. The Council of the Great City Schools, which represents urban school districts including Newark, called on federal leaders to immediately stop actions that endanger children and disrupt schools. And in neighboring New York, the city’s school board voted on a resolution last year to reaffirm the school system’s support for undocumented students.

Gabrielly Ferreira, a junior at Science Park High School, said she sees videos about Delaney Hall protests on Instagram and TikTok at least twice a day. It’s a constant reminder about the detention center just 20 minutes away from her school. She said only her history teacher has raised the topic in class.

“It honestly saddens me quite a bit to know that there are people who are like me suffering in Delaney Hall,” she said. “There aren’t many teachers talking about it.”

Other city educators like Alexander Schuetz, who is also the chair of the Newark Education Workers Caucus, believe schools have a fundamental role to play in making students feel safe and aren’t doing enough of that.

“One of the fundamental things we believe about school is that schools need to be a safe place,” said Scheutz, a history and special education teacher. “Students can only learn in safe communities to that end. It’s in the district’s best interest to do everything they can to make their students, their families, and their community feel that way.”

Ferreira agrees, and although the school year is almost over, she hopes administrators would go further and acknowledge the situation unfolding in the city.

“Schools and administrators should say something to reassure students and parents that they reject what ICE is doing,” she said. “Because the majority of their students are people who ICE targets. Whether they have their citizenship or not, they know someone who’s important to them that could suffer at the hands of ICE.”

Iovino, the social studies teacher, says the district has the leverage and responsibility to act by training teachers on how to talk to students about immigration enforcement, designating specific staff members students can reach out to about the topic, directing students to resources, or helping foster conversations.

“The primary concern is that I think teachers really feel helpless,” Iovino said. “That is the least comfortable way to be a teacher, to look at your students and know that ultimately, what can I actually do?”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s charter schools are seeing fewer students. Where are they going?

2026-06-03T22:15:00+00:00

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After years of growth, Newark’s charter school enrollment is slowing down this school year, raising questions about where students are going.

Charter schools added 200 students this school year, pushing total enrollment to 21,588. That’s an increase of less than 1%, a fraction of the sector’s annual 2% to 3% growth since 2019, according to a Chalkbeat analysis. At the same time, Newark Public Schools lost more than 700 students this school year, driven largely by a decrease in multilingual learners.

But the enrollment changes point to something bigger than families choosing where to send their students. Harry Lee, president of the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association, suspects the changes “are due to macro level political issues” and it remains unclear if this is the start of a longer decline or a one-year blip following steady enrollment growth across both sectors in Newark.

“Throughout the country, we’re seeing this: Immigrant families are reporting that they’re not sending their children to school because of immigration enforcement concerns,” Lee said. “This is the first year that’s happened.”

Charter schools in Newark enroll over a third of the city’s public school population and represent about 5% of public school enrollment across the state. Across Newark, the city’s Hispanic student population drove nearly all of Newark Public Schools’ enrollment surge since 2019, fueled by a growth in families from the Caribbean, Central and South America, and West Africa. Newark’s entire population has also grown, reaching just over 320,622 residents this year, according to city figures.

But a closer look at school state data shows enrollment shifts are sharpest among multilingual learners. Charter schools enrolled 1,215 multilingual learners this school year, up from 961 the year before, according to the New Jersey Children’s Foundation data explorer, which allows users to analyze state data. At the same time, traditional public schools lost 744 multilingual learners but still enrolled more than 11,000, according to state data.

Although it’s unclear if Newark families are choosing charter schools over traditional public schools, research from Brookings links heightened immigration enforcement to chronic absenteeism, drops in school enrollment, and negative outcomes among children in immigrant families. Recent immigration enforcement in Newark and protests at Delaney Hall, an immigration detention center in the industrialized area of the East Ward, could also have an impact on enrollment and attendance.

Charter schools enrolled fewer than 10% of the city’s multilingual learners this school year. Previously, district leaders have raised concerns about charter schools drawing a disproportionate share of those students. In 2024, the district hired a marketing firm to attract charter school students into traditional public schools, even as it surpassed charter school growth in 2023.

But those dips in enrollment carry financial consequences for Newark Public Schools, the state’s largest school district. In New Jersey, when parents enroll their child in charter schools, state aid follows them.

Vivian Cox, president of the Urban League of Essex County, told Chalkbeat that the funding structure puts the district in a difficult position.

“It’s certainly going to make a difference to have lost the 700 students and the funding that goes with them,” Cox said. “It helps provide the capacity to serve, you know, the thousands of students that are in the district.”

Cox also pointed to the recently released national Education Scorecard, which found Newark Public Schools students are improving faster than nearly every district in the country, but are performing two grade levels behind the national average in math and reading. She worries that financial pressures could cut back on resources and hinder gains.

“If you take resources out, how does that impact sustaining and improving progress? That’s what comes to my mind.”

But Lee thinks otherwise. Newark Public Schools have gotten over $600 million in additional state and local aid since 2017, and for the upcoming school year, will receive a record-high $1.38 billion from the state. Similarly, charter payments continue to be one of the district’s largest financial pressures, totaling $421 million in the upcoming school year.

“I think it is just not the right argument, especially with the way that school funding has increased for districts and charters over time, to blame charters for any revenue challenges that the district may have,” Lee said.

Lee also rejected the idea that charter growth comes at the expense of traditional public schools. He pointed to Newark’s 93rd percentile ranking from the Education Scorecard as evidence that both charter and traditional public schools have improved together.

“A rising tide has lifted all boats,” Lee said. “Newark is one of the clearest examples in the country of how charters do not hurt districts, but that district outcomes have actually increased over time, and that’s a really positive thing.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

These KIPP fifth graders are learning money management skills so they will never be a ‘brokie’

2026-05-28T19:10:32+00:00

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Stefon Bowman asked his fifth grade class at KIPP BOLD Academy in Newark, “Should you be intentional with your money?”

“Yes!” students shouted back.

“You a brokie!” the girls in the back shouted as a playful way to show what could happen if you weren’t.

But Nyla Baxter, a student in Bowman’s class, already knew the stakes. The fifth grader told Chalkbeat she was “growing her piggybank” to help her parents buy a house because being intentional “lets you use your money for things you actually want.”

That’s exactly the lesson Bowman, a math educator turned financial literacy teacher, wants students to walk away with. His co-developed Financially L.I.T (Luxury Is Teachable) curriculum, in its fourth year, teaches middle school students how money works, sparking conversations about handling money, investing, saving, and the difference between what you need and what you want.

Bowman’s lessons come on the heels of a push to expand financial literacy statewide. Since 2019, New Jersey has required students in sixth through eighth grade to learn about financial literacy. Across the country, 30 states require financial education as a graduation requirement, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education.

N.J. state Sens. Vin Gopal and Angela McKnight are sponsoring S-3462, a bill that would require high school students to complete a financial literacy course as a graduation requirement with a one-semester or one-trimester course. The Senate Education Committee approved the bill in March.

On Thursday, Bowman’s students were instructed to ask ChatGPT money management questions and have the AI respond as their favorite celebrity. Rahyon Little asked, “What is the difference between a need and a want when it comes to money?”

ChatGPT, speaking as Shaquille O’Neal, explained that a need is something essential while a want is something that brings enjoyment.

“Like, I know I have to save money,” Rahyon told Chalkbeat. “But sometimes I just want to buy stuff.”

Rahyon Little used ChatGPT to find out the difference between a want and a need as it relates to his finances in Stefon Bowman's 5th-grade class at KIPP BOLD in Newark, N.J., on Thursday, May 28, 2026. Students were learning about intentional saving, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.

For many of Bowman’s students, including Damar Owens, financial literacy isn’t just a lesson, it’s also a conversation. Damar asked the adults visiting his class on Thursday, “What mistakes have you made as an entrepreneur?”

“That’s what it’s about,” Bowman said. “We’re trying to get students ready for the real world and they’re excited about making money and developing their businesses and brands.”

Supporters of school financial literacy courses argue that developing money management skills early gives young students the foundation for a stable and secure future, empowering them to navigate life’s challenges with confidence. But not everyone agrees that mandating it through schools is the answer.

Some experts argue that those lessons are largely ineffective, pointing to evidence that improved financial behavior does not necessarily follow from information about finances alone, and that personal habits and life experiences matter far more.

For Bowman, who is also an entrepreneur, that real-world application is important, and his curriculum is designed to go beyond the classroom.

Students in Stefon Bowman's 5th-grade class at KIPP BOLD in Newark, N.J., learn about intentional saving, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship on Thursday, May 21, 2026.

KIPP middle schoolers put their money skills to the test during the school’s Monday Markets, where young entrepreneurs sell snacks and homemade treats at recess and lunch.

Those weekly markets served as a training ground ahead of KIPP’s annual Mother’s Day Market event, which brings together student entrepreneurs and local vendors to apply what they learned in the classroom to the real world, Bowman said. This year, the event drew more than 500 attendees as students confidently ran their businesses, engaged with customers, and applied their financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills they’ve been building all year.

“Our students really stepped up in a major way,” Bowman said.

Among those students were Janai Piper and her classmate and “employee” Madysin Thompson, who run Sweet Treats, selling rice krispies, chocolate-covered strawberries, and pretzels.

Katye Johnson asked ChatGPT how many ice pops he needs to sell to make $800 if he sold them for $3 each in Stefon Bowman's 5th-grade class at KIPP BOLD in Newark, N.J., on Thursday, May 28, 2026. Students were learning about intentional saving, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.

During Bowman’s Thursday lesson, the fifth grade students asked ChatGPT how they could reach their profit goals. Janai and Madysin mapped out how to make $600 by Aug. 12. Similarly, Katye Johnson, who wants to sell ice pops over the summer, set his own goal of $300 in six months.

“I want to sell ice pops,” Katye said. “I just need to get everything together because I’m already learning what I need to do.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

A new national report tells a complicated story about Newark Public Schools students’ learning and growth

2026-05-22T20:40:00+00:00

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Newark’s public school students are improving faster than nearly every district in the nation, but are performing two grade levels behind the national average in math and reading, according to a new national education report released this month.

Researchers at Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth found that Newark Public Schools students learned at an average rate of 1.23 grade levels per year in reading and math during the 2022 through 2025 school years, according to the fourth annual national Education Scorecard released last week. That means Newark students, on average, gained a little more than a grade level’s worth of skills every year post-pandemic.

Researchers analyzed state test scores from third to eighth grade for over 5,000 school districts in 38 states, allowing them to compare learning rates nationally and show where students’ academic recovery stands. Learning rates measure how much students improve year over year, regardless of where they started.

The researchers ranked Newark in the 93rd percentile nationally among school districts and found that Newark students outpaced the national and state average learning rate. Similar districts identified by researchers, including Trenton, Vineland, New Brunswick, Camden City, and Atlantic City, averaged about eighth-tenths of a grade level of learning each year.

But a closer look at the data shows that Newark Public Schools students performed 2.36 grade levels below the 2019 national average, according to the report. That gap highlights the disruption Newark families experienced during the pandemic and the slow recovery it’s taking to get students up to speed.

During Thursday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Roger León said the new study grounds the district “in knowing that we’re in a place where we can actually move from.”

“We are very, very confident in the work that we’re doing, and that we’re also cognizant that there’s a lot of work that needs to occur to continue to move the pendulum in the direction that we need,” León said Thursday.

In a press release issued late Thursday, board President Hasani Council said the report’s findings “reflect years of focused investment, strong leadership, dedicated teachers, and the resilience of Newark’s students and families.”

New Jersey received roughly $4.3 billion in federal pandemic relief for K-12 schools, about $3,200 per student. The national report found that the gains in many high-poverty districts were driven by that federal support.

Last spring, only 34% of Newark Public Schools’ students in grades 3-9 passed the state’s English Language Arts test, while 21.1% of students passed the math test. Although those numbers lag behind statewide averages, they are a slight improvement from levels seen right after the pandemic. Across New Jersey, 53% of students passed the statewide English Language Arts test in 2025.

Paula White, the executive director of JerseyCAN, a statewide education advocacy group, said that money “mattered greatly,” but even after that massive investment, middle and higher poverty districts are still behind pre-pandemic levels.

“Adhering to the status quo will only keep New Jersey in our troubling middle-of-the-pack position,” White said. She also called the statewide results on the national report card “a sluggish portrait of New Jersey’s education recovery” and urged the state to adopt science-of-reading reforms, invest in literacy coaches and high-impact tutoring, and tackle chronic absenteeism on an “accelerated timetable.”

The report also found that states that enacted literacy reforms, such as Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, produced measurable reading gains while states that didn’t, including New Jersey, did not. Across the country, results are gloomier, and researchers warn that the U.S. is experiencing a reading recession, which predates pandemic school disruptions.

“The bottom line is that we must do more,” White added.

The full report is available at educationscorecard.org

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools’ enrollment falls slightly for the first time since 2019

2026-05-22T00:01:52+00:00

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Newark Public Schools lost students for the first time in six years, a stark difference from the year-over-year growth that has set it apart from trends in districts across the country over the past five school years.

In the 2025-26 school year, the district enrolled 43,216 students, down 764 from the 2024-25 school year when the district enrolled 43,980, according to fall enrollment data from the state released Thursday. That’s a turn for a district that had surged by almost 20% since 2019, driven largely by a rise in Hispanic student enrollment and multilingual learners.

This year, the district’s largest student demographic drivers, powered by an influx of immigrant families and multilingual learners, are beginning to slow.

The district is also edging closer to national trends where enrollment has dropped by nearly 1.3 million students since the COVID-19 pandemic, partly due to declining birth rates and shifts in migration.

The steepest drop this year hit the district’s multilingual learner population. Newark enrolled 11,879 multilingual learners in the 2025-26 school year, down 744 from the previous year when that population surpassed 12,000 for the first time. At the same time, Hispanic student enrollment grew by 460 this school year, according to fall enrollment data.

It’s unclear from the state’s data if the decline in multilingual learners is a result of those students leaving the district or transitioning out of English learner programs and back into general education.

More than 720 fewer white students attended Newark’s public schools in 2025-26 than in the fall of the year prior, as did 488 fewer Black students. The number of Asian American students remained around the same from the prior year.

Additionally, early grade levels and transition grades showed the sharpest enrollment declines this year. Compared to last school year, first grade lost 221 students and kindergarten fell by 154. Also compared to last year, seventh grade fell by 197 students and ninth grade by 140 students, major grade level transition years.

During January’s board retreat meeting, Superintendent Roger León said the district’s enrollment decline was close to 818 students, but he didn’t say what subgroups contributed to that decline. He cautioned that the fall enrollment numbers were a snapshot from October and do not take into account students who arrive later in the school year.

“I can’t tell you who they are, because there were kids who came and left in the process just by October,” León said. “That shows and proves that we have a high mobility rate.”

Newark’s enrollment surge in previous years set it apart from neighboring New York City, which lost some 100,000 students since before the pandemic and Philadelphia schools, which are down nearly 10,000 students since the 2019-20 school year.

But whether this year’s dip is a one-year anomaly or the start of a longer trend will depend heavily on whether the city continues to attract and retain immigrant families who drove much of the district’s recent growth.

At the January retreat, León said of the multilingual students who left the district, a “large number” of those students left the state and a “significant number of them” left the country.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark swears in new school board members tasked with tackling the district’s biggest issues

2026-05-07T23:40:05+00:00

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Incumbent Hasani Council and his three running mates took their oaths for the Newark Board of Education on Thursday, marking their commitment to help oversee a district of more than 41,000 students grappling with low state test scores, aging buildings, and growing numbers of vulnerable students.

Council was reinstalled to his role as board president, and Quamid Childs, Mark Comesañas, and Jordy Nivar took on their duties during Newark school board’s reorganization meeting. The board also voted members Vereliz Santana and Helena Vinhas as co-vice presidents.

Council, Childs, and Comesañas will serve three-year terms, while Nivar will serve a one-year term. They are responsible for deciding policies in New Jersey’s largest school district and helping manage the district’s more than $1.6 billion budget. The city’s public school board is also tasked with holding the superintendent accountable.

The nine-member school board also reviews and approves policies that address academic recovery efforts, support for students with disabilities and English language learners, fixing old school buildings, overcrowding, youth mental health, and new cellphone bans, among others.

The board is inheriting new challenges this year. The district’s state test scores in math and reading remain below state averages, Republican lawmakers are calling for more oversight of Newark’s spending, and the number of English language learners and students with disabilities continues to grow.

Before giving their inaugural speeches, Council, Childs, Comesañas, and Nivar took turns calling family members, friends, and campaign volunteers up to the podium as they were sworn in by the district’s school business administrator, Valerie Wilson. They read their oath of office statements, noting their requirement to uphold the law and “impartially and justly perform all the duties.”

During the meeting, Superintendent Roger León said the new members “symbolize the greatness of Newark Public Schools.”

Council, first elected in 2020, said on Thursday that he was grateful to the community for choosing him to serve a third term on the school board. He told his board colleagues that there’s already a lot of work to do.

“We do this because we actually believe in this work and making a change for our students’ lives. I didn’t run for school board to accelerate my career. I will continue to do the work every single day,” said Council, now the longest serving board member.

Hasani Council, first elected in 2020, was reinstated as board president during the Newark Board of Education May 7, 2026 reorganization meeting.

This year, only 3% of Newark voters participated in the school board election, with only 36 16- and 17-year-olds casting their ballots in their second year of voting, according to unofficial counts reported last month.

Childs, a Newark parent, vice chairman for the Newark North Ward Democrats, and member of the Essex County Democratic Committee, told Chalkbeat he is concerned about the city’s recurring low turnout in school board elections. As a school board member, he wants to help the district engage parents better and boost transparency into district decisions, Childs said.

“If we can’t get the parents engaged, we can’t get the children engaged,” Childs added.

Nivar also told Chalkbeat he wants to focus on creating more equity in schools, specifically, ensuring that sports teams across the district have the equipment they need. As a baseball coach and youth mentor, Nivar said he sees how much parents struggle to purchase bats and gloves for their children to play, which can be costly.

“So for us to give the coaches the right equipment, the right representation, the right back-up, it’s a win-win situation for the child.” Nivar said.

Comesañas during the meeting said he was honored to serve the city he loved and was eager to start his work on the board. The executive director of My Brother’s Keeper Newark, the policy and advocacy arm of the Newark Opportunity Youth Network, said he will continue to keep students at the center of his decisions.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Teach For America New Jersey urges Newark leaders to work together to help students read on grade level

2026-05-04T10:00:00+00:00

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Mark Comesañas recalled a former student, Jose, who arrived at adulthood without a critical skill needed to navigate life: At 19, he couldn’t read a Dr. Seuss book.

“The options he has at 19 are slim,” said Comesañas, the executive director of My Brother’s Keeper Newark, during a panel last Thursday at Teach For America New Jersey’s inaugural One Day Breakfast event, which convened Newark leaders to talk about low literacy rates and solutions.

That story resonated with the policymakers and education leaders in the room, who are confronting a crisis impacting not only Newark but the nation. Too many students are not reading at grade level, and they are reaching adulthood without ever learning to read well.

Test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, from 2024 show that most students in the United States are still performing below pre-pandemic levels in reading and math, while the gap between high-achieving students and low-performing students keeps widening.

Last spring, only 34% of Newark Public Schools’ students in grades 3-9 passed the state’s English Language Arts test, and although those numbers lag behind statewide averages, they are a slight improvement from levels seen right after the pandemic. Across New Jersey, 53% of students passed the statewide English Language Arts test in 2025.

Teach for America New Jersey organized last week’s event to spread a call to action to ensure every child can read on grade level. The event addressed the history of reading in New Jersey and local challenges such as the barriers in Black and Latino communities that prevent students from boosting their literacy skills. The organization is also hosting a similar event in Camden in May.

“We have to get local and we have to stop trying to scapegoat,” Tahina Perez, the executive director of Teach for America New Jersey, told Chalkbeat on a call last Wednesday.

Perez said she saw the literacy issue coming years before the pandemic, as far back as 2018. At that time, Perez and her team were tracking the number of Black and Latino students, particularly those in low-income communities, who were falling behind in reading. Last week’s event was meant to continue local collaboration to find ways to address the problem in Newark.

“When children are confident and independent readers, communities grow stronger, democracy works better, and opportunity expands,” Perez said at the event last week. “And when we get this wrong, the consequences last a lifetime.”

Tahina Perez, executive director of Teach for America New Jersey, speaks with My Brother’s Keeper executive director Mark Comesañas, JerseyCAN executive director Paula White, and New Jersey Institute for Social Justice president and CEO Ryan Haygood about literacy challenges on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

Newark’s literacy crisis did not happen overnight. Remote learning during the pandemic caused students to miss critical classroom time, and in the city, Newark Public Schools, along with state and local leaders, are working to help students get back on track.

Research shows that reading skills play a key role in a child’s likelihood of graduating high school, pursuing college, and ultimately a career. Experts say a student’s literacy levels in third grade predict what their skills will be in the eighth grade and beyond.

Newark’s low reading rates have also drawn attention in Trenton, where New Jersey’s Republican lawmakers have questioned why literacy rates are so low. Assemblyman Alex Sauickie has called for more transparency about how Newark Public Schools is using its money to help students refine their reading and recently questioned district leadership.

“This isn’t a partisan issue, it’s a moral one,” said Sauickie in a statement. “Taxpayers deserve complete transparency on where this money is going and why it is producing such poor academic outcomes.“

Yet in New Jersey, the systems meant to catch up students struggling to read are inconsistent, Paula White, executive director of JerseyCAN, a literacy advocacy group, told Chalkbeat. The state’s recently passed literacy framework mandates universal literacy screeners across all of New Jersey’s more than 500 school districts, but doesn’t require a specific screener or high-quality instructional materials. Similarly, literacy coaching is unevenly distributed, White said.

“You’re going to have some school districts that are in fantastic shape,” White added. “And then you’ll have a third that are just, quite frankly, rudderless.”

Perez also pointed to the larger systemic problems impacting Newark’s reading rates that she says aren’t just a “school problem, or a parent problem, or a student problem.”

“If we believe that education is a fundamental right from the moment you step foot on the soil, then we need to be thinking about the systems and the structures at play that prevent this from being true,” Perez added.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Something felt off about Newark Public Schools’ special education numbers, so officials asked Rutgers for help

2026-04-30T19:30:19+00:00

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Kristen Victorino remembers the moment Newark officials laid out a problem to her in 2023: an unprecedented surge in referrals for students with disabilities.

The referrals felt “never-ending,” administrators in Newark Public Schools’ Office of Special Education told Victorino, an associate professor of speech-language pathology at Rutgers School of Health Professions.

In a city where more than a third of residents are born outside of the United States, Newark educators feared students were being mislabeled as having speech or language disabilities when, in reality, they were still learning English, Victorino said.

She and her team started to look at the district’s data with the help of funding from the Rutgers Equity Alliance for Community Health. Her team found that during the 2022-23 school year, Newark Public Schools conducted more than 1,200 initial special education evaluations, a rate district leaders felt “was a real surge at that time” due to an influx of new students in the district, many who didn’t speak English, Victorino said.

Rutgers also found barriers affecting accurate evaluations of students who came from homes where English wasn’t the primary language, such as an overreliance on speech-language test scores when testing may not have happened in a student’s primary language, time constraints for evaluations, and communication gaps.

Victorino’s work with Newark led to a needs assessment that detailed problem areas and created training sessions with district employees and contractors. They also implemented a “train the trainer model” where four district speech language pathologists from different parts of the city receive extra training from Rutgers and serve as peer leaders. Rutgers’ goal is to make the evaluation process more accurate for students who don’t speak English but their work is just starting.

They will know if they were successful by comparing future evaluations to prior ones and looking at the percentage of bilingual students identified for speech-language services over time.

Newark’s public schools are also culturally diverse, Victorino said, and if evaluators are not trained to distinguish the linguistic differences between English and other languages, such as Spanish, evaluations can get complicated.

“So many of these kids are bilingual or in some way culturally and linguistically diverse, and they just didn’t feel like it’s possible that they all have disabilities,” Victorino added. “They said, ‘what can we be doing differently?’”

That surge in evaluations came as the district was still recovering from the pandemic, and experienced a rise in English language learners that began before 2020, according to a Chalkbeat analysis. Typically, initial evaluations for special education services are conducted by a team of school leaders, including administrators, special education teachers, psychologists, and specialists who may determine speech, language, motor, and functional skills.

Multiple studies show that bilingual students and English learners are often misidentified as having language or speech disorders. That presents a challenge for a district like Newark, New Jersey’s largest school system, which is home to more than 1,200 English language learners who speak Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, or Haitian Creole.

Paul Brubaker, Newark Public Schools communications director, did not respond to questions about the district’s rate of special education evaluations or how many students were potentially misidentified for speech and language services.

Most of the initial evaluations for speech and language are conducted by contractors hired outside of the district, while others are done by the district’s Child Study Team members, Victorino said. Data about initial special education evaluations is not publicly available at the state or district level.

Victorino’s team held focus groups with district employees and contracted evaluators and found underlying issues. She said there were miscommunications around “what the expectations for evaluation should be, what the district wants to see, versus what the evaluators think they’re supposed to do.”

Arlene Hernandez, a bilingual speech language pathologist contracted by the district who participated in Rutgers focus groups and training, said she has seen how easy it is to get evaluations wrong. Across the country, there is a shortage of bilingual speech-language pathologists.

“We want to do good for our kids in our community and it’s so important that we are looking at language differences,” Hernandez said. “It’s so important that we are looking at language differences and being culturally competent when it comes to determining whether a child presents with a language disorder.”

Victorino’s team found that while there was district documentation to show a student spoke a language other than English, evaluators were not thoroughly interviewing families or noting how much they were using the language at home, making it harder to determine whether students were being tested in their primary language. They also found that standardized speech tests used to measure a student’s communication skills against their peers could be leading to inaccurate results.

Hernandez agreed that it’s important to test children in their primary language and explained how those tests could mislead evaluators. Show a child from Puerto Rico or Ecuador a picture of apple pie and ask them to identify it, she said, and they may not know the answer.

“They don’t know apple pie, but they know flan,” Hernandez said. “So, because somebody has never seen it, does that mean they have a disorder?”

A student’s sentence structure could also lead to inaccurate results, Hernandez added. A native Spanish speaker may say “I have bag brown” – applying the grammatical rules of Spanish to English – instead of “I have a brown bag.”

“Not knowing these types of differences makes it so that many times children are being referred for language services or for special education services, when in reality, what they really need is more support in learning English,” Hernandez said.

The goal is not to overburden the system with students who may not require special education services at all, Victorino added.

“Then the kids who do need it will be better able to access the services available to them.”

Clarification May 1, 2026: The story was updated to reflect that the Rutgers research did not prove that standardized speech tests used to measure Newark students’ communication skills against their peers lead to inaccurate results.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s low turnout in school board elections might be sending the wrong message to city leaders

2026-04-23T20:00:16+00:00

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A tiny fraction of Newark residents control the outcome of its school board elections every year. And they keep picking the same people.

Moving Newark Schools Forward, the mayoral-backed slate that has dominated every Newark school board race since 2016, is slated for another win this year. And low voter turnout may be contributing to the lack of change and sending the wrong message to school board members about accountability.

This year, roughly 3% of Newark voters turned out for the April 21 election. And just 2% of Newark’s new 16- and 17-year-old voters — 36 people — showed up to the polls, according to unofficial counts from the Essex County Superintendent of Elections office on Wednesday.

Low turnout in school board elections is something “every community in the state” deals with, said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. But in Newark, where the mayor’s slate has won every election in the last 10 years, Rasmussen says disengaged voters might be sending a signal to board members that they don’t have to answer to anyone.

“When the public is checked out, and the public’s not interested, then I think it says to school board members, you don’t have to answer to the public,” Rasmussen said. “And I think that’s a real problem. It’s not the message the public should want to be sending.”

Historically, voter turnout in Newark’s school board election has been low, with participation hovering around 3% to 4%. Last year, overall turnout was 3.47%, slightly lower than the 3.94% rate among the city’s youth, with only 73 showing up to vote in the first year of teen voting.

That’s a problem for Newark’s school community that fought hard for local control of its schools and continues to demand more transparency in district decisions. The question isn’t just which candidate wins, but whether Newark’s school community can create meaningful change if voters don’t show up to the polls.

“The bottom line is, when more voters are opting not to participate than to participate, I think it sends a really bad signal to the people that you want to hold accountable,” Rasmussen said.

Members of the Moving Newark Schools Forward slate have been largely silent on specific plans to address issues in New Jersey’s largest school system. The slate, which includes current board president Hasani Council, Quamid Childs, Mark Comesañas, and Jordy Nivar, has broadly focused on improving student mental health and expanding existing district policies.

At a teen-led candidate discussion hosted by the Youth Power Action Coalition in March, the mayoral-backed contenders committed to supporting, listening to, and engaging with Newark’s students.

Since the city lowered the voting age in school board elections to 16, Newark teens have been pressing board members to get more student feedback. The youth coalition of Newark students had previously urged board members to work with them and proposed increasing student oversight over policies around mental health and school facilities. But the school board rejected their proposals in February.

Students who attended the Youth Power Action Summit on April 11, 2026 heard from Newark school board candidates during a youth-led discussion. From left to right: Amanda Ebokosia, founder of The Gem Project, school board candidates John Farrell, Lisa Gray, Quamid Childs, Jordy Nivar, and Mark Comesañas.

Even among the few teens who tried to vote this year, the process wasn’t easy, and some encountered confusion at polling sites, questions about their voting eligibility, and jammed machines. Research shows that those who are voting at 16 are more likely to vote later in life than their peers, but negative experiences can hinder their likelihood to participate in elections.

Yolanda Johnson, who launched a write-in campaign this election cycle, understands why the community may not want to turn out for the school board election

“People are saying that their vote doesn’t count. That their vote doesn’t matter. Like, we have an entire school board right now that’s the mayor’s slate, and it’s wrong. That is not what democracy looks like,” said Johnson, a four-time school board candidate and education advocate who fought for Newark’s control of schools.

Johnson said she had no plans to run in the 2026 race until community members asked her to. She launched her write-in campaign after the deadline to secure a spot in the April race and urged city voters to write her name in on the ballot. Those ballots are still being counted, so it’s not clear how much support she received from voters.

But when it comes to boosting overall turnout, especially among new teen voters, Johnson added that board members need to listen and engage with residents so they feel part of the process.

“If you make the students feel like they’re heard and empower them and educate them, provide them with the tools, you’ll get more students involved. And you’d get the adults too,” Johnson said.

Rasmussen, the political expert, agrees and adds that for Black and Latino communities like Newark, “it’s even more important” that voters show up for school board elections, especially as research shows that higher turnout in those elections is associated with better student outcomes.

“People are skeptical about the power of voting and the impact of voting,” Rasmussen said. “But I promise you that the way that anybody in this country is taken seriously is by voting.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s teen voters were eager to cast a ballot. But they had to fight to actually participate.

2026-04-22T18:26:20+00:00

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Teenager Fatoumata Bah joined her peers on Tuesday to vote in the Newark school board election, where the city’s 16- and 17-year-olds could participate for a second year in a row.

What the 17-year-old didn’t expect was how much time and effort it would actually take to vote.

“I thought I was at the right location, but I was told that I wasn’t. And then when I was finally at the right place to vote, the machine jammed when I tried to scan my ballot,” said Bah, a senior at Science Park High School.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Cidell Torto was told by a poll worker that she was too young to vote.

“She literally told me you’re 16, you can’t vote,” said Torto, a junior at Science Park, who had to have an adult intervene to vouch for her voting right.

As Bah and Torto tried to cast their ballots on Tuesday, they were met with confusion at polling sites, questions about their voting eligibility, and jammed machines. The two teens, along with their Youth Power Action Coalition peers, had been busy knocking on roughly 3,000 doors in the lead up to the Newark Board of Education election to inform their community about the upcoming race –– but they hadn’t counted on encountering those barriers.

A Science Park High School junior holds her "I Voted" sticker after voting for the first in the Newark school board election.

The youth coalition of more than 200 Newark students spent weeks raising awareness about the election, getting their peers registered, organizing a civic engagement event for teens, learning and educating other youth about the role of school board members, and hosting virtual civic workshops to engage young voters. The teens had previously urged board members to work with them and proposed increasing student oversight over policies around mental health and school facilities. But the school board rejected their proposals in February.

The mayoral-backed Moving Newark Schools Forward slate appeared headed to victory on election night. The slate, made up of current board President Hasani Council and his running mates Quamid Childs, Mark Comesañas, and Jordy Nivar this year, has won every election since 2016. Their win would mark the second year the nine-member Newark school board is made up entirely of candidates who ran under the slate.

Less than 3% of the city’s registered voters participated in the Tuesday election as of April 21 , according to unofficial results posted online that do not include provisional ballots.

Two years ago, city leaders celebrated making Newark the first city in New Jersey to lower the voting age for school board elections. But when it came to welcoming young voters like Bah and Torto to the polls on Tuesday, that energy didn’t last long.

After a high-profile push to register 16- and 17-year-old voters last year, teen registration has dropped, with 1,524 signed up this year – down from last year’s 1,772 in 2025, according to the Essex County Superintendent of Elections on Tuesday. Newark Public Schools also launched a Vote 15+ campaign last year, the first time teens could vote, to register student voters and hosted state and city officials to encourage teen participation. This year, state, city, and district officials made no visible effort to register teen voters or promote youth participation.

Buses parked outside Bethany Baptist Church to take Newark’s 16- and 17-year-olds to their polling site on April 21, 2026 in Newark, N.J.

“There is just so much that people don’t see about getting youth to the polls,” said Amanda Ebokosia, founder and CEO of The Gem Project, a nonprofit organization that aims to strengthen youth civic engagement.

She, along with student leaders, organized a “Ride to the Polls” event on Tuesday to ensure young voters had transportation to get to their voting site. That effort in itself took days to coordinate, as they had to get parental consent for students to ride buses and ensure students were fed and knew what to expect in the voting process.

The group of roughly 20 students that participated in “Ride to the Polls” dealt with other challenges at voting sites, such as teens having a hard time obtaining provisional ballots and dealing with poll workers who were misinformed about the youth vote, Ebokosia said.

Ebokosia said she was thankful for the adult volunteers who tagged along to help teens vote since they were able to advocate for them. She said at least one teen in her group did not receive a ballot ahead of the April 21 election.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board election 2026: Teens encounter voting challenges as mayoral-backed slate leads Tuesday

2026-04-22T02:27:05+00:00

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Incumbent Hasani Council and his running mates Quamid Childs, Mark Comesañas, and Jordy Nivar appeared headed to victory on Tuesday night in the Newark Board of Education election, according to preliminary election results.

The four candidates are part of the Moving Newark Schools Forward slate, a political group backed by Mayor Ras Baraka, Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz, and other state and local lawmakers. Council, Childs, and Comesañas would serve three-year terms, while Nivar would serve a one-year term.

Among all nine candidates, Council led with 3,160 votes, or 25% of total votes; Childs with 2,675 votes, or 21%; Comesañas with 2,674 votes, or 21%; and Nivar with 1,956 votes, or 47%, according to the official results.

If the leading candidates hold onto the win, the nine-member Newark school board will be composed entirely of members who ran for elections under the Moving Newark Schools Forward slate for a second year in a row.

As of 9:23 p.m. Tuesday, Lisa Gray, a former Newark Public Schools employee with over 20 years of experience as a school social worker, and John Farrell, a charter school teacher, trailed behind the mayoral slate for a three-year term with nearly 12% of votes, according to the results. Both were followed by Tawheed Peters, a Newark parent, who received 8% of the votes.

Latoya Jackson, a four-time school board candidate, was closely behind Nivar for the one-year term and received nearly 37% of the votes. She was followed by Tammy Hollaway, who received nearly 16% of the votes, according to Tuesday results.

Newark teens voted for the second time in a school board election

On Tuesday evening, a few students told Chalkbeat they had trouble voting. Students reported issues with getting provisional ballots or being redirected to other polling locations, and one had to remind poll workers that 16-year-olds were allowed to vote.

Newark students gathered at Bethany Baptist Church to catch a ride to their polling locations on Election Day in Newark, N.J. on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.

After school on Tuesday, roughly 20 teens showed up at Bethany Baptist Church to catch a ride to the polls, an initiative sponsored by the Youth Power Action Coalition.

Preston Beckham, a 16-year-old sophomore at Bard High School Early College, said he was nervous to vote for the first time in an election. He wasn’t sure what the process would be like, but he was glad to be joined by his peers and Newark adult volunteers.

“I want to see how my vote can impact schools. This is my first time officially voting for anything so I’m just nervous but really excited for this experience,” Beckham said.

Newark Public Schools students weren’t the only ones voting in Tuesday’s election.

Aaron Meighoo, a 16-year-old junior at the Essex County Donald Payne School of Technology, was also excited to vote, although he knows the Newark school board doesn’t make decisions for his school. His siblings attend Newark Public Schools, and as a former public school student, Meighoo said he was voting to ensure his siblings have a better school experience than he did.

“I can say that from when I was in Newark Public Schools in middle school, there were a lot of things I personally didn’t like and things I don’t agree with. And if I can’t make any change for me, at least I can help my little brothers,” Meighoo said.

Qawy Drayton, also a 16-year-old junior at the Essex County Donald Payne School of Technology, said he also has siblings who attend the public schools and hopes that his vote can help them have a better experience.

“My brother is in high school, he is a sophomore and he’s told me so many things about his school that he doesn’t like. So I want to make change for him,” Drayton said.

Those teens were joined by Malcolm X Shabazz high school seniors Shayla Zachary and Brenda Checo, who said they did not make the deadline to register to vote but wanted to show their support for the teen voting experience.

“I’m going to come back next year to vote, so I wanted to see the process in action,” Zachary, 18, said. “If you really want to make a change, like the school food, the building infrastructure, then I would tell my peers to vote. Don’t complain — just vote.”

Election Day got off to a slow start

On Tuesday morning, Newark’s bustling Broad Street in downtown was business as usual, with no campaign signs posted on lamp posts or outside City Hall as in previous years. If you didn’t stumble upon a polling place with signs reading “vote here” in English and Spanish, you’d be hard-pressed to find any sign of an election.

At 10:30 a.m., poll workers at the Old First Presbyterian Church said they had not seen a voter since doors opened at 7 a.m. Schools are in session, but they hope to see a few more people after school and closer to the end of the day.

At a school board debate in March, the nine candidates in this year’s race have pledged to revise and expand on district policies such as mental health, boost academic achievement, draw more community feedback on district decisions, and improve district transparency.

Overall, 161,585 Newark residents are registered to vote in this year’s April school board election. That’s a pattern advocates say limits how much of a say community voices have in district decisions.

Last year, Newark Public Schools launched a Vote 15+ campaign to register student voters and hosted state and city officials to encourage teen participation. This year, the district made no visible effort to register teen voters or promote youth participation for the April 21 election.

While the election energy is low, that silence is stark in contrast to what’s at stake.

The Newark school board plays a key role in shaping New Jersey’s largest school district and makes decisions that impact more than 41,000 Newark Public Schools students.

On Monday, dozens of Great Oaks Legacy Charter High School students marched to Newark City Hall to cast their mail-in ballots.

But where the public school district felt short, some charter school students stepped up. On Monday, dozens of Great Oaks Legacy Charter High School students marched to Newark City Hall to cast their mail-in ballots, while others marched in solidarity despite not yet being eligible to vote. That march reflected months of student-led civic engagement at the charter school driven by the school’s Student Advocacy Club, and initiatives led by the Youth Power Action Coalition, convened by The Gem Project.

“This was a proud moment for our school and for Newark,” said Jared Taillefer, CEO of Great Oaks Legacy Charter School and a Newark resident who also casted his vote Monday morning. “Our students are learning that their voice matters right now.”

For advocates, the dip in teen registration is also concerning because students are directly affected by school board decisions, but historically have had little say in them. Amanda Ebokosia, founder and CEO of The Gem project, said getting youth to the polls isn’t just about enthusiasm, but it’s about cultivating a tradition of civic participation from an early age.

“You have to show up more than once, and you have to want to prioritize it more than once, not when it’s hot and shiny,” Ebokosia said. “It’s also about having a commitment to young people, and I think that more could have been done, definitely when it comes to prioritizing the youth vote.”

Adding to the city’s low political engagement, the Board of Elections website still listed polling locations from the prior year on Election Day.

Parents, students, and advocates say they want their new board to improve school lunches, add more translation services to the district and board meetings, and hold Superintendent Roger Leon accountable for his spending decisions, among other demands.

But advocates say it’s been a challenge to boost voter turnout around school issues in Newark. Historically, voter turnout in the Newark school board election has been low, with participation hovering around 3% to 4%. Last year, just under 4% of city residents voted in the election, with only 73 teens showing up to vote.

Tuesday’s election may also be falling victim to voting fatigue. In the runup to the school board election, state and national political attention was focused on the April 16 special election to fill Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s seat in the 11th Congressional District, which includes parts of Essex County. Locally, Newark’s May 12 municipal race has been front and center in the landscape, with candidate posters and signs displayed across the city.

That flood of political activity may be drowning out the school board race entirely.

Jhamar Youngblood, a Newark mayoral candidate, said it doesn’t feel like an election is happening today, with few people talking about it. Youngblood believes the city could do more to promote the school board race, but he also feels it’s a strategy to keep residents disengaged “so they can do whatever it is they want.”

“We just need more courageous people to talk about what’s happening, because that’s the only way, historically, that we’ve seen some type of accountability in our city,” Youngblood said.

Ebokosia, the founder of The Gem Project, thinks teen voters can be the courageous voice the city needs to enact change. But for that to happen, leaders need to work together to create consistent efforts to boost teen voter turnout and remove the barriers that limit them from voting, including a lack of information about the school board election.

”We have to make an honest assessment as to who we are actually making this a priority for. If we’re not making it a priority, how can we work together to ensure that as many young people know about this election?” Ebokosia said.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Cómo los estudiantes del East Ward de Newark aprenden en edificios con décadas de deterioro

2026-04-16T16:02:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to get the latest news about the city’s public school system delivered to your inbox. Read this story in English.

Gabrielly Ferreira recuerda cómo fue pasar el kindergarten hasta el octavo grado en la escuela Ann Street School en el East Ward, de Newark, un edificio que data de 1892. Los pisos se hundían, la pintura se desprendía de las paredes y compartir un pequeño ventilador con sus compañeros durante los meses más calurosos la distraía del aprendizaje.

Luego, en el noveno grado, Ferreira fue a la escuela Science Park High School en el distrito central y vio una escuela bien mantenida por primera vez.

“Era mucho más bonito. Era mucho más limpio. Me parecía que era mucho más abierto. Sentí que incluso los pasillos se sentían más grandes”, dijo Ferreira, ahora de 16 años y en tercer año de secundaria.

“Es un cambio muy grande pasar de un edificio como Ann Street a Science Park”

Ann Street School es una escuela K-8 ubicada en Newark, Nueva Jersey. La estructura original fue construida en 1892, y tiene 134 años de antigüedad.

La experiencia de Ferreira es común en el East Ward, donde los edificios escolares tienen, en promedio, más de un siglo y necesitan reparaciones. Algunos son demasiado calurosos en verano, demasiado fríos en invierno, con mala ventilación, fuentes de agua rotas y pintura descascarada.

Newark no está solo: Filadelfia, Chicago, Memphis y muchos otros distritos urbanos también están lidiando con escuelas en ruinas. Lo que es diferente en Nueva Jersey es que el estado tiene la responsabilidad legal de construir y entregar nuevas escuelas a 31 distritos de alta pobreza, entre ellos Newark.

Los padres, estudiantes, maestros y defensores llevan años presionando por la creación de nuevas escuelas. Cuando el superintendente Roger León tomó el control en 2018, prometió arreglarlos y abrir otros nuevos.

Pero los problemas persisten. Y en ningún lugar son más evidentes que en el East Ward de Newark, la zona más densamente poblada de la ciudad, donde más de la mitad de las escuelas también están saturadas, según un análisis de Chalkbeat.

Mientras que otras partes de Newark han recibido nuevas escuelas en años recientes, una serie de factores a nivel estatal, local y del vecindario ha frenado el cambio en el East Ward. La Schools Development Authority (Autoridad de Desarrollo Escolar) del estado, la agencia responsable de financiar y construir escuelas conocida como SDA, tiene una acumulación de proyectos de nuevas escuelas valuada en miles de millones de dólares. El East Ward también carece de espacios abiertos y tiene un historial de fuerte actividad industrial que hace que grandes zonas del área no sean aptas para construir nuevas escuelas.

Según el distrito, al menos una escuela llegará pronto al East Ward y se están llevando a cabo proyectos de renovación en pequeña escala. Pero las brechas de financiamiento y la complejidad de la nueva construcción significan que muchos de los estudiantes más vulnerables de Newark estarán atrapados en escuelas envejecidas y abarrotadas por el futuro previsible.

Paul Brubaker, el director de comunicaciones del distrito, no respondió a las preguntas sobre los esfuerzos del distrito para reparar las viejas escuelas del East Ward y las necesidades que quedan.

Hawkins Street School sirve a los estudiantes de K-8 y fue construida en 1887. La escuela se encuentra junto a la sección industrial del East Ward.

Mientras el presupuesto propuesto por la gobernadora Mikie Sherrill no añade dinero nuevo a la SDA, Maggie Garbarino, subsecretaria de prensa de Sherrill, aseguró que su administración seguirá un cronograma de financiamiento existente establecido en 2023 que agregará $350 millones para proyectos de construcción escolar que ya se han iniciado y $50 millones adicionales para reparaciones de emergencia en distritos con alta pobreza durante este ciclo presupuestario.

Para los defensores como Nikki Baker, que han pasado años presionando a los líderes estatales para conseguir más dinero para las nuevas escuelas, la frustración es profunda. Baker, una organizadora de la Healthy Schools Now Coalition (Coalición para Escuelas Saludables), dice que los ciclos de financiamiento “diferido y aplazado” han dejado atrás a distritos como Newark.

La investigación ha demostrado que las malas condiciones de los edificios y otros factores ambientales pueden afectar la asistencia estudiantil y el rendimiento académico.

“Un ambiente limpio y saludable; poder respirar con calma, tener una escuela nueva y bonita, acceso a agua potable limpia, esa sensación”, señaló Baker, “eso es importante para la salud mental y física de los estudiantes”.

Los estudiantes del East Ward de Newark deben lidiar con las escuelas antiguas

El East Ward, que abarca partes de Ironbound en Newark, es hogar de miles de familias inmigrantes de habla española y portuguesa. Es una parte industrial de la ciudad, y en la parte sur del East Ward, los jóvenes son los más expuestos a estar desconectados de la escuela.

Emma Villa, estudiante de segundo año en la East Side High School, dijo que los días más cálidos son brutales dentro de la escuela debido a que no hay aire acondicionado. En los días calurosos, la mayoría de los maestros abren las ventanas para dejar entrar el aire fresco, mientras que otros tienen ventiladores.

“En verano, hace tanto calor que se ve sudor en la cara de todos, es simplemente repugnante. Es como una sauna ahí dentro”, dijo Villa, de 15 años.

La escuela Oliver Street School fue reconstruida por la Schools Development Authority (Autoridad de Desarrollo Escolar) en 2016 y es una de las dos escuelas del East Ward reconstruidas en los últimos 10 años.

El East Ward alberga ocho escuelas primarias y dos escuelas secundarias, algunas de las cuales se remontan a 1848, antes de la Guerra Civil. La SDA ha reconstruido dos escuelas primarias en el distrito: Oliver Street School en 2016, el primer edificio reconstruido en el East Ward en más de 100 años, y South Street School en 2018.

Otras siete no han sido reconstruidas. Según un análisis de Chalkbeat, esos edificios sin tocar tienen en promedio 139 años y las instalaciones envejecidas están haciendo subir los costos de mantenimiento.

Todo el distrito escolar de la ciudad también está por encima de la capacidad de más de 2,000 estudiantes, según un informe estatal. En el East Ward, escuelas como la Wilson Avenue School, East Side High School, Lafayette Street School y Ann Street School están significativamente sobrecargadas, con algunas matriculando aproximadamente el doble de estudiantes para lo que sus edificios fueron diseñados, según un análisis de Chalkbeat basado en los datos estatales sobre la capacidad de las instalaciones.

Jason Argueta, de 15 años, estudiante de segundo año en East Side High School, siente el impacto. Sabe que su escuela está deteriorada, a pesar de que los directivos han intentado hacer arreglos como volver a pintar las paredes este año. Aun así, dijo: “Se pueden ver los pisos agrietándose, las paredes agrietándose”.

En el East Ward, escuelas como Wilson, East Side, Lafayette y Ann Street están significativamente sobrecargadas, según un análisis de Chalkbeat.

Los estudiantes también dicen que llegar a clase durante el día escolar puede ser complicado.

Los pasillos están tan congestionados en la East Side High School que Argueta dijo que necesita buscar rutas alternativas para llegar a clase a tiempo. “Encuentro atajos para ir a clase, pero luego [otros estudiantes] encuentran el mismo atajo y se vuelve a llenar de gente”, contó Argueta.

Las amigas Selena Inahuazo y Ariel Muñoz, ambas de segundo año en East Side High School, dijeron que las fuentes de agua rotas y las tuberías viejas cuestionables significan que tienen que traer sus propias botellas de agua.

“Yo no bebo agua allí. Trato de no hacerlo”, dijo Muñoz, de 16 años. “Sabe diferente”.

Las aulas también se enfrían en invierno, y algunos baños tienen agujeros en las paredes. Hace poco, Jailyn León, que cursa su tercer año en East Side High School, dijo que una cucaracha salió de uno de ellos.

Newark recurre a solucionar sus propios problemas mientras el financiamiento estatal se retrasa

En los últimos años, han llegado algunos fondos del estado a Newark.

En febrero, León dijo que el distrito está trabajando para actualizar “cada aula, cada oficina y cada escuela”, después de que la SDA otorgó a Newark $6.3 millones para reparaciones urgentes y trabajos anuales de mantenimiento en dos escuelas de secundaria. En los últimos cinco ejercicios fiscales, la SDA ha invertido $44 millones en reparaciones escolares en Newark. Pero eso es una gota en el cubo de lo que León estima son más de $2,000 millones necesarios para actualizar y reparar completamente los edificios escolares en la ciudad.

El SDA ha identificado 31 escuelas de Newark que necesitan ser reemplazadas, en comparación con los 13 edificios escolares envejecidos señalados en planes anteriores. Pero no hay un cronograma claro ni fondos disponibles para que esa labor comience pronto. La SDA ha recibido financiación a través de bonos, consignaciones directas y sobre una base de “pago por desembolso” de la legislatura estatal, sin planes a largo plazo para financiar la agencia.

Mientras tanto, el costo del mantenimiento y las reparaciones temporales sigue aumentando.

El mantenimiento anual en la East Side High School, construida en 1911, está presupuestado en $963,361 este año escolar, aproximadamente $45,000 más que el año pasado, según el plan de mantenimiento del distrito. Para la escuela Ann Street School, el mantenimiento fue presupuestado en $439,518, aproximadamente $20,000 más que el año anterior.

East Side High School es una de las dos escuelas secundarias en el East Ward de Newark. Originalmente construida en 1911, la escuela tiene poco más de 300,000 pies cuadrados.

Pero a medida que el financiamiento estatal se estanca, las escuelas del East Ward de Newark están quedando obsoletas, lo que ha llevado al distrito a tomar cartas en el asunto. Newark ha comenzado a abrir nuevas escuelas en edificios ya existentes, una solución que resuelve un problema, pero genera nuevos costos y desafíos.

El distrito recientemente anunció planes para abrir una nueva escuela primaria en el East Ward para aliviar la sobrepoblación. Pero los esfuerzos pasados para convertir las propiedades existentes en escuelas han bloqueado el distrito en contratos de arrendamiento a largo plazo, décadas de pagos y retrasos imprevistos en la construcción.

Es una práctica a la que ha recurrido el distrito porque no tiene la autoridad legal para construir nuevas escuelas en Newark. En 1998, la Corte Suprema del estado ordenó a Nueva Jersey a cubrir el 100% de los costos de construcción de las escuelas porque Newark y otros 30 distritos de alta pobreza carecen de la base impositiva para cubrir sus necesidades. Para asegurar oportunidades de aprendizaje equitativas para los estudiantes en esos distritos escolares, el estado dijo que asumiría los costos y supervisaría el proceso de construcción.

Casi 30 años después, distritos como Newark están atrapados pagando la factura de nuevas escuelas y las complicaciones.

Por ejemplo, el distrito abrió la primera escuela profesional del East Ward, la Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design, en el antiguo edificio del Hospital Saint James. Pero ese proyecto se completó con tres años de retraso en septiembre, después de que comenzaran las renovaciones en 2022. Costará al distrito más de $300 millones en 30 años bajo su contrato de arrendamiento con el propietario.

Una solución mejor, según el concejal del East Ward, Michael Silva: construir una nueva escuela secundaria.

“Necesitamos avanzar y empezar a construir más escuelas adecuadas para la cantidad de estudiantes que tenemos aquí, y ponernos al nivel de muchas de las escuelas que hay en otras ciudades del estado”, afirmó Silva.

Pero, sin planes a largo plazo para financiar la SDA y con unos $7,000 millones en proyectos de construcción en distritos muy pobres que todavía no se han financiado, los líderes estatales están buscando otras soluciones.

La líder de la mayoría del Senado, M. Teresa Ruiz, que representa a Newark, coincide en que existe una necesidad crítica de averiguar cómo construir nuevas escuelas. En febrero presentó un proyecto de ley que, si se aprueba, pondría una pregunta en la boleta electoral de noviembre para autorizar $10.5 mil millones en nuevos bonos estatales para proyectos de construcción escolar en distritos de todo el estado.

La última vez que el estado hizo un bono para financiar la construcción de escuelas fue durante el primer ciclo presupuestario de Ruiz, hace unos 18 años.

“Es un perjuicio para cada estudiante, familia, comunidad y distrito en el estado de Nueva Jersey”, dijo Ruiz durante la audiencia del Comité Judicial del Senado en febrero.

“Hemos añadido algunos fondos al presupuesto anualmente. No han sido lo suficientemente significativos”, agregó Ruiz.

Pero incluso si se aprueba la fianza, construir una nueva escuela en el East Ward es un reto.

El terreno en 371-395 Ferry St., en Newark, New Jersey, estaba previsto para una nueva East Side High School, pero los líderes de la SDA hace 20 años no cumplieron con los planes propuestos. El sitio ahora es Down Bottom Farms.

Hace veinte años, el SDA adquirió un terreno en la esquina de las calles Ferry y St. Charles como sede de una nueva escuela secundaria. La SDA en ese momento intentó combinar el sitio con otras propiedades para crear un área lo suficientemente grande como para construir sobre ella, pero las deficiencias de financiación impidieron a la agencia adquirir el terreno restante e incluir el proyecto en sus planes de capital, y tuvieron que abandonar la promesa de una nueva escuela secundaria en el East Ward durante décadas.

El precio del terreno para áreas como el East Ward de Newark será significativo, dijo Ruiz, un desafío que espera que la administración de Sherrill acepte.

La tierra en el East Ward también es escasa. Construir una nueva escuela requiere “casi toda una cuadra”, dijo Brendan Da Silva, un agente inmobiliario con sede en Newark. Las escuelas elementales como Hawkins Street y Lafayette tienen poco menos de 70,000 pies cuadrados, mientras que East Side High School tiene poco más de 300,000 pies cuadrados.

Ruiz y Da Silva sugirieron que la construcción de escuelas sobre edificios existentes podría ser una solución para el East Ward.

Esa podría ser la mejor solución, ya que solo la sección de Ironbound del East Ward contiene docenas de propiedades vacías que el estado ha etiquetado como con contaminación real o sospechosa, con otras más en otras áreas de Newark, dijo Da Silva.

La Ironbound Academy Elementary School abrió sus puertas en 2022. El edificio fue anteriormente la Ironbound Catholic Academy antes de que las escuelas públicas de Newark adquirieran el espacio a través de un contrato de arrendamiento.

Los residentes del East Ward quieren mejores condiciones en la zona

Mientras tanto, los miembros de la comunidad del East Ward se han frustrado. Dicen que los niños del vecindario ya están lidiando con problemas de salud fuera de la escuela debido al entorno industrial.

Francis Núñez, la directora de defensa y organización en la Ironbound Community Corporation, una madre y residente del East Ward, dijo que optó por enviar a su hija a una escuela del West Ward debido a la sobrecarga, el gran tamaño de las clases y las preocupaciones previas sobre la calidad del agua en el East Ward.

Núñez, quien se graduó de la Lafayette Street School en 2006, afirmó que ha visto nuevas urbanizaciones de lujo aparecer en su vecindario a pesar de que la comunidad sonó la alarma sobre la necesidad de reparar el terreno para nuevas escuelas.

“También siento que es casi un insulto a la comunidad saber que la mayoría de los edificios necesitan actualizaciones para poder funcionar según sea necesario, y nuestras escuelas primarias, en particular, están teniendo dificultades para hacerlo”, dijo Núñez.

Los problemas de calor extremo y calidad del agua en las escuelas también reflejan preocupaciones ambientales más amplias en el East Ward, señaló JV Valladolid, un organizador de justicia ambiental con Ironbound Community Corporation.

El transporte pesado, la contaminación industrial y la construcción en curso de nuevos proyectos de vivienda se manifiestan “no solo en asma, sino también en problemas de diabetes, problemas cardiovasculares, problemas de salud reproductiva, tasas de cáncer, dificultades de aprendizaje, ausentismo y malos olores en el vecindario”, dijo JV.

“Eso significa que no sales al recreo, cierras la ventana o te sientes mal en general”.

La comunidad está “luchando por satisfacer la necesidad básica de aire limpio, un espacio seguro para refrescarse y escuelas de calidad”, dijo JV.

Jailyn, la joven del East Side High School, es una de las residentes que lucha por eso.

Lafayette Street School fue construida en 1848, antes de la era de la Guerra Civil. Cuando abrió por primera vez, era conocida como la Fifth Ward Grammar School.

Como parte de la Youth Power Action Coalition, un grupo de defensa dirigido por estudiantes en Newark, Jailyn y sus compañeros están presionando al distrito para que otorgue a los adolescentes un papel más importante en la ayuda para mejorar las escuelas mediante el establecimiento de un grupo asesor estudiantil para realizar revisiones anuales de las condiciones de los edificios junto con el personal y crear un sistema donde los estudiantes puedan informar sobre preocupaciones relacionadas con las instalaciones.

En febrero, el distrito rechazó sus propuestas, pero Jailyn sigue motivando a los estudiantes a “usar su voz” para decir a los miembros de la junta escolar con lo que se enfrentan en la escuela.

Después de años de ver promesas no cumplidas, “a veces uno se siente excluido porque otras escuelas en el distrito son nuevas”, dijo Jailyn. “Pero ¿por qué hay edificios nuevos, y los que son realmente antiguos no se están renovando?”

Esta historia es parte de la NJ 2025 Reporting Fellowship, que colabora con 15 organizaciones de noticias locales y comunitarias, el Center for Cooperative Media en la Universidad Estatal de Montclair y NJ Spotlight News. Las historias de esta colaboración se centran en la inmigración, la educación, la salud, la economía y el medio ambiente, destacando las perspectivas de diversas comunidades en Nueva Jersey.

Esta traducción fue proporcionada por New Jersey Hispano en asociación con el Centro de Medios Cooperativos de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair, y cuenta con el apoyo financiero del Consorcio de Información Cívica de NJ. La historia fue escrita originalmente en inglés por Chalkbeat Newark y se vuelve a publicar en virtud de un acuerdo especial para compartir contenido a través del Servicio de noticias de traducción al español de NJ News Commons.

This translation was provided by New Jersey Hispano, in partnership with Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media and is supported financially by the NJ Civic Information Consortium. The story was originally written in English by Chalkbeat Newark and is republished under a special content-sharing agreement through NJ News Commons’ Spanish Translation News Service.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie atjgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark gave 16-and 17-year-olds the right to vote two years ago. They are still learning their power.

2026-04-15T21:45:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to get the latest news about the city’s public school system delivered to your inbox.

Judah Ancion, a 16-year-old junior at Essex County’s Donald M. Payne School of Technology, found out he could vote in Newark’s school board election from a teacher’s offhand comment last month — only a few weeks before the April 21 election.

Over the weekend, Denisha Kotey, a 19-year-old freshman at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, just learned that there’s even a school board election happening in her city.

Their realizations come two years after Newark’s 16- and 17-year-olds got the right to vote in school board elections, becoming the first city in the state to do so. That historic move prompted former Gov. Phil Murphy, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, an award-winning rapper, and other elected officials to rally students at the city’s School of Data Science and Information Technology to pitch youth voting as a model for the rest of the state.

But even with the push, only 73 teens voted in their first school board election last April, in a city where nearly 7,300 teens are eligible to vote and overall turnout already hovers around 3% to 4% every year.

This year, that momentum has faded even more, overshadowed by the city’s May municipal race and Newark school funding debates. But for the second year in a row, student organizers and other advocates are pushing to turn new voting rights into real participation and prove that student votes can shape decisions in Newark schools.

Assatta Mann, community organizing manager for the New Jersey Institute of Social Justice, said building the youth vote in Newark will take time. She called it “a muscle that needs to grow” while pointing to the barriers keeping students from the polls, including limited access to voting sites and a lack of understanding about the school board’s role.

“Many of the young people who are registered and who do know about the election want to take advantage of this right to vote. But their polling locations are not at their schools, where they’re spending a lot of their time at,” Mann said. “There’s also no in-person early voting, for example, so it’s not even like, young people could then go and use the weekend to vote.”

Both Ancion and Kotey said they only began to understand the role of the Newark Board of Education at Saturday’s Youth Power Action Summit, which brought together more than 50 students for a day-long event organized by a student coalition to boost awareness of teen voting rights and civic participation. The group convened by The Gem Project, a nonprofit organization focused on strengthening youth civic engagement, has spent months alongside teens canvassing, hosting virtual civic education workshops, holding voter registration competitions, and informing 16- and 17-year-olds about their right to vote.

Students who attended the Youth Power Action Summit on April 11, 2026 also heard from Newark school board candidates during a youth-led discussion. From left to right: Amanda Ebokosia, founder of The Gem Project, school board candidates John Farrell, Lisa Gray, Quamid Childs, Jordy Nivar, and Mark Comesañas.

They are one of the few groups working to get students to the polls for the April school board election.

“Oh my gosh, there’s so many things going on. [The city] is finally letting students vote for stuff, they’re the majority, and they’re finally letting this happen,” Kotey said. “But people are not as involved as they should be.”

For students like Ancion and Kotey, that gap is playing out in real time. Newark’s nine-member school board makes decisions that affect more than 41,000 students on issues from curriculums to funding priorities. Teens with the Youth Power Action Coalition have urged board members to work with them and have proposed increasing student oversight over policies around mental health and school facilities. But their proposals were rejected by the city school board.

While Newark expanded voting rights to give teens a voice in those decisions, low turnout has so far limited how much weight that voice carries.

Kanyinsola Oreoluwa Owolabi, a 16-year-old junior at Science Park High School, said she attended Saturday’s Youth Power Action Summit to encourage her peers to vote, even though she can’t vote herself because of her citizenship status.

“Even if you believe that it won’t be impactful, for me, it’s more like getting a view of whom you’re letting run your society,” Oreoluwa Owolabi said.

That message resonated with Collins Esubonteng, also a 16-year-old junior at Science Park High School. He said the summit made him feel included in civic discussion around the upcoming school board race, and it was something he had never experienced in school before.

“It was a lot of fun, but for the most part, it was very informative. We’re all learning. We all learned about the system,” Esubonteng said, “I feel like there was just a lot for us here today. We’re going to see a lot of people voting.”

The Youth Power Action Summit held on April 11, 2026 brought together more than 50 students for a day-long event organized by a student coalition to boost awareness of teen voting rights and hear from Newark school board candidates.

The Youth Coalition is also working to give young people ages 16-24 free rides to polling places. The challenge remains in reaching those young voters.

Ancion, the junior at Essex County’s Payne Tech, wasn’t able to register to vote in time before the March 31 deadline. But after leaving the summit on Saturday, he feels inspired to lead his own voting initiative next year and bring change.

“So it’s just understanding how it all works and just gaining that basic expertise so I can apply everything I learned outside of here,” Ancion said.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

This first-year Newark teacher builds a sense of belonging for students with disabilities

2026-04-14T17:15:00+00:00

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Alex Richardson always knew she wanted to help people; she just needed to find the right way to do it.

After graduating summa cum laude from the University of New Mexico in May 2025, she decided to teach. As a first-year head of special education at North Star Academy’s Alexander Street Elementary School in Newark, Richardson works for the school’s Aspire Program, which launched in 2022 to support students with autism. She spends her days working with third grade autistic students, building reading comprehension skills and creating lessons that meet each student where they are.

As a student, Richardson struggled to learn new concepts but blossomed when teachers approached those difficulties with patience and creativity. Now, as a teacher, she leans into flexibility, positive interactions with students, and her core belief that mistakes are part of the learning process.

She spoke recently with Chalkbeat about discovering Newark’s strong culture of autism advocacy, using Black History Month as a way to include all students, accessible learning, and why a children’s book about a panda and a dragon changed the way she thinks about teaching.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s your favorite lesson to teach and why?

I love teaching literacy. I have always had a deep admiration for language, many languages, really, and for how they come together to make meaning. Getting to break down phonemes and help my scholars build sentences and comprehension of passages is my favorite thing to teach!

Richardson is passionate about literacy, working with others, and learning from students.

What’s something happening in the community that affects what goes on inside your classroom?

As someone who is still new to the New Jersey community, I am continually learning about the people, experiences, and values that shape the environment around both my scholars and me. One thing I noticed right away — especially compared to my experience back home — is the strong sense of awareness and advocacy for the autism community. There is a clear and intentional effort not only to raise awareness but to foster genuine acceptance and inclusion. This commitment has a meaningful impact on my classroom. It creates a space where my scholars are not just supported, but truly valued for who they are — their unique ways of thinking, communicating, and engaging with the world are recognized as strengths. Being part of a community that embraces neurodiversity in this way is incredibly powerful, and it allows my students to grow with confidence, authenticity, and a strong sense of belonging.

How do you approach news events in your classroom?

As I teach a young group of autistic scholars, I approach topics about the world with intentionality, ensuring that all information is presented in ways that are accessible, meaningful, and responsive to their individual strengths and needs. While these conversations may look different in my classroom, my school takes great pride in making sure that every scholar is included in learning about important events and histories. During Black History Month, my scholars engaged in a variety of projects that allowed them to explore and connect with history through drawings, videos, and books. These experiences were thoughtfully designed to be both engaging and accessible, helping scholars build understanding in ways that felt natural to them. Stories of influential Black individuals were shared in ways that fostered connection, curiosity, and comprehension, allowing my students to meaningfully engage with the core ideas and significance of these historical contributions.

Tell us about your own experience with school and how it affects your work today.

While in school, I was on the honor roll and graduated summa cum laude from both my high school and the University of New Mexico. I have always loved learning, but I sometimes found it challenging to stay engaged with topics that I didn’t fully understand or initially find interesting. That perspective shifted when I encountered a few incredible teachers and professors who approached complex topics with patience, creativity, and genuine enthusiasm. Their ability to present material in innovative and accessible ways helped me stay engaged and ultimately develop a deeper appreciation for a wide range of subjects — including those I had once found uninteresting. This experience continues to shape my approach as an educator. When I anticipate that a lesson may be less engaging for my scholars, I intentionally design it to be interactive, supportive, and responsive to their needs. I prioritize patience, flexibility, and creativity so that my students can access the material in ways that align with their strengths, helping them build confidence and succeed as learners.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, and how have you put it into practice?

The best advice I have ever received is, “It is okay to not be perfect.” I have always held myself to a high standard, striving to do everything correctly, efficiently, and to the best of my ability. While I value that drive, I have come to understand that perfection is both relative and often unattainable — what truly creates lasting impact is effort, growth, and persistence. This mindset plays an important role in my classroom. I use it to support and encourage my scholars, especially when they encounter challenges. At times, I notice that my students can feel frustrated or discouraged when they are asked to revisit or revise their work. In those moments, I respond with patience and understanding, helping them see mistakes as a natural and valuable part of the learning process. By guiding my scholars through challenges in a supportive and affirming way, I aim to ensure they leave each experience feeling capable, confident, and empowered.

What’s one thing you’ve read that has made you a better educator?

I read a wide range of books, though not all of them relate directly to teaching. I believe that literature has a unique way of connecting to our lives in different seasons, often offering insight when we need it most. One book that has deeply influenced my journey as an educator is “The Journey: Big Panda and Tiny Dragon” by James Norbury. Norbury’s work combines beautiful illustrations with meaningful reflections, inviting readers to step into the experiences of the characters and consider how those lessons apply to their own lives. This particular book centers on the idea of leaving behind the familiar in pursuit of growth and something greater. It has prompted me to reflect on how often we, as educators, may unintentionally limit ourselves by relying only on what we already know. This perspective has shaped me on a personal level within my role as an educator. It has encouraged me to approach my scholars, colleagues, and families with openness and curiosity. I strive to let go of assumptions, biases, or preconceived notions, and instead remain receptive to new perspectives and experiences. In doing so, I am better able to build meaningful connections and create a more inclusive, responsive learning environment for my students.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark will elect a new school board in less than 2 weeks. Here’s what parents, students, and others want.

2026-04-13T18:00:00+00:00

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Newark voters head to the polls on April 21 to elect four members to the city’s Board of Education, which makes key decisions for New Jersey’s largest school district.

But what does the community want those new board members to prioritize once they take their seats?

At a debate last month, the nine candidates vying for four seats pledged to tackle several issues, including fixing aging school buildings; expanding student mental health resources; improving transparency; and including parents, teachers, and students in district decisions.

This year’s school board race is the second time the city’s 16- and 17-year-olds will cast their vote in the election. Last year, only 73 teens voted in the April election despite targeted efforts to get the city’s more than 7,000 eligible youth voters to the polls.

Chalkbeat asked parents, students, teachers, and advocates the same question: What should the new board focus on first?

Their answers touch on some of the most pressing challenges for the district, which serves more than 41,000 students across 65 schools and will run on a $1.6 billion budget next school year. Nearly six years after regaining local control of schools, community members say they still want more input in decisions that shape education in Newark.

Here’s what members of the city’s education community told Chalkbeat what they want to see from the incoming school board members. They have been edited for length and clarity.

Emmanuel Adeola is also a member of the Youth Power Action Coalition in Newark.

Emmanuel Adeola

Junior at Bard High School Early College

Get student feedback

“Students are the school district’s consumers. It makes sense to want to get student feedback because it’s just requiring that you listen to our concerns. And also, there has to be a better way to talk to students. I know sometimes students may not want to listen to adults, but a lot of us can vote now, so how can board members help us understand what’s happening and also listen to us?”

John Abeigon was first elected as president of the Newark Teachers Union in 2015.

John Abeigon

President of the Newark Teachers Union

Boost teacher collaboration with principals and district leaders

“What I would be hoping to get from whoever the new elected board members are, is that we continue to work towards strengthening the collaboration that we’re already creating between teachers and the public school district. We want teachers to be the ones creating the instruction happening in classrooms. Unified instruction, unified learning, unified teaching.”

Alexander Schuetz

Alexander Schuetz is the Chair of the Newark Education Workers Caucus.

Chair of the Newark Education Workers Caucus

More investment in student needs

“We’re an enormous district with a really wide variety of needs. We are really leaning in both words and in cash into the top performing students. We are building these hyper-specialized high schools. We are building evermore, it seems, gifted and talented approaches and internship opportunities, which I don’t have any problem with, of course. But I do not see that same energy being put into our students with the most needs.”

“Our students whether they have a disability or not, or come from another country, so many of our students are just on the back foot from the start, based on the resources they have access to. I would like to see a board that can sort of pause in this victory lap of expansion and take a look at the larger masses of students who feel like they’re being left behind.”

Deborah Smith Gregory urged Newark residents to vote in the upcoming city elections during the 2026 NAACP Newark school board candidate forum.

Debra Smith-Gregory

President of the NAACP Newark

Holding the superintendent accountable

“I want the incoming school board members to work with the current board members to ensure that the best interests of students are put first and that means holding the superintendent accountable for his decisions. I think a prime example is their intent to spend nearly $500 million leasing a building for young people in the East Ward, a building the district will not own until after 30-years. Board members should be asking questions about that.”

Inés Aguilera's daughter is a student at Hawkins Street School located in the East Ward of Newark, New Jersey.

Inés Aguilera

East Ward mom of a third grader at Hawkins Street Elementary School (translated from Spanish)

Fix school lunches

“My daughter tells me she doesn’t have enough time to eat her lunch. Sometimes she brings home the entire lunch I packed for her, or sometimes with only a bite into her sandwich. I also think that the quality of school food isn’t good and the fruits are not good, that’s why I pack my daughter’s lunch every day. And it’s also important to make sure that younger students, especially those whose teeth may be growing in, have their fruits cut up for them. Many of them can’t bite into those hard apples.”

Ade’Kamil Kelly

Ade’Kamil Kelly ran under the "Prioritizing Newark's Children" slate in the 2025 Newark school board election.

Two-time Newark school board candidate

Transparency and fiscal responsibility

“I really would like the board to focus on fiscal responsibility, especially because we’re looking at a budget that just got approved that cuts 30 teachers. Can we tighten up our fiscal responsibility, because all eyes are literally on Newark right now? And I really hate that we constantly have to have the same conversation year after year about the same fundamental things. Even when you look at how the new, proposed Riverfront Elementary School for the East Ward went before everybody, it wasn’t a transparent process that everyone can feel good about. So it’s just a lot of continuous missed opportunities for the school board to just say things clearly to the public.”

Rafael Chavez works with Spanish speaking parents in Newark.

Rafael Chavez

Organizer for New Labor, a Newark-based immigrant rights group

Translation services during Board of Education meetings

“The biggest issue is the lack of translation at board meetings. That’s why some of the parents, actually, maybe most of the parents who don’t speak English don’t really go to those meetings because they don’t understand them. They don’t have a translation there. They throw ridiculous barriers at us, and Spanish-speaking families can’t participate.”

Chesha Hodge

Chesha Hodge leads the Coalition for Healthy Food in Newark Schools, a Greater Newark Conservancy Initiative.

Director, Coalition for Healthy Food in Newark Schools, a Greater Newark Conservancy Initiative

More student involvement in school food decisions

“Students are starting to understand and learn that their voice matters, especially here in Newark, where 16- and 17-year-olds now get to vote in the school board elections. We want to make a way for students to not just have these really basic food conversations, but we also want them to be included in these higher-level conversations that are taking place on the local and state level. Let’s just tap into the power that is our youth right now.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey Republicans demand federal and state reviews of ‘fiscal failures’ in Newark Public Schools

2026-04-08T10:00:01+00:00

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Six years after New Jersey handed control of Newark Public Schools back to the community, a group of 20 Republican lawmakers is pressing federal and state officials for more oversight of how the district handles money.

The state’s largest school district is under scrutiny after it announced plans last month to enter into a $498 million, 30-year lease agreement to open a new elementary school in the city’s East Ward, Newark’s most densely populated neighborhood, where more than half of schools are overcrowded, according to a Chalkbeat analysis.

But the Republicans — none of whom represent Newark — are raising questions about the proposal, as well as what they allege is Newark’s mismanagement of federal pandemic relief funds.

In an April 2 letter to the state education department, comptroller, and local finance board, Republicans slammed the district for what they claim are “epic fiscal failures and taxpayer waste” and urged officials to reject the district’s proposed lease and ensure the district “stop wasting taxpayer dollars.” District officials have said the proposed lease would help add seats in the East Ward, as the state lacks funding to move forward on new school projects already identified in Newark.

In a separate letter to the U.S. Department of Education on March 31, a state senator and two Assembly members asked Secretary Linda McMahon to conduct an “immediate federal review” into how the district spent $287 million in pandemic relief.

In a statement to Chalkbeat on Tuesday, Ellen Keast, a spokesperson for the U.S Department of Education, said the federal department is taking the legislators’ concerns seriously.

“Misuse of taxpayer funds became widespread under the previous administration, which is why addressing it is a top priority,” Keast said.

Paul Brubaker, Newark Public Schools’ communications director, did not respond to a request for comment.

Michael Yaple, spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Education, said the department received the letter from lawmakers and is reviewing Newark’s lease proposal. Yaple could not say when the state education department would decide on the proposal.

The Republicans’ calls echo recent efforts across the country to bring back state takeovers of school districts, a practice New Jersey has long used in cases of fiscal mismanagement or academic failures. Critics have said the practice frequently targets districts with large shares of students of color.

But Republicans are now raising the same issues cited when the state originally seized control of the district in 1995: mismanagement, lavish spending, and poor student outcomes.

GOP Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, who represents parts of Morris, Sussex, and Warren counties west of Newark, recently cosponsored a bill that would appoint state monitors to school districts that receive 70% or more of aid from the state. Typically, more than 80% of Newark’s funding support comes from state aid.

“Newark has pockets of excellence. I don’t doubt that at all, and they should be very proud of some of the gains that they have made,” said Fantasia, who signed both letters and has alleged on Fox News and social media that Newark has mismanaged money. “That does not excuse egregious, ridiculous spending and behavior on nonsense for adults.”

The scrutiny comes as Superintendent Roger León tries to consolidate the gains Newark has made since the state officially ended its 25-year takeover of the district in 2020. At that time, León said he was worried about the school system’s recovery, not from the pandemic, but from the state’s control.

During a Fox News show last week, León was asked to respond to Fantasia’s concerns about Newark’s spending not resulting in better student outcomes. He said he had “absolutely no idea” what Fantasia was talking about. Instead, León touted the district’s 90% graduation rate and its 10.4% chronic absenteeism rate.

Under León, the district has also opened ten new schools and increased its enrollment. That trend has been fueled in part by a surge in English language learners and students with disabilities who require more money to educate.

For the next school year, the district said its costs are rising and closed a $122.9 million budget gap by reallocating funds, drawing from its budgeted fund balance, and cutting 30 teaching positions.

The district in March approved a $1.67 billion budget for next school year and expects to receive a record $1.38 billion in state aid.

“I don’t think we have a money problem in these large districts,” Fantasia said. “It’s how those dollars are allocated, what the deliverables are, and what student outcomes are.”

Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office referred questions about Newark’s lease proposal and investigation into its finances to the state education department. Her proposed fiscal 2027 budget would add funding for new roles there to help districts facing budget deficits.

Newark, the state’s biggest school district, receives the largest share of state aid, which the School Funding Reform Act distributes to districts based on student population, property valuations, and the income of residents, according to Danielle Farrie, research director for the Education Law Center.

Proposed school lease provokes New Jersey Republicans’ anger

At the center of the Republican complaints is the lease proposal for the new site of the Riverfront Elementary School in Newark’s East Ward. Students in the neighborhood learn in school buildings that are on average a century old. But the Schools Development Authority –– the state agency that builds new schools for Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts –– has rebuilt only two new school buildings since 2006, and nine total for the district overall.

Hawkins Street School is located in the East Ward of Newark, New Jersey and was originally built in 1887.

The Republican letter to the state notes that the Riverfront School deal is more than the roughly $284 million cost of Perth Amboy High School, the most expensive school built by the SDA in New Jersey. The district already holds a lease worth over $300 million for the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design, also in the East Ward.

The links between Mayor Ras Baraka and the proposed Riverfront School’s developer, 56 Freeman Street LLC, have also increased scrutiny of the district.

District officials have defended the lease deal by pointing out delays in projects run by the SDA, which estimates it needs $7 billion to fund construction projects in the 31 high poverty districts alone. Republican lawmakers counter that by saying the nine new schools built for Newark since 2006 are “nearly one every other year.”

The Republican letter also cites a 2024 state audit that required the public school system to return $33,650 in state aid that officials spent on an outdoor party for central office staff and their families. The district has not told Chalkbeat if it returned the money. The state’s education department investigation determined that the spending violated laws on how school boards can spend taxpayer dollars since the event lacked educational or professional development value.

Nearly 70% of students in grades 3-9 fell short of literacy standards on state tests in 2025, and roughly 80% did not meet math standards. The district has improved scores by about two percentage points every year since 2022, and because of the improvements, the state designated Newark as a high-performing district this school year. But Republican lawmakers argue Newark’s spending is still out of sync with its academic results.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

State of the City: Mayor Ras Baraka celebrated Newark’s progress on education but challenges remain

2026-04-01T20:41:37+00:00

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Newark is not the same city it was a decade ago.

Mayor Ras Baraka made that clear during his 12th State of the City address Tuesday, a presentation of Newark’s beauty “in the face of so much ugly.”

On education, Baraka pointed to a number of successes. Last school year, the district’s graduation rate went up to a record-high 90%, chronic absenteeism decreased to 10.4% — achievements that earned the district a top recognition for student attendance and school climate from the Council of Great City Schools — new pipeline programs for high school students are on the way, and hundreds of prekindergarten and middle school seats have been added in light of rising enrollment in those grades.

On top of that, Michael B. Jordan, a graduate of Newark Public Schools, won the Oscar for Best Actor this year, a moment of pride for the city, Baraka said.

“Our city is not perfect, but we are at a damn better place than we were a decade ago,” he said during Tuesday’s address in front of city and state leaders at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Baraka, a former Newark Public Schools teacher and principal, emphasized public school successes in his speech, which were celebrated with loud applause and cheers from the crowd.

Superintendent Roger León, who sat in the front row during Tuesday’s address, inherited a school system in 2018 that barely graduated half of its high school students and had just spent two decades under the state’s control. Many of the gains Baraka shared have been meaningful.

But other metrics, ones Baraka didn’t share, show that many students are still struggling.

Last spring, only 34% of students in grades 3-9 passed the state’s English Language Arts test, while 21% passed the math portion. Those numbers lag behind statewide averages.

But that tension between celebrating how far the district has come and the urgency to move the work forward isn’t lost on those hoping to shape Newark Public Schools’ next chapter. Mark Comesañas, a 2026 school board candidate on the Baraka-endorsed ‘Moving Newark Schools Forward’ slate, said the gains are worth celebrating while also looking ahead. “We need to celebrate, and we should celebrate, but also, how do we stay hungry to do more?”

Comesañas also said he was interested in learning if “there are any groups of young people for which this progress isn’t reaching,” and if so, what specific supports are in place for those students.

Lisa Gray, also a 2026 school board candidate who’s running independently, raised questions about the validity of the data being reported to the public.

“I wonder what processes are in place to ensure the integrity of the data, and how we know that the data being reported is accurate. The school board is supposed to be responsible for that,” said Gray, a former two-decade district employee.

She also said the metrics Baraka shared on Tuesday fail to show the need for more parent, student, and teacher engagement in school district decisions.

“I think we need to involve them more and take them seriously,” Gray added.

That’s something students, parents, and advocates have repeatedly voiced concerns about after demanding more transparency from the district and a better seat at the table.

Baraka acknowledged Tuesday that more needs to be done across the city, even as schools have improved. He said that returning public schools to local control restored community ownership and stability.

And he and other city leaders have started the work to get Newark students reading more, with a goal to expand programs across the city.

In 2023, Baraka launched a 10-point action plan to help foster reading opportunities for city children and boost literacy rates. And last month, Newark hosted a literacy symposium where community members and city partners gathered to talk about building more literacy programs across the area.

“There’s a lot of work to do, but collectively we can get it done,” Baraka said.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Too hot, poor ventilation, overlooked: Newark’s East Ward students are learning in decades-old buildings

2026-03-31T10:00:01+00:00

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Gabrielly Ferreira remembers what it was like to spend kindergarten through eighth grade at Ann Street School in Newark’s East Ward, a building dating back to 1892. The floors were sinking, the paint was peeling off the walls, and sharing a small fan with her classmates during the hotter months distracted her from learning.

Then, in ninth grade, Ferreira went to Science Park High School in the Central Ward and saw a well-maintained school for the first time.

“It was much nicer. It was much cleaner. I guess it was much more open. I felt like even the hallways felt bigger,” said Ferreira, now 16 and a junior.

“It’s a really big change to go from a building like Ann Street to Science Park.”

Ann Street School is a K-8 school located in Newark, New Jersey. The original structure was built in 1892, and is 134 years old.

Ferreira’s experience is not uncommon in the East Ward, where school buildings are, on average, more than a century old and in need of repair. Some are too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, with poor ventilation, broken water fountains, and peeling paint.

Newark isn’t alone: Philadelphia, Chicago, Memphis, and many other urban districts are also grappling with crumbling schools. What’s different about New Jersey is that the state is legally responsible for building and delivering new schools to 31 high-poverty districts, including Newark.

Parents, students, teachers, and advocates have pushed for new schools for years. When Superintendent Roger León took control in 2018, he promised to fix them and open new ones.

But the problems persist. And nowhere are the issues more apparent than in Newark’s East Ward, the city’s most densely populated area, where more than half of schools are also overcrowded, according to a Chalkbeat analysis.

While other parts of Newark have received new schools in recent years, a confluence of factors on the state, local, and neighborhood levels have slowed change in the East Ward. The state’s Schools Development Authority, the agency responsible for funding and constructing schools known as the SDA, has a multibillion dollar backlog of new school projects. The East Ward also lacks open space and has a history of heavy industry that makes large patches of the area unsuitable for new schools.

There is at least one school coming to the East Ward soon, according to the district, and small-scale renovation projects are ongoing. But the funding gaps and the complexity of new construction mean many of Newark’s most vulnerable students will be stuck in aging, crowded schools for the foreseeable future.

Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, did not respond to questions about the district’s efforts to fix the East Ward’s old schools and the needs that remain.

Hawkins Street School serves K-8 students and was built in 1887. The school neighbors the industrial section of the East Ward.

While Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s proposed budget does not add new money to the SDA, Maggie Garbarino, Sherrill’s deputy press secretary, said her administration will follow an existing funding schedule established in 2023 that will add $350 million for school construction projects that have already been started and an additional $50 million for emergency repairs in high-poverty districts this budget cycle.

For advocates like Nikki Baker who’ve spent years pressing state leaders for more money for new schools, the frustration runs deep. An organizer with the Healthy Schools Now coalition, Baker says the cycles of “delayed and deferred” funding have left districts like Newark behind.

Research has shown that poor building conditions and other environmental factors can hurt student attendance and academic performance.

“A clean, healthy environment; to be able to breathe easy, to have a nice new school, access to clean drinking water, the feeling of that,” Baker said, “that does everything for students’ mental and physical health.”

Newark’s East Ward students must cope with old schools

The East Ward, which encompasses parts of Newark’s Ironbound, is home to thousands of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking immigrant families. It’s an industrial part of the city, and in the southern part of the East Ward, young people are the most at risk of disconnecting from school.

Emma Villa, a sophomore at East Side High School, said warmer days are brutal inside the school due to no air conditioning. On hot days, most teachers open the windows to let fresh air in, while others have fans.

“In the summer, it’s so hot, you just see sweat on everybody’s faces, it’s just disgusting. It’s like a sauna in there,” Villa, 15, said.

Oliver Street School was rebuilt by the Schools Development Authority in 2016 and is one of two East Ward schools rebuilt within the last 10 years.

The East Ward is home to eight elementary schools and two high schools, with some dating as far back as 1848 — before the Civil War. The SDA has rebuilt two elementary schools in the ward: Oliver Street School in 2016, the first building rebuilt in the East Ward in over 100 years, and South Street School in 2018.

Seven others have not been rebuilt. Those untouched buildings are 139 years old on average, according to a Chalkbeat analysis, and the aging facilities are driving up maintenance costs.

The entire city school district is also over capacity by more than 2,000 students, according to a state report. In the East Ward, schools like Wilson Avenue, East Side, Lafayette Street, and Ann Street are significantly overutilized, with some enrolling approximately double the number of students as their buildings were designed for, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of state building capacity data.

East Side sophomore Jason Argueta, 15, feels the impact. He knows his school is run-down, despite school leaders trying to fix things like repainting the walls this year. Still, he said, “You can see the floors cracking, the walls cracking.”

In the East Ward, schools like Wilson, East Side, Lafayette, and Ann Street are significantly overutilized, according to a Chalkbeat analysis.

Students also say getting to class during the school day can be tricky.

The hallways are so congested at East Side that Argueta said he needs to find alternate routes to get to class on time. “I find shortcuts to class, but then [other students] find the same shortcut and it gets crowded again,” Argueta said.

Friends Selena Inahuazo and Ariel Muñoz, both sophomores at East Side, said broken water fountains and questionable old pipes mean they have to bring their own water bottles.

“I don’t drink water there. I try not to,” said Muñoz, 16. “It just tastes different.”

Classrooms also get cold in the winter, and some bathrooms have holes along the walls. Recently, East Side junior Jailyn Leon said, a cockroach crawled out of one of them.

Newark resorts to fixing its own problems as state funding lags

Some money has trickled into Newark from the state in recent years.

In February, León said the district is working to update “every classroom, every office, and every school” after the SDA gave Newark $6.3 million for urgent repairs and annual maintenance work at two high schools. Over the last five fiscal years, the SDA has invested $44 million in Newark school repairs. But that’s a drop in the bucket of what León estimates is a more than $2 billion need to fully update and repair school buildings in the city.

The SDA has identified 31 Newark schools that need to be replaced, up from the 13 aging school buildings flagged in previous plans. But there is no clear timeline or funds available for that work to start soon. The SDA has received funding through bonds, direct appropriations, and on a “pay-as-you-go” basis from the state legislature, with no long-term plans to fund the agency.

In the meantime, the cost for maintenance and temporary fixes keeps rising.

Yearly upkeep at East Side, built in 1911, is budgeted at $963,361 this school year, roughly $45,000 more than last year, according to the district’s maintenance plan. For Ann Street School, maintenance was budgeted at $439,518, roughly $20,000 more than the previous year.

East Side is one of two high schools in Newark's East Ward. Originally built in 1911, the school is just over 300,000 square feet.

But as state funding stalls, Newark’s East Ward schools are getting older, prompting the district to take matters into its own hands. Newark has started to open new schools in existing buildings, a solution that solves one problem but raises new costs and challenges.

The district recently announced plans to open a new elementary school in the East Ward to ease overcrowding. But past efforts to convert existing properties into schools have locked the district into long-term lease agreements, decades of payments, and unforeseen construction delays.

That’s a pattern the district has resorted to because it doesn’t have the legal authority to build new schools in Newark. The state Supreme Court in 1998 ordered New Jersey to cover 100% of school construction costs because Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts lack the tax base to cover their needs. To assure equitable learning opportunities for students in those school districts, the state said it would take on the costs and oversee the construction process.

Nearly 30 years later, districts like Newark are stuck footing the bill for new schools and the complications.

For example, the district opened the East Ward’s first trade school, the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design, in the old Saint James Hospital building. But that project was completed three years behind schedule in September after renovations began in 2022. It will cost the district more than $300 million over 30 years under its lease agreement with the property owner.

A better solution, according to East Ward Councilman Michael Silva: Build a new high school.

“We need to move forward and start building more schools adequate for the amount of students that we have here, and bringing us up to par with a lot of the schools that are in other cities throughout the state,“ Silva said.

But with no long-term plans to fund the SDA, and an estimated $7 billion in construction projects in high-poverty districts that have yet to be funded, state leaders are scrambling for other solutions.

Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz, who represents Newark, agrees that there is a critical need to figure out how to build new schools. She introduced a bill in February that, if approved, would place a question on the November ballot to authorize $10.5 billion in new state bonds for school construction projects in districts across the state.

The last time the state went to bond for school construction funding was during Ruiz’s first budget cycle, roughly 18 years ago.

“That is a disservice to every single student, family, and community and district in the state of New Jersey,” said Ruiz during February’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

“We’ve added some funding to the budget on an annual basis. It hasn’t been significant enough,” Ruiz added.

But even if the bond is approved, building a new school in the East Ward is challenging.

The lot at 371-395 Ferry St., in Newark, New Jersey, was slated for a new East Side High School but the Schools Development Authority leaders 20 years ago did not deliver on the proposed plans. The site is now Down Bottom Farms.

Twenty years ago, the SDA acquired a plot of land on the corner of Ferry and St. Charles streets as the site for a new high school. The SDA at the time tried to combine the site with other properties to create a large enough area to build on, but funding shortfalls prevented the agency from acquiring the remaining land and including the project in its capital plans, leaving the promise for a new high school in the East Ward unfilled for decades

The price tag on land for areas like Newark’s East Ward will be significant, Ruiz said, a challenge she hopes Sherrill’s administration will take on.

Land in the East Ward is also scarce. Building a new school requires “almost an entire block,” said Brendan Da Silva, a Newark-based real estate agent. Elementary schools like Hawkins Street and Lafayette are just under 70,000 square feet, while East Side is just over 300,000 square feet.

Ruiz and Da Silva suggested building schools on top of existing buildings could be a solution for the East Ward.

That might be the best solution as the Ironbound section of the East Ward alone contains dozens of vacant properties the state has labeled as having actual or suspected contamination, with more scattered across Newark, Da Silva said.

The Ironbound Academy Elementary School opened in 2022. The building was formerly the Ironbound Catholic Academy before Newark Public Schools acquired the space through a lease agreement.

East Ward residents want better conditions in the area

In the meantime, East Ward community members have grown frustrated. They say neighborhood kids are already dealing with health issues outside of school because of the industrial environment.

Francis Nuñez, the director of advocacy and organizing at the Ironbound Community Corporation, a parent and East Ward resident, said she chose to send her daughter to a West Ward school instead because of overcrowding, large class sizes, and previous water quality concerns in the East Ward.

Nuñez, who graduated from Lafayette Street School in 2006, said she has seen new luxury housing developments pop up in her neighborhood despite the community sounding the alarm on the need to remediate land for new schools.

“I also feel like it’s a little bit of an insult to the community to know that most buildings need updates in order to be able to function as needed, and our elementary schools, especially, are struggling to do that,” said Nunez.

Extreme heat and water quality issues in schools also reflect broader environmental concerns in the East Ward, said JV Valladolid, an environmental justice organizer with Ironbound Community Corporation.

Heavy trucking, industrial pollution, and ongoing construction on new housing projects manifest in “not just asthma, but diabetes, cardiovascular issues, reproductive health issues, cancer rates, learning disabilities, absenteeism, and bad smells in the neighborhood,” said JV.

“That means that you don’t go outside for recess, you close your window, or you feel unwell generally.”

The community is “struggling to fight for the very basic necessity of clean air, a safe space to cool down, and quality schools,” JV said.

Jailyn, the junior at East Side, is one of the residents fighting for that.

Lafayette Street School was built in 1848 – before the Civil War era. When it first opened, it was known as the Fifth Ward Grammar School.

As part of the Youth Power Action Coalition, a student-led advocacy group in Newark, Jailyn and her peers are pushing the district to give teens a bigger role in helping to improve schools by establishing a student advisory group to conduct annual building condition reviews along with staff and creating a system where students can report facility concerns.

In February, the district rejected their proposals, but Jailyn still encourages students to “use their voice” to tell school board members what they deal with in school.

After years of watching promises go unfulfilled, “sometimes you feel left out because other schools in the district are brand new,” Jailyn said. “But why is it they’re brand new, and just like the old, oldest buildings are not being renewed?”

This story is part of the NJ 2025 Reporting Fellowship, which collaborates with 15 local and community news organizations, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, and NJ Spotlight News. The stories in this collaboration focus on immigration, education, healthcare, the economy, and the environment, highlighting the perspectives of diverse communities in New Jersey.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board approves $1.67 billion budget as costs for charters, facility needs, and programs grow

2026-03-27T20:35:12+00:00

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Newark Public Schools will spend $1.67 billion next year after the school board approved a budget Thursday that tops last year’s by $100 million.

This year’s budget adds more money to academic programs such as tutoring programs, art and music teachers in every school, new math workbooks, and an elementary school basketball league. It also budgets for more facilities spending to maintain old school buildings and renovate former schools shuttered under state control.

The spending plan is expansive and is supported by record high state funding, which makes up the bulk of the budget. But those added costs come at a price: homeowner taxes will go up, as the district plans to cut 30 teaching positions, six administrative roles, and nine school support staff positions but will keep over 3,000 teaching positions for the upcoming school year and add new teacher aides.

And while districts across the country are struggling with declining enrollment and school closures, Superintendent Roger León said at Thursday’s board meeting that interest in Newark schools is growing across all wards. He said the district does not anticipate closing schools “in this decade or the next.”

Newark grapples with rising costs, supported by record high state aid

School funding, including academic programs, technology, and salary increases, remains the district’s largest expenditure, followed by charter school payments, which grew by $5 million for the upcoming school year.

School Business Administrator José Fuentes, who presented the budget, said anticipated costs next school year grew to $122.9 million, a gap the district was able to close by reallocating funds and drawing from its budgeted fund balance – money set aside that carries over into the next budget cycle.

Contributions to schools were the biggest spending increase in next year’s budget, which includes more money for teacher salaries and benefits under the Newark Teachers Union contract and funding for growing schools. More money is also being provided to schools that are adding a grade level next school year.

Those costs are followed by rising charter school payments, building renovations, school construction costs, and facilities maintenance work, including lease increases and environmental remediation.

Newark taxpayers will feel the district’s growing costs in their pocketbooks.

The 2026-27 budget also includes a $39.94 tax increase for the average homeowner, bringing yearly tax contributions to $2,172.03.

District cuts to school roles next year will bring teaching position totals to 3,285, administrative positions to 390, and school support staff to 797, per the district’s presentation on Thursday. The district will also add 11 new aides, for a total of 382 aides next school year.

More state funding for Newark as district looks to expand schools

State aid for the upcoming school year bumped up to a record-high $1.38 billion contribution, a slight increase from this school year’s $1.32 billion per Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s budget proposal. State funding makes up 82.7% of the district’s overall budget, while the local tax levy makes up 8.8% of the budget next school year. The budget also includes an excess fund balance of 7.6%, which is available to cover expenses next school year, according to the budget presentation.

The upcoming spending plan ensures student support, academics, and programs remain, while adding more clubs, more athletics programs, and more trips for students, León said. He added that programs like after-school tutoring and Saturday School will continue, along with music and art teachers across every school.

León also said the district is adding more for school technology and teacher coaches to support English language arts and math programming, and setting aside funding for students “who actually need technology at home.”

District leaders are also budgeting for more academic programming and plan to spend an extra $5.6 million for K-5 math workbooks, an elementary basketball league, technology in classrooms, staff professional development, and the new Media High School, set to open at Bard High School Early College, with freshmen only starting in September, per the budget presentation.

Demand for more schools grows as families move to Newark

León said the main challenge next school year will be to ensure there are seats for every student who applies to the district. The number of eighth graders who have requested a seat for ninth grade next school year is the largest the district has ever received, said León on Thursday.

He added that the demand to add more seats in schools is “spreading like wildfire” across wards, including in the Ironbound section of Newark’s East Ward. District leaders have previously said that the city’s East Ward schools are more than 100 years old and overcrowded.

“We are projecting that with families that will be moving into the city, there will be a need for more schools than the ones we actually have,” León said.

To keep up with demand, district leaders are planning to open new schools over the next five years.

This week, the district presented its proposal to open the new Riverfront Elementary School through a $498 million lease and the new Media High School, which will take over the former Dayton Street School building in 2027 after renovations are completed, Leon said.

The upcoming school year’s budget plan includes $27.5 million more for renovations at Dayton Street, which closed in 2012 under state control of the district, school bathroom renovations, and other construction projects across the district. Fuentes, during Thursday’s hearing, also said an extra $12.1 million was budgeted for rising costs for maintenance work at schools, lease increases, and environmental remediations.

Charter school payments are rising as enrollment increases

Payments to charters are rising by $5 million, totaling $421 million this upcoming school year, one of the district’s largest financial pressures, Fuentes said during Thursday’s hearing. He explained that as charter school enrollment grows, so does the district’s responsibility to fund them.

Under state law, school districts like Newark must provide charter schools with at least 90% of per-pupil funds for students who live in the district. Roughly 21,400 students are enrolled in 15 charter schools across Newark.

During the meeting, South Ward resident and community advocate Maggie Freeman questioned why charter school representatives weren’t at the budget hearing yesterday to provide transparency on their spending in light of rising costs.

“We don’t know if we’re double, triple, or quadruple paying, and taxpayers are absorbing that cost,” Freeman said.

Aside from the $421 million, the district also projected spending just over $7 million for transportation costs for charter schools and nearly $5 million for students attending schools outside of the district.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Proposed Riverfront Elementary School would add over 650 seats in Newark’s overcrowded East Ward

2026-03-26T01:03:24+00:00

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Newark Public Schools is considering a three-decade, $498 million property lease to open a school in the East Ward, as the district waits for the state to deliver on new buildings.

The new Riverfront Elementary School building would take over an entire block and be constructed from the ground up, said Valerie Wilson, the district’s school business administrator, during Wednesday’s school board hearing on the proposed school.

The proposal highlights the district’s efforts to ease overcrowding in Newark schools, particularly in the city’s East Ward, Newark’s most densely populated neighborhood, where new housing developments are underway.

The district would lease the property from 56 Freeman Street LLC, which owns and would manage the project at 56 Freeman St. across from St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church. The district would have the option to purchase the building at the end of the agreement at a price yet to be determined, Wilson said.

The new Riverfront school would take over an entire block, more than 150,000 square feet, and serve 667 students, district leaders said during the hearing. Envisioned as a four-floor building, the school would include an underground parking garage with approximately 60 parking spaces for staff, an enclosed rooftop playground for students, and pre-K and early childhood learning classrooms, as well as a full gym with locker rooms.

The proposed Riverfront Elementary School would add over 650 seats to Newark's East Ward.

The district would spend over $1 million a month in rent for the property over 30 years, Wilson added.

The state is responsible for building new schools in Newark but the law allows the district to lease property to build a new school, Superintendent Roger León added.

The proposal highlights the challenges Newark has with the state when it comes to building new schools. Newark is one of 31 high-poverty school districts in New Jersey that are legally barred from building their own schools. That responsibility lies with the state’s Schools Development Authority but that agency lacks the funding to move forward on projects it has already identified in Newark and other high-poverty districts.

Several of the district’s oldest schools are in the East Ward, and require updates to maintain their infrastructure.

“We know that our schools are not providing enough seats,” Vereliz Santana, the school board’s co-vice president, said during the hearing.

The authority has built nine new schools in the district since 2006, including two in the East Ward: Oliver and South Street schools.

Mary Filardo, the executive director for the 21st Century School Fund, a nonprofit organization advocating for the modernization of public school facilities, said the Newark school district is in a “complicated spot” because not only is it trying to maintain old school buildings, but it is also responding to urgent problems like overcrowding through alternate solutions as it waits for the state to construct new buildings.

During Wednesday’s hearing, an East Ward-based real estate agent and a former school board candidate were the only people to raise questions about the new proposal.

Brendan Da Silva, a Newark based real estate agent said the proposed cost of the lease “seems outlandish.”

“The Newark Board of Education should be focused on education, not trying to navigate complex real estate deals without strong, independent oversight,” Da Silva added.

Yolanda Johnson, a former school board candidate and education advocate, asked why the district was considering investing in a new school when many of the district’s current schools “are in need of repairing.”

During the meeting, Superintendent Roger León noted how the district has been working to repair and maintain existing schools, including those in the East Ward, where the schools are 151 years old on average.

Floor plans for the proposed Riverfront Elementary School on display at a Newark Board of Education hearing.

Board member David Daughety acknowledged that the East Ward needs a new school to minimize overcrowding, but asked for more transparency about the proposed cost. Board member Kanileah Anderson agreed and asked if the district had compared costs with other developers in the area.

After Wilson highlighted the district’s work to replace boilers at Arts High School and Chancellor Elementary School, along with facade repairs at East Side High School, León said, “We’ve already spent $400 million on all district school repairs.”

At the end of Wednesday’s hearing, the Newark school board unanimously voted to submit their plans to the New Jersey Department of Education, the state’s local finance board, and the Office of the State Comptroller for approval.

If the state approves the plans, the terms of the lease will be finalized and then the school board will hold a final vote on the lease, Board President Hasani Council said.

If approved, Riverfront Elementary School would be the second new school in the East Ward since the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design opened in September through a 30-year, $300 million lease also funded with district dollars.

That school opened after a three-year delay, a problem Filardo says is not uncommon in the construction world.

“They’re complicated development deals. So districts should anticipate these kinds of problems and build into their contracts and their agreements and their processes, all of the kind of accountability and sort of due diligence,” Filardo added.

The SDA has promised to pay to replace Newark’s oldest school buildings, but the work to replace those buildings has not yet started.

The SDA receives funding through bonds, direct appropriations, and on a “pay-as-you-go” basis from the state legislature, but would not receive new funding under Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s proposed $60.7 billion budget this year.

Senator Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz, a Democrat, introduced a bill in February that could help unlock $10.5 billion to help fund school construction across all New Jersey school districts.

If approved, the bill would authorize a November ballot item asking voters to approve new state bonds for school construction, expansions, and renovation projects in all districts. Specifically, the bond would allocate $7 billion for high-poverty districts and $3.5 billion for grants in other districts.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Voters will choose between newcomers and city leaders in Newark’s April school board election

2026-03-17T21:00:00+00:00

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Nine candidates will pit experience against fresh energy as they face off for four seats in this year’s Newark Board of Education election.

One is an incumbent running to keep his board seat, two are returning challengers, and six are newcomers bringing a mix of city-held leadership positions, educational experience, and parent perspectives to the race.

In the April 21 election, voters will elect three candidates to serve a three-year term and one for a one-year term.

The winning candidates will be responsible for deciding policies in New Jersey’s largest school district, which serves more than 40,000 students, and managing the district’s more than $1.5 billion budget. The city’s public school board is also tasked with holding the superintendent accountable.

The nine-member board also reviews and approves policies that address academic recovery efforts, support for the district’s vulnerable students, fixing old school buildings, overcrowding, youth mental health, and new cellphone bans, among others.

The board has recently faced criticism from parents, advocates, students, and teachers who say they want more transparency and input in decisions about the city’s schools in the district, which officially returned to local control in 2020. In October, the Newark school board’s sudden decision to flip a member’s vote to extend Superintendent Roger León’s contract raised ethical questions about board procedures. The proposal to extend Leon’s contract initially failed in September after parents and advocates raised concerns about district issues.

This year’s school board race is also the second time the city’s 16- and 17-year-olds will cast their vote in the election. Last year, only 73 teens voted in the election despite targeted efforts to get the city’s more than 7,000 eligible youth voters to the polls.

The Newark Board of Education race is one of two Essex County school board elections held in April, when turnout typically hovers around 3% to 4%. The school board has the authority to move the election to November when voter turnout is typically higher.

This year’s “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate includes incumbent board president Hasani Council, two newcomers, and a returning candidate:

Council was first elected to the city school board in 2020 and is also the chief of staff for his father, South Ward councilman Patrick Council.
First time candidate Mark Comesañas, is a Newark parent, former educator, principal, and the executive director for My Brother’s Keeper Newark.
Newcomer Quamid Childs, a Newark parent, is the vice chairman for the Newark North Ward Democrats, member of the Essex County Democratic Committee, and former commissioner on the city’s supplemental zoning board.
West Ward district leader and returning candidate Jordy Nivar has also joined the slate after running in the 2025 election.

Council, Childs, and Comesañas are vying for three-year terms while Nivar is running for a one-year term.

The “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate has won every election since 2016, and eight current board members were part of that group. The slate typically garners support from state and local politicians, including Mayor Ras Baraka and state Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz.

The slate is up against three first-time candidates, each running independently for a three-year term on the board:

John Farrell is a social studies teacher at Phillp’s Academy Charter School.
Tawheed Peters is a city parent and Rutgers University Newark alum.
Lisa Gray is a school social worker with 20 years of experience working in the district’s Office of Early Childhood.

The remaining two candidates will battle Nivar for the one-year term seat on the board. Returning candidate Latoya Jackson, who founded the nonprofit T.O.Y.A, Through Obstacles You Adapt, is running for the fourth time this year after running in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 elections. Nivar and Jackson will compete against newcomer Tammy Hollaway, a member at-large for the New Jersey PTA Board of Directors.

Candidates discuss policies they would enact as board members

The nine candidates gathered at Bethany Baptist Church in Newark last Thursday for the city’s first school board debate hosted by the NAACP Newark. During the debate, the candidates discussed district policies they would revise and expand, plans to boost academic achievement, and issues they would champion as board members.

Community members watch as the nine Newark Board of Education candidates participated in the NAACP Newark branch candidate debate on March 12, 2026, at Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.

Council, a Newark Public Schools alum, said he is currently working with board members to develop the district’s new cellphone policy after former Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law requiring all New Jersey school districts to adopt new restrictions on the use of cellphones and other internet-enabled devices in K-12 schools. Council added that he is running for school board again because he wants to make sure that “our students are receiving an equitable education.”

Childs, who is running with Council on the “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate, said he wants to expand the district’s mental health resources by providing more counselors for students and offering mental health support for parents.

Nivar wants to strengthen the connection between teachers and parents and improve school lunches after experiencing poor quality lunches himself as a Newark student years ago.

Slate member Comesañas proposed to work with local organizations and city departments to “maximize philanthropic dollars” meant to help students succeed academically. In his role as executive director for My Brother’s Keeper Newark, Comesañas collaborates with community organizations to expand opportunities for youth. He also wants to see bilingual guidance counselors in schools to help students from all backgrounds.

Jackson, the four-time school board candidate, agreed that the district should work with organizations with similar goals to improve education and direct money to boost student civic learning. An advocate with the South Ward Environmental Alliance, Jackson added that “there are a lot of grassroots groups” working to help students and families.

Gray, who noted that her experience in education is rooted in community and the classroom, said she feels that students, parents, and educators “don’t have enough of a voice in what’s happening” in the district. During Thursday’s debate, she said she champions a model called a “support sandwich,” with “parents on top, students in the middle, and educators at the bottom,” to draw in community feedback before district decisions are made.

Hollaway wants to improve the district’s transportation policy following recent winter snowstorms that interrupted public bus service. She also proposed strengthening student-to-teacher pipelines and the district’s anti-bullying policies after being bullied as a young student.

Peters agreed that the district’s anti-bullying policies need improvement and said his youngest daughter came home crying after dealing with a bully. He believes school board members need to work with schools to “fix the culture” and help students understand that people come from different backgrounds.

Farrell said he wants to see the district improve its transparency and “meet people where they are at.” He added that the district’s old school buildings need repairs and should take priority over buying or leasing new ones. Farrell added that he is running to do his “very best for kids” in Newark.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Record school aid, tutoring, youth mental health: key education priorities in New Jersey governor 2027 budget

2026-03-10T21:00:13+00:00

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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill says her first budget will break records for state education spending.

Speaking at the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton on Tuesday, she proposed more than $13.8 billion in total education spending in her fiscal year 2027 budget, which includes $12.4 billion in K-12 aid, $1.4 billion for preschool, and $15 million to expand high-impact tutoring to more districts.

Sherrill’s budget also includes $33 million to provide new youth mental health services and $625,000 to help support the state’s first cellphone-free school year starting this fall.

But notably, some items were absent. The budget proposal doesn’t include new money for the Schools Development Authority, the state agency responsible for school construction. Instead, the proposed budget will help fund new roles at the Department of Education to help school districts facing budget deficits, according to state leaders.

“This budget invests in and lays the groundwork for consolidating services and curricula,” Sherrill said. “It’s better for students, offering continuity as they move from elementary to middle to high school in one unified system. And it’s better for districts, providing needed savings.”

In Newark, home to New Jersey’s largest school district, education advocates hoped Sherrill’s budget priorities would also address longstanding issues such as providing additional support for the district’s more than 7,0000 students with disabilities and their families, along with more funding to replace the city’s old public school buildings. State leaders said special education aid, supplemented through federal IDEA funds, varies by district and is based on student counts, rather than statewide averages as of fiscal year 2026.

Sherrill spoke before a room full of former governors, politicians, community advocates, and other guests as she outlined her $60.7 billion overall state spending plan, which includes high appropriations to property tax relief programs and public worker pensions, and includes a proposed surplus of $5.4 billion.

The proposed budget is Sherrill’s first spending plan for the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1, and represents the state’s most ambitious investments in public education during what state leaders have called a “very difficult budget situation.” At the beginning of the budget process, state leaders estimated a $3 billion budget structural deficit, or about 5% of state expenses, “historically one of the worst budget gaps in the nation,” Sherrill said Tuesday. She also said federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump “are blowing an immediate hole in our budget.”

The proposed spending plan includes nearly $2 billion in spending reductions, as budget expenditures are approximately $1.6 billion more than anticipated revenues, according to a budget presentation on Monday. Sherrill on Tuesday said the proposal “is the budget we can afford.”

“If there are things you think we need to add – come to me with places we can cut. It’s simple math: Any additions require subtractions,” Sherrill said.

Education leaders across the state are closely watching this year’s investments in education after Sherrill, on the campaign trail, pledged to boost student performance, provide equity in schools, and reform the school funding formula.

The proposed spending plan is now in the hands of state lawmakers who will negotiate and draft the final budget bill over the next few months. The new budget must be finalized by July 1, according to the state Constitution.

Expanding support for high-impact tutoring

The budget includes $15 million for high-impact tutoring, an expansion that would help bring nearly 100 more districts into the program launched under former Gov. Phil Murphy to support students disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The new investment would help reach roughly 13,500 more students, according to state leaders.

High-impact tutoring is a research-based approach that requires three or more sessions per week with the same tutor in small group settings.

Sherrill on Tuesday said the approach is helping boost math and literacy scores in Camden, Franklin, and Elk Township.

For Newark Public Schools, the new funding is especially important as only 27.7% of the city’s public school third graders reached proficiency levels in English language arts last May. In 2023, the district began implementing high-impact tutoring to help refine student skills in math and reading. It also received a state grant that year to fund the work.

Paula White, the executive director for JerseyCAN, a statewide advocacy organization, on Tuesday said she applauds Sherrill for education priorities laid out in her budget but wants to work with her administration to implement “mission-critical budgetary investments” and strengthen existing policies to help “address long-ignored educational issues.”

The organization detailed five recommendations to support student success, including expanding career and technical education and improving math curricula. It also recommended that the state provide universal access to high-impact tutoring.

More mental health services for students

The budget also allocates $33 million in School-based Partnership for Access and Resilience for Kids, or SPARK grants, to fund new youth mental health services for students with the most acute needs. Sherrill said the program will bring “specialized, intensive mental health support” back in schools.

“That work is so important, especially given the impact of social media today,” Sherrill added on Tuesday.

During her gubernatorial campaign, Sherrill made clear she would invest in student mental health and online safety. She outlined a “Kids Online Safety Agenda,” to hold “big tech’s feet to the fire,” Sherrill said Tuesday.

“Kids are struggling with pressures that didn’t exist when we were young: the always-on online culture, fierce competition, worries about school violence, and concerns about the future,” Sherrill said.

The investment comes as Newark students have been pushing for more mental health support. Last month, a Newark student coalition spoke out at a school board meeting after members rejected their proposals that would have given students a formal role in monitoring how the district addresses mental health needs.

Preparing for a cellphone-free school year

The mental health push is also tied to the state’s first implementation of the new phone-free schools law starting this upcoming school year. In January, former Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law directing school districts to create policies that would limit the use of cellphones during instructional hours.

The proposed budget sets aside $125,000 for the new Office of Youth Online Mental Health Safety and Awareness in the Department of Health and $500,000 in support for a new Social Media Research Center.

“My four kids are between the ages of 14 and 20. And I can tell you with certainty: Our country is failing our children when it comes to protecting them online,” Sherrill said.

The new law calls on school districts to create their own policies restricting the use of cellphones during instructional hours. Newark school officials last month said they are working on their new policies. In December, the district was awarded more than $170,000 through a state grant to implement a bell-to-bell policy limiting cellphone use.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

NJ working group says special education program goals must be measurable, parents need more time to prepare

2026-03-05T21:30:59+00:00

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New Jersey’s parents of students with disabilities could soon have more resources and a stronger voice in shaping their child’s special education program following recommendations drafted by a state-mandated working group.

The 27-member group made up of educators, advocates, and parents outlined 17 recommendations aimed at making individualized education programs, or IEPs, more consistent, accessible, and effective for New Jersey students. An IEP is a legally required plan that details services a child with a disability should be receiving in school.

The report calls for significant improvements in how schools develop IEPs and emphasizes the need for transparency, accountability, measurable goals, and parent involvement in the process. Some of the recommendations include creating one statewide IEP system, providing parents with draft IEPs at least five working days before a meeting, and requiring the state to develop a consistent level of performance structure, which forms the foundation of an IEP.

The working group, established by a law signed under former Gov. Phil Murphy last summer, released its final report in January and created the recommendations by looking at gaps in current school IEP practices across New Jersey.

Introduced as a bill by Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz, the law also mandated that schools provide parents with a written statement of items to be discussed at an IEP meeting, no later than two business days before it takes place.

The working group submitted its 17 recommendations to the state’s education department and now are awaiting a response and legislative action, said Peg Kinsell, policy director at SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, who was part of the state working group.

Kinsell said “education, empowerment, changes to the system, and monitoring” are all part of the improvements the group recommended to ensure parents get a seat at the table and consistency is set across school districts.

“It just is the responsibility of the schools, and ultimately the state, to empower families to be the active participants in this IEP process on all sides of the equation from the beginning,” Kinsell added.

The new reports come as state and local leaders look for ways to bolster the state’s special education system, which has experienced an increase in the number of children needing services. In New Jersey, autism rates among 8-year-olds without intellectual disabilities spiked by 500% from 2000 to 2016 and overall cases among children with intellectual disabilities tripled during the same period, according to a 2023 report from researchers at Rutgers University.

In Newark, researchers found that as of 2020, 1 in 20 children had been diagnosed with autism, compared with 1 in 167 in 2000. Newark Public Schools has also experienced an increase in students with disabilities; last school year, nearly 7,000 students with disabilities enrolled in the district.

According to the report, the group looked at five priorities: present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, goals and objectives, implementation of IEPs, monitoring of student progress, and IEP team collaboration and consultation.

Kinsell, who has more than two decades of experience working on special education advocacy, said the state should take a closer look at how school districts are implementing IEPs.

The working group’s recommendations called to strengthen accountability by adding a “special education service implementation” category to the state’s evaluation system for school districts known as the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum, or NJQSAC.

The group also recommended standardizing documents and professional development so all IEP team members, including parents, understand what implementation of services looks like.

“We have to stop thinking special education has its own laws, its own rules, its own process, they’re still part of the educational system,” Kinsell added. “Why don’t we have really explicit progress monitoring of special education? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several recommendations also focus specifically on parent involvement, a recurring concern raised throughout the working group sessions.

Under IDEA, the federal law that ensures students with disabilities receive special education services, an IEP is meant to be drafted collaboratively with parents. Kinsell says parents have reported receiving the document at the meeting itself, leaving little to no time for review, prepare questions, or advocate effectively for their child.

The group also recommends expanding parent training resources and translating materials to ensure families who don’t speak English can participate in the process.

Kinsell hopes the new report will “keep the conversation going” about the need to bolster New Jersey’s special education program.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark to open new school in the East Ward to relieve overcrowding

2026-03-02T18:00:48+00:00

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A new elementary school is coming to Newark’s East Ward, and the city school board wants the public’s input.

Newark Public Schools is in the early planning stages of opening the new Riverfront Elementary School in the St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church building on Fleming Avenue, board president Hasani Council told Chalkbeat on Friday.

Council did not say whether the district would use all or part of the St. Aloysius building, or if it plans to lease or purchase the property. District officials have not yet released details about the building’s capacity, project timeline, or estimated costs.

The school board will host a special hearing on March 25 at 5 p.m. at Lafayette Street School to present its proposal and hear from residents, according to Council, who made the announcement about the hearing at the end of February’s board meeting. Council on Friday said the district needs a new school in the East Ward to relieve overcrowding.

“It is time. They are severely overcrowded in the East Ward, so this will help alleviate a lot of the burden of overcrowding there,” Council added.

The new elementary school would add seats in one of Newark’s fastest growing neighborhoods as migration and changes in enrollment have strained existing schools. An increase in new housing developments in the ward has limited the amount of land available for new school construction.

In New Jersey, the state Schools Development Authority is responsible for building new schools in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts. The agency receives funding on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis, but advocates for healthy student learning environments say consistent annual investments are needed to cover renovations, replacements, and upgrades to buildings in all districts.

Superintendent Roger León has previously said that it would take more than $2 billion to fully fix and update all district schools. The state’s largest district can’t build a new school using its funds, but it can lease property.

Newark’s East Ward neighborhood is a densely populated area home to eight elementary schools and two high schools. More than half of East Ward schools operate in original buildings that date back to the 1800s. The SDA promised Newark to build a new high school in the South Ward and rebuild 13 of its oldest school buildings, but the East Ward could miss out on the promise due to the scarce availability of land.

As León continues to open new schools, the district has also leased properties. This school year, the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design opened in the former Saint James Hospital building after the district reached a 30-year, $300 million lease with the property owner. The school opened in September after a nearly three-year delay due to state stop-work orders over wage complaints.

In 2024, the district was weighing whether to present a $1.2 billion bond referendum to city voters to cover school repairs. But district leaders squashed that plan after learning that it was unlikely to gain support, according to León.

State leaders are also sounding the alarm about the need to upgrade New Jersey’s oldest school buildings. Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz introduced a bill last month that, if approved, would place a question on the November ballot to authorize $10.5 billion in new state bonds for school construction, expansion, and renovation projects in districts across the state.

During last month’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Ruiz said the last time the state went to bond for school construction funding was during her first budget cycle, roughly 18 years ago.

“That is a disservice to every single student, family and community and district in the state of New Jersey,” Ruiz said.

Last week, the Newark school board approved a $6.3 million state grant for renovations at Technology and Weequahic high schools.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark teen coalition pushes back after city school board shuts down student policy proposals

2026-02-27T22:30:08+00:00

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A group of Newark teens took turns scolding Superintendent Roger León and school board members on Thursday for rejecting policy proposals that would have given students more say in how the district addresses mental health needs and building concerns.

“We all are your students, and we’re telling you about what is going on in our schools, in our lives,” Science Park High School junior Cidell Torto told León and board members as she questioned why they wouldn’t want student input.

Another Science Park student, senior Fatoumata Bah, told members that for students, their proposals are “about whether the systems that are supposed to protect and support us are actually visible, accessible, and accountable in our daily lives.”

“This is what it looks like when young people take the reality of their daily lives and turn it into solutions,” Bah added.

The teens are part of the Youth Power Action Coalition, which pushed the proposals that would have allowed for more student participation in policymaking and provided measures to hold the district accountable if systems fall short.

But the response from the Newark Board of Education’s governance committee? We’re good with the status quo.

The committee reviewed the recommended proposals this month and said the district already has mechanisms in place that address the issues. Member Melissa Reed tried to move the proposals to the March agenda, but failed because policies must be approved in committee before reaching a full board vote, said board attorney Brenda Liss during the meeting.

“I heard calls for transparency, accountability, and most importantly, a seat at the table. These concerns matter,” said Reed on Thursday.

Jairo Loaiza Lima, a senior at Bard High School, said he and his peers weren’t there “to replace anything the district already does.”

“It was about a gap we see every day as students, a gap between what exists on paper and what students actually experience,” Lima told the board. “A lot of systems assume students know where to go for help. In reality, many don’t.”

The teens were accompanied by roughly 13 other students who form part of the larger coalition. Two charter school students also spoke about the need to bolster mental health resources in all city schools.

The students’ criticism comes months after they surveyed students on building concerns and current mental health resources in schools. In November, the coalition asked the school board to collaborate with them to strengthen existing policies using data they collected from teen experiences. The group also met in January with board president Hasani Council and member Josephine Garcia to discuss their proposals.

The students’ proposals would have added more frequent mental health surveys and a student mental health support tracker, according to the proposal.

The coalition’s mental health policy would have expanded on the district’s crisis intervention policy, which says “the superintendent and appropriate staff will develop and implement a comprehensive and continuing adolescent suicide awareness, prevention, and intervention program for the entire school community.”

The students’ facilities proposals would have developed a tool for students to report building concerns and a public dashboard tracking reported issues. It would have expanded on the district’s current long-range facilities planning, which describes current facilities needs, projected enrollment challenges, and plans to build, alter, or remodel schools.

The group, convened by the Gem Project, a nonprofit organization focused on strengthening youth civic engagement, is also working to boost youth turnout among Newark’s 16- and 17-year-old voters in this year’s school board election. Only 73 teens voted last year, the first time youth could vote in the Newark school board race.

The school board’s governance committee, in response to the youth proposals, highlighted resources listed online, such as the New Jersey Department of Children and Families Resource Guide, Character Education Initiative, and its teen mental health conference as resources already available for students. The committee also pointed to the district’s automated work order system, School Dude, as a way for district staff, students, and parents to report building issues.

During the meeting, Amanda Ebokosia, founder of the Gem Project and youth advocate, said the policy proposals “did not duplicate current student mental health initiatives or services,” but rather met “the growing need and answered the calls, pleas, and concerns of all students, not just a specific school.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey’s biggest school district will get $6.3 million to fix old schools

2026-02-27T11:00:01+00:00

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The Newark Board of Education is steering $6.3 million in state funds to repairs at two city high schools as part of efforts to maintain the district’s decades-old buildings.

The board on Thursday approved the bulk of the money — $6 million — for repairs at Technology High School, while just under $350,000 will go to Weequahic High School. The funds come from a Schools Development Authority grant that allocated $6,349,715 to Newark this fiscal year for urgent building needs and to prevent further deterioration. The SDA is the state agency responsible for fully funding school construction projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts.

The district proposes urgent repairs and maintenance projects to the state, and once the SDA approves them, it directs funding to schools that need it. Unlike state funds for urgent repairs, the SDA decides which schools to build or renovate and manages new construction from start to finish.

During Thursday’s board meeting, León did not mention the state’s funding before the board unanimously voted to accept the grant. Instead, he said the ongoing work to fix the district’s aging infrastructure includes using money from the district’s capital maintenance fund.

“We will be impacting every classroom, every office, and every school in this entire district from its roof to whatever is the lower level of the building to make sure that we’re providing for all of the students and the staff the type of school every child in Newark deserves,” said Leon as he discussed recent renovations to the auditorium at Sir Isaac Newton Elementary School, where the board meeting was held.

Before the school board went into executive session, board president Hasani Council said the funds will be used for roof and facade repairs at Technology and HVAC replacements at Weequahic’s gym.

Newark’s public schools are among the oldest in the state, and more than half require yearly updates to roofs, boilers, plumbing, and other areas. Since those repairs can cost millions, districts like Newark depend on the SDA for school construction and help in maintaining buildings. The new funding is part of the SDA’s efforts to stabilize old school infrastructure across the state, as building conditions can disrupt student learning and lead to more costly repairs over time.

Technology High School in the North Ward, built in 1913, is a top-rated magnet school in the district with 662 students in the 2024-25 school year. Weequahic High School in the South Ward is a traditional high school built in 1931 with 592 students last school year. Both schools require new paint, chemical water treatments, annual inspections, and other routine work, according to the district’s comprehensive maintenance plan. State funding remains critical for Newark to prevent worsening building conditions and more costly repairs.

The new grant is funded through the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget, when former Gov. Phil Murphy directed $50 million to the SDA for emergent and capital maintenance projects. Newark, the state’s largest school district, received the largest allocation of the funds in the last budget cycle, with Elizabeth receiving the second-highest amount.

The SDA has also agreed to replace 13 of Newark public schools’ oldest buildings, but that deal leaves out 20 schools that need to be replaced, according to the district. León on Thursday said the district was supposed to receive 40 new school buildings during the state’s takeover of the district between 1995 and 2018 but only received eight.

The SDA has also committed to spending nearly $153 million to rebuild a high school in Newark’s South Ward and relocate a nearby elementary school. That project is currently in the design phase with plans to begin early site work this summer, according to SDA spokesperson Edythe Maier.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey blizzard exposed Newark Teachers Union concerns about getting to school safely

2026-02-24T23:11:29+00:00

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Newark Teachers Union president John Abeigon is calling on state lawmakers to loosen restrictions on virtual learning after a blizzard buried the city in snow and raised concerns about getting to school safely.

Newark schools were closed Monday due to the winter storm, but teachers and staff who live in Newark and other parts of the state had been worried about getting to school on Tuesday after some parts of the city got up to 27 inches of snow, Abeigon told Chalkbeat on Tuesday.

By Monday afternoon, Superintendent Roger León decided to move Wednesday’s scheduled staff development day to Tuesday and make it virtual, a decision educators were grateful for as they had an extra day to prepare for the school week, Abeigon added.

But other school districts in New Jersey didn’t have that choice as the current law makes it harder for districts to call for remote learning days during severe weather, even when travel conditions are unsafe, Abeigon said.

“These are not like the days of the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ where teachers lived in town,” Abeigon added. “The vast majority of teachers in Newark don’t live in the city. And that’s the same for any large and mid-size district in the state.”

While schools in New York have the option to move to remote learning during major winter storms, New Jersey’s law doesn’t allow that same flexibility. New York City schools had a snow day on Monday and returned to in-person instruction on Tuesday.

Under state law, districts cannot count remote learning toward their required 180 school days per year unless schools close for three consecutive days. During January’s winter storm, Newark Public Schools also shut down buildings for one day during a week when teachers had a prescheduled staff development day. Abeigon urged legislators to revisit the state law to prevent districts from canceling school altogether in the future.

“We want to find a legislator who would create that legislation so we could support it,” Abeigon added.

Silvia Pereira, one of the vice presidents for the Newark Teachers Union and executive vice president for pre-K to 12 for the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, said she was thankful to have a virtual professional development day on Tuesday, but had that not been the case, she would’ve found it difficult to get to Newark from her home in Union.

Pereira, a Newark Public Schools teacher, also said the state should come up with a task force that could look at how to address snow days in New Jersey, as the state also contends with strategies to address chronic absenteeism and literacy.

“I think it’s important to look at other factors that could be impacting student learning, and how we can really address them when we have major snowstorms that could prompt school closures for more than one day,” Pereira added.

The area’s massive snowfall also prompted Newark city leaders to enact emergency parking measures that allowed residents to park cars in certain school parking lots until 11 p.m. on Monday. Newark Public Schools’ facilities teams were also seen cleaning up snow around schools.

Mayor Ras Baraka on Tuesday urged residents to report unplowed streets, hazardous snow conditions, or other snow-related issues by calling 973-733-4311.

Newark Public Schools students are expected to return to classrooms on Wednesday.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Nominee for NJ education commissioner says she would help school districts, not hinder them

2026-02-19T21:17:06+00:00

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The New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously advanced Lily Laux’s nomination to serve as the state’s commissioner of education, moving her one step closer to leading the state’s public schools that serve 1.3 million students.

Speaking to senators before the vote, Laux discussed the need to identify the root causes of school budget deficits; expand academic recovery efforts; support schools in implementing artificial intelligence; and fix the state’s aging school buildings.

Laux, however, did not mention specific plans or initiatives she would launch as head of the state’s education department, which oversees more than 500 school districts.

During Thursday’s hearing, senators questioned Laux for more than an hour about how she would tackle New Jersey’s biggest educational challenges. Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz, who represents Newark, said she feels excited about Laux taking the state’s top education role.

“I know that with Lily the momentum is going to continue on behalf of students and that to me is the most important part,” Ruiz told Chalkbeat after the hearing.

A former deputy commissioner of school programs in Texas, Laux told senators that “everything is on the table” to support Gov. Mikie Sherrill and the legislature’s goals to improve schools and support students. Sherrill nominated Laux to the commissioner’s job earlier this year. Following the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Thursday, the state Senate will hold a final vote at a future date to confirm Laux.

“I’ve learned that state agencies can help or hinder [school districts],” Laux said Thursday. “We can work hand in hand to make sure students have real opportunities and measure outcomes in an honest way.”

Laux’s nomination comes as districts continue to grapple with changes to the state’s school funding formula that have led to budget deficits in some districts and increases in others, aging and crumbling buildings, and shifting enrollment trends.

In Newark, the state’s largest school district, the next commissioner will help shape how state aid is distributed; provide support for the city’s most vulnerable students; oversee initiatives to help improve third grade literacy; and continue monitoring district performance, as local leaders navigate budget pressures and enrollment fluxes.

Laux also stressed her commitment to expanding opportunities for students through career and technical education programs, expanding high-impact tutoring efforts, and helping school districts understand new policies and initiatives. She did not go into specifics about her plans but stressed that state data would help drive those discussions in collaboration with Sherrill’s office, the legislature, and school districts.

Ruiz and Sen. Vin Gopal, who represents parts of Monmouth County and chairs the Senate Education Committee, also raised the urgent need to fix New Jersey’s oldest school buildings. This month, Ruiz introduced legislation that would create a $10.5 billion bond to fund school construction projects in Newark and other districts, subject to state voters’ approval.

Laux said she has not yet met with the Schools Development Authority, the state agency tasked with overseeing school construction projects. Although the state’s education department isn’t tasked with managing school construction, Laux said she wants to ensure that school buildings are meeting students’ needs.

Senators also spent a portion of Thursday’s hearing discussing the state’s school funding formula amid ongoing budget deficits in many districts across the state. Laux, who will be tasked with helping modernize the funding formula, said she wants to ensure school funding is supporting student outcomes and performance.

“We need to make sure this conversation as a whole is not just about the money, but really about the impact it has,” said Laux about school funding.

In Newark, state aid makes up 84% of the district’s budget, but last year, officials with the city school district said they were $34.2 million below what the state defines as adequate funding.

Before her nomination to the commissioner’s job, Laux worked for the ILO Group, an education policy and strategy firm that develops educational strategies with state and district leaders. She also spent nearly seven years with the Texas Education Agency, where, as deputy commissioner of school programs, she led the implementation of school finance reform, the agency’s COVID-19 response, and a comprehensive literacy initiative.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Four Newark school board seats are up for election this April. Residents who want to run can apply.

2026-02-12T19:15:11+00:00

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The Newark school board race is officially underway.

The annual Newark Board of Education election is scheduled for April 21, and residents interested in running can begin submitting nominating petitions to secure their spot on the ballot.

Candidates have until 4 p.m. on March 2 to collect 25 signatures from city voters and file their nominating petition packet with the district’s board secretary, Nancy Deering. Only Newark residents are eligible to run.

This year, four seats are up for election. Three seats come with full three-year terms, while one is for an unexpired one-year term. A drawing on March 11 will determine the order of names appearing on the April ballot, subject to final approval by the Essex County Clerk’s office.

The seats currently held by Hasani Council, Allison James-Frison, Vereliz Santana, Josephine Garcia, and Melissa Reed are up for election. The board members have not yet publicly announced if they plan to seek reelection.

Newark’s nine-member school board decides policies in the state’s largest school system, which is home to over 40,000 students across 65 schools. The board is also tasked with holding Superintendent Roger León accountable, approving district contracts, and passing the budget. Last year, the board approved a $1.57 billion budget amid federal uncertainties.

This year’s election comes six years after the district regained local control of its schools, as it continues to navigate financial and academic challenges.

The winning candidates will be tasked with finding ways to fix the district’s old school buildings, provide support for English language learners and students with disabilities, manage district finances, improve equity in schools, implement new cellphone policies and state literacy initiatives, and boost student performance.

The 2026 school board race is also the second time the city’s 16- and 17-year-olds will cast their votes after winning the right to vote in 2024. In 2025, only 73 teens voted for the first time in a school board race. Overall, only 3.47% of Newark voters participated in the 2025 election, slightly below the 3.94% turnout rate among the city’s youth voters – and about average for school board elections, in which 3% to 4% of voters typically participate.

Last year, 11 candidates ran for three seats on the school board. The “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate, which typically gains support from state and local politicians, including Mayor Ras Baraka and state Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz, won the 2025 election.

New voters, including youth who will be 16 or 17 by the April 21 election, can register to vote by March 31. Residents can vote at their designated polling location or by mail if they register for that option by April 14. Newark and Irvington school boards are the only ones holding April elections in Essex County.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

A $10.5B school construction bond could help fix Newark’s old school buildings

2026-02-06T21:05:04+00:00

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A proposed $10.5 billion state school construction bond could unlock new funding for Newark Public Schools and other school districts in the state to address longstanding needs for new schools and urgent repairs.

Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz introduced legislation Thursday that, if approved, would ask voters in November to authorize new state bonds for school construction, expansion, and renovation projects in high-poverty districts as well as others.

The state, through the Schools Development Authority or SDA, is obligated to fully fund school construction in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts, including East Orange, Elizabeth, and Paterson. New Jersey’s other school districts can apply for state-funded construction grants through the SDA, which typically contributes a minimum 40% of construction costs.

Senate Bill 3382, as currently written, does not specify repayment terms such as the number of years, interest rates, or the effect on taxpayers.

“This bill marks the start of a broader conversation about how we can modernize our public schools and provide students with an education that meets the demands of the 21st century. While this approach may be one path to address the issue, the need for action is clear,” Ruiz said in a statement.

Debra Coyle, executive director of the New Jersey Work Environment Council, said the new bill is a step in the right direction, but many schools are already in need of urgent repairs. The state estimates that construction needs in SDA districts that aren’t already funded would cost about $7 billion.

“School construction, if we don’t start addressing the need, then that price tag is just going to keep going up on the current backlog of projects,” Coyle said.

Since the SDA was established in 2007, more than $760 million has been spent on renovation projects in Newark alone, the most of any school district in New Jersey. The SDA estimates that without additional funding or new bond authorization, it will run out of funds for new capital projects by 2030.

The $10.5 billion bond proposal introduced by Ruiz would authorize $7 billion for SDA districts and $3.5 billion for school construction grants in other school districts. That funding is especially crucial as the state agency has already committed all its funding from previous allocations to current school projects.

In Newark Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, students struggle in hot schools during summer temperatures, while others encounter inoperable water fountains, crowded hallways, and no central heating or air conditioning. Superintendent Roger León estimated that roughly $2 billion is needed to fully repair and update schools, which are among the oldest school buildings in the state.

Nikki Baker, organizer for the Healthy Schools Now coalition and a former educator, said that she’s been in schools with dirty bathrooms, loose ceiling tiles, leaky and broken pipes. Her team, along with Coyle, has been working with Ruiz on the new legislation, which has been months in the making, Baker said. She hopes the new bill will pass with voter approval to provide more equity in school learning environments.

“Within the same school district, children can be having very different experiences in their schools. That doesn’t mean that you have to necessarily tear down the schools, but unfortunately, a lot of schools have gotten to that point. Even making renovations to make [students] safer, to keep everyone well, that just feels good,” Baker said.

In 2008, the state allocated $3.9 billion in funds to the SDA, of which $2.9 billion went to high-poverty districts. That was the largest, and most recent, cash infusion to the SDA before former Gov. Phil Murphy unlocked nearly $2 billion over the last two budget cycles, resulting in 19 new construction projects and hundreds of building repair projects for districts across New Jersey included in the SDA’s 2022 strategic plan.

In 2024, the state agreed to replace 13 of Newark Public Schools’ oldest buildings, but that deal leaves out 20 schools that need to be replaced, according to the district. Also in 2024, the state committed to spending nearly $153 million to build a new high school in Newark’s South Ward and relocate a nearby elementary school – a project still in its early stages that requires state funds to begin. And since Newark can’t build its own schools, the district last year agreed to pay $300 million over 30 years for a new trade high school in the city’s densely populated East Ward neighborhood.

The state “remains on the hook to meet its constitutional obligations” to fund school construction in Newark and other high-poverty districts, said Theresa Luhm, attorney and managing director at the Education Law Center.

“This has been a long time coming and it’s very necessary, not just for the SDA districts, but for all school districts across the state,” Luhm said.

Currently, the SDA receives funds from the legislation on a “pay as you go” basis with no longterm funding to support their work. In 2024, Newark Public Schools was weighing whether to present a $1.2 billion bond referendum to city voters last April to cover school repairs. But district leaders squashed that plan after learning that it was unlikely to gain support, according to León last year.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

As New Jersey leadership changes, the state’s next commissioner of education will focus on literacy

2026-02-04T22:56:07+00:00

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New Jersey’s incoming education leader, Lily Laux, has experience overseeing literacy initiatives in Texas, where she served as one of that state’s top education officials and implemented training for over 150,000 K-3 teachers in the science of reading. Now, Laux is expected to bring her expertise in literacy reform to her new position.

The New Jersey Board of Education confirmed Laux as acting commissioner of education, a procedural move that allows her to take over when Kevin Dehmer steps down by the end of the day Wednesday.

Laux’s official appointment to lead the state’s education department is pending Senate approval.

Before her nomination to the state’s top education seat, Laux worked for the ILO Group, an education policy and strategy firm that develops educational strategies with state and district leaders. She also spent nearly seven years with the Texas Education Agency, where, as deputy commissioner of school programs, she led the implementation of school finance reform, the agency’s COVID-19 response, and a comprehensive literacy initiative.

In New Jersey, Laux will focus on literacy outcomes, expanding access to pre-K, increasing mental health resources, modernizing the state’s school funding formula, and investing in high-impact tutoring, once her appointment is finalized, according to the state.

Speaking to state board of education members on Wednesday, Laux said public schools were essential to her life story, and her upbringing prepared her for work in education. Raised by a single mother, Laux said she felt inspired to pursue a career in education, and as a teacher, she witnessed the systemic barriers making lives harder for students, school districts, and educators, Laux said.

“I’m very honored that Gov. Sherrill has entrusted me with this vision of how do we continue to take what’s already great in New Jersey and make sure that we have tremendous opportunity for every single student,” Laux said.

Laux will succeed Dehmer, who spent more than 17 years with the New Jersey Department of Education serving in financial leadership roles, including twice as acting commissioner of education, before he was formally sworn into the role last March. On Monday, Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Dehmer as her pick to be the state’s chief technology officer, overseeing the New Jersey Office of Information Technology.

During Wednesday’s state board of education meeting, members praised Laux’s extensive background in education. Dehmer called her “outstanding and overly qualified.”

As commissioner of education, Laux will oversee the state’s 1.4 million students across its more than 600 school districts. She will also support other education priorities laid out by the Sherrill administration, including equity in schools and overseeing the state’s literacy framework.

Laux is “all about students, access, and opportunity,” said Julia Rafal-Baer, chief executive officer at ILO Group.

During her time with the ILO Group last fall, Laux worked with state and district leaders across the country to help oversee strategies in implementing instructional materials for schools and the responsible use of AI in schools, and used her expertise around workforce development to help develop pathways for student success, said Rafal-Baer.

“She comes at her work with such a deep appreciation for the power of public schools and what public school teachers did for her,” Rafal-Baer added.

Education advocates in Newark will be looking to Laux and the Sherrill administration to help fund updates to public school buildings, improve early childhood education, desegregate schools, and provide more resources for families of students with disabilities. In January, Sherrill signed an executive order to establish the Office of Youth Online Mental Health Safety and Awareness in the Department of Health to help protect kids online and improve their mental health.

Laux was also a candidate for commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education last April.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey renews 22 charter school agreements and nine enrollment expansions, including two in Newark

2026-01-31T00:05:38+00:00

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New Jersey’s education department approved the renewal of five charter schools in Newark and the expansion of two schools, but denied an enrollment expansion for KIPP schools, known as TEAM Academy in Newark after the city’s public school district raised objections.

Kevin Dehmer, the state’s education commissioner, renewed Great Oaks Legacy, LEAD, Robert Treat Academy, North Star Academy, and all Newark KIPP schools to operate for the next five years, through Jan. 30, 2031, according to charter school decision letters obtained by Chalkbeat from the state education department.

Robert Treat Academy, with campuses in the North and Central wards, and North Star Academy, part of the Uncommon Schools network across Newark, received approval to boost their enrollment by the 2030-31 school year, but the state blocked KIPP’s request to add just over 1,000 seats by 2030-31 across its schools in Newark.

Kevin Dehmer, the state’s education commissioner, sent charter school decision letters on Jan. 16, before Gov. Mikie Sherrill was sworn in. The letters were sent to schools statewide that sought renewals or amendments to their charter agreements, including requests to renew charter applications, add a grade level, or increase seats. The education department evaluates requests by reviewing a charter school’s academic, operational, and fiscal standing, outlined by state guidelines.

State laws allow charter schools to be renewed for a maximum of five years, but under new legislation signed this month, the education commissioner can grant 10-year renewals to charter schools that meet high-performing standards.

This year, 22 charter school requests were approved statewide, including the five in Newark. New Jersey renewed charter agreements for schools in Jersey City, Paterson, Hoboken, and Camden, and denied the expansion of Thomas Edison EnergySmart School in Somerset. Overall, nine charter school enrollment expansions were approved across the state.

The decisions follow previous charter school determinations made under former Gov. Phil Murphy to approve charter schools and deny expansions. Sherrill has not explicitly stated her plans for charter schools in New Jersey, but during her campaign, she generally opposed expanding school choice through vouchers or new charter schools. She has said she would support expanding the state’s Intradistrict Public School Choice program.

Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger Leon asked the state to renew KIPP’s charter agreement without an enrollment expansion, citing the “fiscal impact” on the district, according to the state letter. Leon alleged that the network “does not enroll a proportional share of multilingual learners and students with disabilities,” according to a letter he submitted.

Leon also opposed expansions for North Star Academy and Robert Treat Academy, citing the same reasons.

The charter school decisions come as Leon continues to reclaim Newark public school buildings lost under the state’s 25-year takeover of the district. He has vowed to slow the spread of charter schools in the city. In 2024, the district won a four-year legal battle that forced People’s Preparatory Charter School out of the Bard Early College High School. The school merged with Achieve Community Charter School to create a new K-12 school called BRICK Gateway Academy.

Newark Public Schools opposes charter school expansion

KIPP Schools in Newark are known as TEAM Academy and enroll students in grades K-12 across 12 schools. The network of schools in Newark requested to expand enrollment from 7,920 seats to 9,010 seats by the 2030-31 school year, according to its state decision letter this year.

After reviewing the network’s academic, organizational, and financial performance, the state found that KIPP TEAM Academy partially met standards in board capacity, school climate and culture, and access and equity. According to annual reports submitted to the state, the charter network’s board had not conducted formal evaluations. The board is expected to complete them during the next five years, according to the state letter.

The network also reported a 17% out-of-school suspension rate for school years 2021-22 through 2023-24, during which several kindergarten through second grade students received out-of-school suspensions each year, the state letter read.

State officials said the high number of suspensions created “significant concerns” in the network’s ability to adhere to state law, which restricts out-of-school suspensions for those grade levels, the state’s decision letter stated.

But the state found the charter network met standards in educating students with disabilities and multilingual learners, contradicting Leon’s allegations. KIPP schools in Newark have roughly 939 students with Individualized Education Programs, with an average of 80 to 90 students with existing IEPs or Section 504 Plans enrolled annually, according to the state letter.

John Abeigon, the president of the Newark Teachers Union, the American Federation of Teachers, and the City Association of Supervisors and Administrators, among other unions and groups, also submitted comments opposing the charter network’s enrollment expansion.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, along with council members Patrick Council and Anibal Ramos, submitted comments in support of the charter network, expressing support for the charter renewal due to the network’s “strong academic record and the educational choice it provides to the Newark community,” according to the state letter.

By the 2030-31 school year, Robert Treat Academy will expand from 860 seats to 1,620 seats, while North Star Academy, with schools in the Central and West Wards, will boost enrollment from 7,792 seats to 8,556 seats after receiving approval this year.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Correction: Jan. 30, 2026: A previous version of this story reported that TEAM Academy was seeking to expand its enrollment by 7,920 seats to 9,010 seats by 2030-31. That request was from the KIPP charter network and included TEAM Academy and 11 other Newark schools KIPP operates.

Los estudiantes de Newark ya no podrán usar teléfonos celulares en las escuelas según la nueva ley estatal

2026-01-28T16:31:43+00:00

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Las escuelas de Newark dejarán de usar teléfonos a partir de septiembre gracias a una nueva ley estatal que exige a los distritos limitar el uso de teléfonos celulares por parte de los estudiantes durante las horas de instrucción.

El jueves 8 de enero, en una sala repleta de educadores, estudiantes y legisladores en la Ramsey High School, el gobernador Phil Murphy firmó la ley que exige a todos los distritos escolares de Nueva Jersey adoptar nuevas restricciones sobre el uso de teléfonos celulares y otros dispositivos con conexión a internet en las escuelas primarias y secundarias. El Departamento de Educación estatal también publicará una guía actualizada sobre teléfonos celulares a finales de este mes.

La nueva ley no prohíbe directamente los teléfonos celulares en las escuelas, sino que insta a los distritos a implementar políticas a principios del año escolar 2026-27.

Las nuevas políticas deberían, como mínimo, proporcionar directrices apropiadas para la edad y el nivel de grado para restringir el uso del teléfono celular y las redes sociales durante la clase. Las políticas también deben permitir excepciones según el caso.

La nueva ley llega después de que el estado, en diciembre, otorgará una subvención a Newark y otros 85 distritos escolares que se comprometieron a tener escuelas sin teléfonos y a implementar una política de “timbre a timbre”.

Murphy ha pedido repetidamente la prohibición de los teléfonos celulares durante el horario escolar, y este año, la organización estatal Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents (Comisión Sobre los Efectos del Uso de las Redes Sociales en los Adolescentes) publicó un informe que recomendaba su prohibición permanente. La comisión también concluyó que los celulares y las redes sociales pueden afectar la autoestima de los jóvenes y causar ansiedad y depresión.

“Vamos a eliminar de nuestras aulas distracciones innecesarias y alentar a nuestros niños a estar más atentos y comprometidos durante la jornada escolar”, afirmó Murphy.

La iniciativa de Nueva Jersey para escuelas sin teléfonos forma parte de una creciente tendencia nacional de prohibir el uso de celulares desde el primer timbre hasta la salida. California y Nueva York implementaron iniciativas similares para limitar el uso de teléfonos en las escuelas y financiar a los distritos escolares para que implementen las políticas.

El uso excesivo de teléfonos inteligentes y redes sociales puede afectar el sueño, tener efectos negativos en la salud mental de los jóvenes y perjudicar el rendimiento académico, según estudios recientes. Algunos distritos escolares también están observando una mejora en los resultados de las pruebas tras implementar la prohibición del uso de teléfonos celulares.

La nueva ley marca uno de los últimos actos de Murphy como gobernador antes de que la gobernadora electa Mikie Sherrill preste juramento el 20 de enero en Newark. Durante su campaña para gobernadora, Sherrill declaró que apoyaba la prohibición estatal de los teléfonos celulares en las escuelas e impulsó una mayor concienciación sobre los peligros de las redes sociales y sus efectos en la salud mental de los jóvenes.

Esto es lo que sabemos sobre la ley de escuelas sin teléfonos de Nueva Jersey:

¿A quién y a qué se aplica la ley?

Según la nueva ley, el Comisionado de Educación del estado debe actualizar las directrices sobre la restricción del uso de teléfonos celulares y otros dispositivos con conexión a internet, incluyendo relojes inteligentes, por parte de los estudiantes durante el horario escolar, en el autobús escolar o durante eventos escolares. Los estudiantes también tendrán prohibido usar redes sociales durante el horario escolar.

Las directrices se publicarán a mediados de enero después de consultar con las partes interesadas, según el estado.

Las juntas escolares deberán adoptar políticas que se ajusten a las directrices estatales, manteniendo la flexibilidad para ofrecer adaptaciones razonables según corresponda. La ley se aplicará a las escuelas públicas de primaria y secundaria, incluidas las escuelas chárter.

Murphy dijo el jueves que la nueva ley mejorará los entornos de aprendizaje en todo el estado.

“Los estudiantes están más concentrados, están menos ansiosos y socializan y se ríen entre ellos, no a través de una pantalla, sino en los pasillos y las aulas”, dijo Murphy, refiriéndose a Ramsey High School, donde los teléfonos están prohibidos durante el horario escolar.

¿Cómo recogerán los teléfonos las escuelas?

Los distritos escolares pueden adquirir sistemas de almacenamiento para teléfonos, como taquillas, bolsas con llave o armarios de registro, para guardar los celulares al inicio de la jornada escolar. Las nuevas directrices estatales incluirán opciones que los distritos escolares podrán usar para guardar los dispositivos de los estudiantes.

En diciembre, las Escuelas Públicas de Newark recibieron $176,625 para la compra de un sistema de almacenamiento como parte del Programa Estatal de Subvenciones para Escuelas sin Teléfonos, una asignación de $3 millones en el presupuesto del año fiscal 2026. Dos escuelas chárter de Newark también recibieron subvenciones: Maria L. Varisco-Rogers, por $1,490, y Great Oaks Legacy, por $9,022.

El objetivo, como han dicho anteriormente los líderes estatales, es minimizar las distracciones durante el día escolar y garantizar que los estudiantes participen durante las horas de instrucción.

¿Existen excepciones a la ley?

Las nuevas políticas escolares deben abordar el uso de teléfonos celulares durante una emergencia e incluir pautas para los estudiantes que necesitan sus teléfonos para traducir idiomas o aquellos responsables de cuidar a un miembro de la familia.

También se deben hacer excepciones para estudiantes con discapacidades y para aquellos cuyos planes de salud requieren que sus dispositivos gestionen una condición médica. Los padres deberán proporcionar documentación de un profesional de la salud.

En todo el país, los padres han expresado su preocupación por la prohibición de los teléfonos celulares, y otras encuestas demuestran que desean que sus hijos tengan un teléfono en la escuela en caso de emergencia. La política actual de las Escuelas Públicas de Newark sobre teléfonos celulares establece que, en caso de emergencia, los administradores indicarán a los estudiantes cuándo pueden encender un teléfono celular de forma segura.

¿Cómo se hará cumplir?

Las juntas escolares locales adoptarán sus propias políticas de acuerdo con la guía actualizada del Departamento de Educación del estado, que servirá como una “hoja de ruta para crear entornos de aprendizaje más seguros y enfocados”, según el estado.

El estado no ha dicho cómo supervisará la aplicación de la nueva ley por parte de los distritos escolares, pero permitirá que cada distrito desarrolle sus propios planes de aplicación.

Esta traducción fue proporcionada por The Latino Spirit, en asociación con el Centro de Medios Cooperativos de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair, y cuenta con el apoyo financiero del Consorcio de Información Cívica de NJ. La historia fue escrita originalmente en inglés por Chalkbeat Newark y se vuelve a publicar en virtud de un acuerdo especial para compartir contenido a través del Servicio de noticias de traducción al español de NJ News Commons

This translation was provided by The Latino Spirit, in association with the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and is financially supported by the NJ Civic Information Consortium. The story was originally written in English by Chalkbeat Newark and is republished under a special content sharing agreement through the NJ News Commons Spanish Translation News Service.

Newark Public Schools students get a day off on Monday due to massive winter snowstorm

2026-01-25T18:05:20+00:00

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Newark Public Schools will be closed Monday due to a massive snowstorm predicted to bring at least 12 inches of snow in some parts of the state.

In addition to school closures, the district’s central office will also be closed, according to an announcement posted on the district’s website and Facebook. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Friday declared a state of emergency in the state as temperatures dropped below 20 degrees over the weekend and into Monday. She also announced a temporary suspension of New Jersey Transit services on Sunday after considering the latest forecast for the winter storm.

“Beginning Saturday evening and continuing into Monday, New Jersey is expected to see heavy snowfall and severe conditions, and my top priority is the safety of our residents,” said Sherrill in a press release Friday.

Unlike New York City schools, which will go virtual on Monday, New Jersey school districts can’t offer remote learning on snow days. Districts such as Jersey City and Passaic Public Schools also announced they would close on Monday.

Under state law, remote learning only qualifies as an official school day during emergency closures that last more than three consecutive days. A single day of online classes would not count as one of the 180 required annual school days in New Jersey, according to the law. Schools can call for a school closure, delayed opening, or early closing.

Some districts have identified specific days that could be used to make up school days in the event of cancellations due to bad weather.

Newark officials urged parents to download the NPS Mobile app to receive notifications about school closures due to inclement weather.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

As Gov. Mikie Sherrill takes office, Newark education advocates outline key priorities

2026-01-20T20:34:17+00:00

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Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the first female Democratic governor in New Jersey history, was sworn into office on Tuesday in Newark and pledged to address concerns about safety, education, and economic stability for all the state’s residents.

The ceremony took place at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, one of the few times that a governor’s inauguration has not taken place in Trenton, the state’s capital. During her time as a U.S. congresswoman, Sherrill represented the state’s 11th Congressional District, which includes parts of Essex County. The scene outside of NJPAC was lively on Tuesday as dozens of state and city leaders and Sherrill supporters eagerly awaited her first remarks as governor.

During her address, Sherrill, the first female veteran to serve as governor and second female governor in state history, spoke about her commitment to New Jersey and its residents, emphasizing the importance of family and personal support in her journey to becoming governor. She made few mentions about education during her remarks.

“We’re going to fight for housing families can afford, for good schools, safe streets, and ending skyrocketing utility costs,” Sherrill said Tuesday.

In Newark, education advocates hope Sherrill’s administration will deliver on campaign promises such as working toward equity in schools, boosting student performance, and expanding the state’s Intradistrict Public School Choice Program.

Those issues are prevalent in Newark Public Schools, the state’s largest public school system, along with concerns over outdated school buildings, rising costs, student attendance, segregation, and support for the city’s most vulnerable students.

Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell, the first pastor to hold the office, was also sworn in on Tuesday and brings years of experience in K-12 schools and higher education to the role.

“It was justice that led me to serve on a school board and eventually to lead a college because I believe education is the key to opportunity and the foundation of a fair society,” Caldwell said.

Sherill’s administration has not yet released details about her education priorities this year. On the campaign trail, she pledged to invest in tutoring, student mental health, and equity in schools, largely echoing policies laid out by former Gov. Phil Murphy.

Last Friday, Sherrill announced Lily Laux, a former deputy commissioner for the Texas Education Agency, as her pick for the state’s education commissioner. Laux was also a candidate for commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Laux will focus on improving literacy outcomes, expanding access to pre-K, increasing mental health resources, modernizing and stabilizing the school funding formula, and investing in high-impact tutoring, according to a state press release.

Education advocates want Sherrill to focus on Newark’s needs

In Newark, city leaders are closely watching to see what Sherrill’s administration will tackle first. Education advocates and nonprofits told Chalkbeat last week they want Sherrill to fund updates to schools, focus on early childhood education, desegregate schools, and provide more resources for families of students with disabilities.

Vivian Cox Fraser, president and CEO of the Urban League of Essex County, said she is “eager” to work with Sherill and her administration on school segregation and hopes the new governor will address the state’s long-standing school segregation lawsuit filed in 2018 and is pending in the courts.

“Segregation has been an issue in the state for far too long. We hope Sherrill’s administration will make progress in the case,” Fraser said. “I am optimistic, you know, but at the same time, I also feel it’s important to hold everyone accountable, and hold the new administration accountable too.”

During her campaign, Sherrill expressed support for tackling segregation in schools, and one approach she has supported is the expansion of the state’s Interdistrict Public School Choice program, which allows students to attend a public school in a different district.

A coalition of students in Newark has also said investing in school infrastructure should be a top priority for the incoming administration, as many public school buildings date back to the 1920s.

Last year, a group of more than 100 organizations called on the state to fund the state’s school construction program and updates to buildings in Newark and 30 other high poverty districts. The group of organizations also called on the state to provide more funding to the Schools Development Authority, the state agency responsible for funding construction projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty school districts.

Last year, the state promised to replace 13 of the district’s oldest school buildings and build a new University High School in the South Ward, but those projects require funding for the SDA to begin the work. Sherrill has made no mention of financing the SDA yet.

Newark has operated under local control since 2020, following 25 years of state oversight. Since then, the district has encountered challenges in alleviating overcrowding in schools, raising state test scores, assessing the effects of anti-Blackness in the school system, and providing support for its students with disabilities and English language learners.

Historically, the district has struggled to get students with disabilities the services they are owed. Nadine Wright-Arbubakrr, founder of Nassan’s Place, a nonprofit supporting students with disabilities and their families in Newark, said Sherrill should bring grassroots organizations like hers “to the table” to offer their experiences in supporting the city’s most vulnerable families.

Specifically, she wants the state to create a special services unit “dedicated to families with special needs” such as those looking for food pantries, shelter and emotional support. Wright-Arbubakrr also said she hopes Sherrill’s administration will provide more representation for cities with a high number of Black and Latino residents.

“Let’s help more families so that we can make sure the quality of life that these children and these parents can be fulfilling, because the reality is right now, all you’re seeing is parents in crisis,” Wright-Arbubakrr said.

Tafshier Cosby, chief executive officer for Parent Impact, a nonprofit parent advocacy group, agreed that parents need more support, specifically to help their students navigate post-pandemic academic challenges.

Cosby said parents “would really love to see the New Jersey Department of Education put together recommendations for high-quality and culturally relevant curriculum.” She hopes Sherrill’s administration will take steps to boost student performance in literacy and math.

“With us looking forward, and as we think about technology, we also have to think about critical skills and kids being able to develop those skills,” Cosby said. “We definitely have to focus on how math is part of that conversation.”

During Murphy’s last State of the State address, he recapped his top education initiatives during his eight-year term, such as expanded full-day kindergarten, increased school state aid to districts, including Newark, fully financing the school funding formula, and a new law requiring schools to adopt phone-free policies. Sherrill has also expressed support for modernizing the state’s school funding formula and enforcing Murphy’s phone-free schools law.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

NJ Gov. Phil Murphy underscores education achievements ahead of Sherrill inauguration next week

2026-01-13T21:42:34+00:00

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Gov. Phil Murphy delivered his final State of the State address on Tuesday afternoon, recapping his most long-standing initiatives that have defined his state and education agendas during his eight-year governorship.

Murphy, a two-term Democrat who has served as New Jersey’s governor since 2018, also provided words of encouragement to Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who will be sworn into office next Tuesday in Newark. Murphy said 2026 will “mark the beginning of one of the most iconic chapters in our state’s history.”

During his address delivered in Trenton, the state’s outgoing leader pointed to his top education accomplishments, including expanded full-day kindergarten, increased school state aid to districts, including Newark, fully financing the school funding formula, and a new law requiring schools to adopt phone-free policies.

“We made long-neglected, but desperately needed, investments in our state’s future. From fully funding New Jersey’s school funding formula for the first time in history to rebuilding our roads, railways, tunnels, and bridges,” said Murphy during his Tuesday address.

Murphy’s final speech sets the stage for education priorities Sherrill may pursue as districts like Newark Public Schools, the state’s largest, grapple with crumbling school buildings, student performance, and a rise in English language learners and students with disabilities.

On Tuesday, Murphy highlighted his initiative to provide free community college to low-income residents and his administration’s work in bringing artificial intelligence to New Jersey. Last year, the state launched a set of resources aimed at helping educators understand, implement, and manage AI in schools.

“I promised to invest in our students, workers, and innovators — so they can work together to unlock new, AI-powered breakthroughs that change lives — all around the world — for the better,” said Murphy during his address.

Among his final acts as governor, Murphy signed a law last week requiring all New Jersey school districts to adopt new restrictions on the use of cellphones and other internet-enabled devices in K-12 schools. On Tuesday, Murphy said, “the law is common sense” and believes the state should go further.

Murphy praised Sherrill for identifying children’s online safety as a priority for her incoming administration. On Monday, Murphy also released the New Jersey Youth Mental Health Strategic Plan, a plan to continue youth mental health support across the state. The plan details strategies already underway and highlights other opportunities “to foster youth resiliency, reduce stigma, facilitate care delivery, and support caregivers,” a state press release stated.

“The bottom line is: We have seen the impact smartphones and social media have had on young New Jerseyans. As a parent, I’ve seen it first-hand,” said Murphy during his address. “It’s time to step up and protect our kids. We owe it to them, as well as future generations.”

Murphy made no mention of the need to fund the state’s Schools Development Authority, which is responsible for paying for construction projects in Newark Public Schools and 30 other high-poverty districts. But with no long-term financing plans, projects such as those to replace University High School in Newark are at a standstill.

Over the last three fiscal years, New Jersey has allocated nearly $2 billion for school construction projects. Still, there is an immediate need to renovate or replace more than 100 buildings in the 31 high-poverty school districts due to age and condition, according to the School Development Authority’s statewide strategic plan. Last year, the state agreed to replace 13 of Newark’s oldest public school buildings, but that deal leaves out 20 schools, district officials have previously said.

On Tuesday, Murphy said his administration is leaving the next governor a nearly $7 billion surplus, “a surplus that is more than 15 times greater” than the $409 million his administration inherited.

Murphy noted Sherrill’s commitment to New Jersey and her varied resume, which includes stints as a U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, a federal prosecutor, and a U.S. Congresswoman.

“Mikie has done it all. Like a true Naval aviator, she has navigated the chaos in Congress with grit and grace. She has inspired millions of New Jerseyans,” Murphy said. “And Mikie and Dale are going to be amazing. This job is not easy. But it is the journey of a lifetime.”

Education leaders are closely watching to see how Sherrill’s administration plans to start the year, including insight into this year’s state budget amid changes to federal funding. This school year, Murphy provided nearly $90 million in K-12 school aid. In New Jersey’s largest school district, 84% of Newark Public Schools’ budget came from state aid, a record-high $1.3 billion, but it’s too early to tell if Newark will receive a similar amount for the upcoming school year.

Sherrill did not make remarks during Tuesday’s State of the State address, but she has previously expressed plans to update the state’s school funding formula to ensure more equity among school districts. During her gubernatorial campaign, Sherrill said she would “work hard to drive down costs” in the state and would evaluate programs that are working and prioritize support for those. She is also focused on getting federal funding for education back from the Trump administration.

The former congresswoman has also pledged to tackle student performance, segregation in schools, and the expansion of the state’s Interdistrict Public School Choice program, which allows students to attend a public school in a different district. Newark Public Schools does not participate in the program, but an expansion could have implications for the district, where enrollment has increased by nearly 20% over the last five years.

Sherrill has supported phone-free schools, a priority in line with her campaign’s push to raise awareness about the dangers of social media and their effects on youth mental health. She will be sworn in on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark students will no longer be allowed to use cellphones in schools under new state law

2026-01-08T23:23:05+00:00

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Newark schools will go phone-free beginning this September under a new state law requiring districts to limit students from using cellphones during instructional hours.

On Thursday, in a room full of educators, students, and lawmakers at Ramsey High School, Gov. Phil Murphy signed the law requiring all New Jersey school districts to adopt new restrictions on the use of cellphones and other internet-enabled devices in K-12 schools. The state Education Department will also publish updated guidance on cellphones later this month.

The new law does not ban cellphones in schools outright but instead calls on districts to implement policies at the start of the 2026-27 school year.

The new policies should, at a minimum, provide “age-appropriate and grade-level guidelines” for restricting cellphone and social media use during classroom instruction. The policies must also allow for exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

The new law comes after the state, in December, awarded a grant to Newark and 85 other school districts that committed to phone-free schools and implementation of a “bell-to-bell” policy.

Murphy has repeatedly called for banning phones during school, and this year, the state Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents issued a report that recommended a “bell-to-bell” ban on cellphones. The commission also found that cellphones and social media can affect youth self-esteem and cause anxiety and depression.

“We’re going to rid our classrooms of needless distractions and encourage our children to be more attentive and engaged during the school day,” Murphy said.

New Jersey’s phone-free schools push is part of a growing trend nationwide to ban cellphone use from the first bell to dismissal. California and New York implemented similar initiatives to limit phones in school and provide funding to districts to enforce policies.

The excessive use of smartphones and social media can impact sleep, have negative effects on youth mental health, and hinder academic performance, according to recent studies. Some school districts are also seeing a boost in test scores after implementing cellphone bans.

The new law marks one of Murphy’s final acts as governor before Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill is sworn into office on Jan. 20 in Newark. During her gubernatorial campaign, Sherrill said she supported a statewide ban on cellphones in schools and pushed for more awareness about the dangers of social media and their effects on youth mental health.

Here’s what we know about New Jersey’s phone-free schools law:

Who and what does the law apply to?

Under the new law, the state’s Commissioner of Education must update guidelines on restricting students’ use of cell phones and other internet-enabled devices, including smart watches, during regular school hours, on a school bus, or during school-sanctioned events. Students will also be barred from using social media platforms during instructional hours.

The guidelines will be published in mid-January after consultation with stakeholders, according to the state.

School boards will be required to adopt policies that align with state guidelines, while maintaining flexibility to provide reasonable accommodations as appropriate. The law will apply to K-12 public schools, including charter schools.

Murphy on Thursday said the new law will improve learning environments across the state.

“Students are more focused, they’re less anxious, and they’re socializing and laughing with each other, not through a screen, but in the hallways and classrooms,” said Murphy, referring to Ramsey High School, where phones are prohibited during school hours.

How will schools collect phones?

School districts can purchase phone storage systems such as lockers, locked pouches, or check-in cabinets to store cellphones at the start of the school day. The state’s new guidelines will include options that school districts may use to store students’ devices.

In December, Newark Public Schools was awarded $176,625 to purchase a storage system as part of the state’s Phone-Free Schools Grant Program, a $3 million appropriation in the fiscal year 2026 budget. Two Newark charter schools were also awarded grant funds: Maria L. Varisco-Rogers for $1,490, and Great Oaks Legacy for $9,022.

The goal, state leaders have previously said, is to minimize distractions during the school day and ensure students are engaged throughout instructional hours.

Are there exceptions to the law?

New school policies must address the use of cellphones during an emergency and include guidelines for students who need their phones for language translation or those responsible for caring for a family member.

Exceptions must also be made for students with disabilities and for those whose health plans require their devices to manage a medical condition. Parents will have to provide documentation from a health care provider.

Across the country, parents have raised concerns about cellphone bans, and there is evidence in other surveys that parents want their children to have a phone in school in case of an emergency. Newark Public Schools’ current cellphone policy says that in the event of an emergency, administrators will direct students on when they may safely turn on a cellphone.

How will it be enforced?

Local school boards will adopt their own policies in line with updated guidance from the state’s Education Department, which will serve as a “roadmap for creating safer, more focused learning environments,” per the state.

The state has not said how it will monitor school districts’ enforcement of the new law, but will let districts develop their own enforcement plans.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New state task force could help Newark Public Schools curb chronic absenteeism rates

2026-01-08T20:30:14+00:00

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A new state task force will explore what’s driving chronic absenteeism in schools and how districts can improve attendance. New Jersey could find some clues in Newark Public Schools, where chronic absenteeism rates have dropped in recent years.

A new bill, signed into law by Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way on Dec. 30, directs the state Education Department to create a 17-member task force made up of educators, community members, policymakers, and researchers to study the root causes of absenteeism. The task force will also identify the barriers keeping students out of school, research best practices other states have adopted, and develop recommendations for districts.

Chronic absenteeism, defined by New Jersey as missing 10% or more of the school year, has become an ongoing challenge for schools nationwide, especially in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows that high chronic absenteeism rates can result in poor academic performance, dropout risks, and disengagement from school.

According to the most recent state data, nearly 15% of New Jersey students were chronically absent during the 2023-24 school year, a slight improvement from the previous school year’s rate of 16.6%. That means students are missing more school than before the pandemic, when the absenteeism rate was 10.6%.

In Newark Public Schools, the chronic absenteeism rate has significantly dropped since before the pandemic. During the 2023-24 school year, 11.5% of district students were chronically absent, down from 26.8% in 2018-19 school year, according to state school performance data.

As of November, 8.3% of Newark’s public school students have been marked chronically absent or severely chronically absent, meaning students missed six to 10 days of school or more than 10.5 days so far, according to data shared at December’s school board meeting. New Jersey does not have a severely chronically absent category.

Nelida Valentin, vice president of grants and programs for the Princeton Area Community Foundation, a philanthropic organization helping nonprofits tackle local issues, says students miss school for a number of reasons, such as home life struggles or mental health concerns. A coordinated state approach can be useful to “help strengthen and connect what is happening on the ground” with budget priorities to reduce chronic absenteeism rates, Valentin said.

“If we can identify what a healthy community looks like, what a thriving community, what a thriving state looks like, then we need to get down to the nitty-gritty and understand whether that’s happening or not, and how to provide support,” Valentin told Chalkbeat on Thursday.

In previous years, Newark’s public schools have cited housing instability, student health needs, transportation challenges, and the lingering efforts of remote learning as factors that impacted their student attendance. An unstable home life, violence, or trauma could also impact a student’s likelihood of attending and staying in school.

Attendance issues are also far greater in urban school districts compared to rural and suburban districts.

The district, under Superintendent Roger León, has worked to expand its attendance efforts in recent years by launching attendance campaigns such as “Give Me Five,” where each district employee was required to call the families of five students to urge them to show up to school on the first day and launched incentive programs offering gift cards and hockey tickets to high school students who improved their attendance. Despite the efforts, attendance gaps persist.

Valentin said schools have found success in reducing absenteeism rates when “they started to think about their environment, how they collect data,” the ways that they talked, worked, and approached families. In Trenton, the “Arm in Arm” approach funded by their All the Kids Thrive initiative helped place a bilingual “navigator” who worked closely with an elementary school’s attendance team to conduct home visits and find the root causes of absences.

That often looked like connecting families to food pantries, helping install wifi and computer equipment so students could learn at home, and offering referrals to essential services to meet families’ needs, Valentin said.

“The task force is looking at developing recommendations about effective ways to promote family engagement and combat chronic absenteeism. But the next level of that, what kind of modeling would that look like?” Valentin added.

Under the new state law, the task force will also be charged with looking at the disparities in absenteeism among student groups such as low-income families, students with disabilities, English language learners, and homeless students. In Newark Public Schools, 26.4% of homeless students, 11% of low-income students, 15.4% of students with disabilities, and 9.1% of multilingual learners were chronically absent during the 2023-24 school year.

The task force will also examine the role mental health and school climate play on absenteeism and develop recommendations on the ways school districts can promote family engagement to tackle chronic absenteeism.

The state is expected to appoint members to the task force within the next 30 days and must issue a report to the governor and legislature no later than one year after its formation.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark schools go phone free as part of New Jersey’s push to limit the use of cellphones in schools

2025-12-19T19:43:19+00:00

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Newark Public Schools is receiving $176,625 from the state to enforce phone-free schools and implement a “bell-to-bell” policy, aligning the state’s largest school district with a growing push in New Jersey to limit cellphone use in classrooms.

The funding, awarded through the state Education Department’s Phone-Free Schools Grant Program, is expected to help school districts purchase phone storage systems such as lockers, locked pouches, or check-in cabinets. The goal, state leaders have said, is to minimize distractions during the school day and ensure students are engaged throughout instructional hours.

The state is also awarding phone-free schools grants to 85 other school districts across the state, including charter schools in Newark, such as Maria L. Varisco-Rogers, which is receiving $1,490, and Great Oaks Legacy charter schools, receiving $9,022.

School boards of grant recipients are expected to adopt a formal policy by the end of the 2025–26 school year and those schools must enforce a “bell-to-bell” ban while maintaining flexibility to provide reasonable accommodations as appropriate, according to Michael Yaple, spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Education.

New Jersey’s push for phone-free schools is part of a growing trend nationwide to ban cellphone use from the first bell to dismissal. It also comes after California and New York implemented similar initiatives to limit phones in school and provide funding to districts to enforce policies.

Gov. Phil Murphy has repeatedly called for banning phones during school, and this year, the state Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents issued a report that recommended a “bell-to-bell” ban on cellphones. The Commission also found that cellphones and social media can affect youth self-esteem and cause anxiety and depression.

New Jersey lawmakers are also considering a statewide ban on cellphones in schools, as school districts that received the new phone-free grant become the first to implement phone-free schools. The bill is moving through the state assembly.

In Newark, the public school district has already experimented with limiting cellphone use in recent years, with mixed reactions from educators, students, and parents.

Under the district’s existing cellphone policy, adopted in 2008, students are allowed to carry cellphones as long as they are stowed away, turned off, or kept on silent at all times during the school day, and may not be used to make calls, take photos, or videos from within the school building, unless they receive permission from a school administrator.

If a student wants to carry a cellphone during the school day, a parent or guardian must sign a written agreement acknowledging that the district assumes no responsibility for any loss or damage. The form must be on file in the school office before the device is brought to school, per the district’s policy.

Across the country, parents have raised concerns about cellphone bans, and there is evidence in other surveys that parents want their children to have a phone in school in case of an emergency. Newark Public Schools’ cellphone policy says that in the event of an emergency, administrators will direct students on when they may safely turn on a cellphone.

You can find a full list of school districts receiving the new state grant on the education department’s website.

Update: This story has been updated to include a statement from the New Jersey Department of Education.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

NJ’s interdistrict school choice program is limited in reach, new data shows

2025-12-18T22:40:56+00:00

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New Jersey’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program has remained steady over the years, offering the option to a relatively small and consistent number of students, mostly from affluent districts, rather than expanding its access on a broader scale, state data obtained by Chalkbeat shows.

The state’s choice program was created to allow students to attend public schools outside their home district, but it has been stalled for more than a decade due to a lack of funding.

Participation in the program has stayed consistent, averaging around 5,000 students annually, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of the program’s data over the last 10 years. That figure has been largely unchanged even as some school districts across the state experience declining enrollments.

There are 119 participating “choice districts” spanning counties such as Hudson, Morris, Passaic, and Burlington, but no Essex County districts, including Newark, currently participate. Traditional public school districts must opt in as choice districts and can set limits on the number of students they accept.

Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill has expressed support for expanding the program, mainly as a way to desegregate the state’s public schools. The program is currently budgeted for $62 million and in 2012-13, Gov. Chris Christie’s administration capped the program at 5% growth annually. Some participating superintendents said that left the program underfunded and incapable of meeting the demand for seats.

To operate the program, the state provides the receiving district with money to cover the cost of educating a student. But experts have warned that paying for students isn’t the same everywhere because of differences in tax levies across cities and towns.

Supporters of the program say scaling up would help desegregate schools, support districts facing enrollment declines, and give students more options to specialized programs.

In many cases, the sending and receiving districts are close neighbors, suggesting that families are choosing districts that are close to home, according to Chalkbeat’s analysis. Sending school districts must pay for up to 20 miles of a student’s transportation. After that, parents must cover the cost to send their child to school, which shapes who is able to take advantage of the program and determines where a student can go.

In 2024, Winslow Township Schools in Camden County sent 473 students to other districts, the highest of any sending district in the program, followed by Jersey City Public Schools in Hudson County and Middle Township Public Schools in Cape May County, which both sent 134.

Also in 2024, Hammonton Public Schools in Atlantic County received 224 students, the highest of any choice district in the program, followed by the Englewood Public School District in Bergen County that received 215, and the Folsom School District in Atlantic County that received 207.

The data also shows that participation is concentrated among a few communities. While some districts send or receive hundreds of students, many others see little to no movement through the program. Lawrence Township Public Schools stands out as a “choice-neutral” district because it sent and received 80 students in 2024, while several smaller districts showed a similar trend but on a much smaller scale.

Although the program has been around for more than two decades, there’s little data available about how it is currently working, which students are participating, and the financial impact on sending and receiving school districts.

Supporters of the program have signaled that an expansion into Essex County could be next. That could have implications for Newark Public Schools, where enrollment has increased by nearly 20% over the last five years. The latest state figures show Newark enrolled roughly 44,000 pre-K through 12th grade students in the 2024-25 school year, up from roughly 36,600 in 2019.

Education experts also said that expanding the choice program could strain district budgets, especially in districts like Newark, where state aid makes up 84% of its budget this school year. But in affluent districts with higher property taxes, the program has yielded positive results.

In the Glassboro Public School District in Gloucester County, former Superintendent Mark Silverstein previously told Chalkbeat that the state cap set by the Christie administration in 2012-13 prevented his district from growing the choice program. During Silverstein’s tenure, about 200 students from neighboring school districts participated. That program helped boost student achievement and strengthen academic programs, Silverstein added.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

This Newark teacher says AI tools are helping students write better and ask sharper questions about the past

2025-12-15T11:00:00+00:00

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For nearly two decades, Scott Kern has worked to make history feel more alive for Newark students. He does so through close readings of Fredrick Douglass’ Fourth of July speech or, most recently, by weaving artificial intelligence tools into his classroom.

Kern, the AI innovation lead and history department chair at North Star Academy’s Washington Park High School, teaches AP U.S. history to ninth and 11th graders. He joined North Star in 2007 and has spent the last decade at the charter network’s Washington Park campus.

Kern didn’t always envision himself in the classroom. In high school, he enrolled in a world history course instead of orchestra after realizing he had reached his full potential on the violin. That switch set the tone for his career. A standout teacher sparked his fascination for the past and “started a love affair with history that hasn’t abated since,” Kern said.

Now, in his 19th year of teaching, Kern reflected on the lessons that shaped him, why his favorite lesson still surprises him every year, and how AI is influencing what happens inside his Newark classroom.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

How and when did you decide to become a teacher?

I was certain I would do something with history as a ninth grader. In middle school, I played the violin and was in the orchestra, but it was pretty clear that I had peaked. So I had to meet with my guidance counselor to reconfigure my schedule and replace orchestra. That replacement class happened to be world history. That class and that teacher – Mr. Bentivegna – changed my life and started a love affair with history that hasn’t abated since. I majored in history in college and earned a bachelor of arts, then headed to graduate school to pursue a doctorate in history. One day, when I was at the library working on an esoteric paper for a graduate medieval history class, I started to wonder if this was really what I wanted to do with my life (the answer was “no”). I thought about the people who really changed my life and why, and it was my teachers. After that reflection, I finished my master’s degree, went for yet another master’s degree, and have been teaching history ever since.

What’s your favorite lesson to teach and why?

My favorite is our close reading of a portion of Frederick Douglass’ Fourth of July speech from 1852. I just love everything about it. You have one of the greatest speakers in American history, invited by a group of abolitionist women in New York to give a speech honoring American independence. I try to transport students there. We picture all of these women sitting in their seats and imagining that he is going to thank them and deliver this soaring speech about the Fourth of July and instead, it’s an excoriation. Abolitionists in 1852 are losing – America has just passed a fugitive slave law that endangers all African Americans, including Douglass himself, and slavery is becoming increasingly entrenched in American society.

We zoom out to consider Douglass’s purpose, audience, and word choice. Why would Douglass have come out so intensely in this way? Was this the right message for this audience at this moment in history? What can this tell us about how leaders of social movements try to effect change?

Students are absolutely enthralled every year. We only read a few paragraphs, but they always find something new that surprises. It’s a reminder that history is complicated and beautiful and that we need to bring it to life for students.

What’s something happening in the community that affects what goes on inside your classroom?

Artificial Intelligence is affecting Newark and pretty much every other community in America. I’ve been using AI tools with students for the last two years, such as custom chatbots that I’ve built to help students revise their writing and or debate ideas before class discussions.

The results so far have been really encouraging. Last year, I had my highest AP scores and pass rate ever. I’m also co-teaching an AI literacy class for seniors starting in January and hope to expand it next fall. The goal is not just to teach them how to use these tools, but how to think about them and the world in a humanistic way.

How do you approach news events in your classroom?

We often look at how history echoes the present. Sometimes it’s in the hook and close of class to engage students in the content and then connect it to broader events that will help them see the trends in history.

When we studied the Douglass speech example from earlier, we started off class with pictures of the American flag – one at an ICE protest in L.A. and another from a Fourth of July parade. Students reflected on how the symbol of the flag can evoke different meanings depending on the context. That helped students see how Douglass and his audience could experience the same holiday in very different ways.

Tell us about your own experience with school and how it affects your work today.

I was an underachiever and a procrastinator for a long time. Some great teachers tried to pull me along, but it never clicked for me. That experience makes me hyper-aware of students who are capable but aren’t intrinsically motivated. If my teachers had let me just float in that state, my life would be very different. I’d like to think I’m doing the same thing – trying to nudge students along to reach their potential.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, and how have you put it into practice?

The best advice I ever got was from my father, who encouraged me to be committed to whatever I chose to do. That has framed much of my life since. I knew I wasn’t going to be the smartest or the fastest at anything, but I could control my effort. Over time, I was determined to commit to things and try to out-hustle everyone else. Teaching isn’t a competition, but it has required extraordinary levels of commitment over the years. I credit my father for instilling that drive in me.

What’s one thing you’ve read that has made you a better educator?

Reading Zaretta Hammond’s “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain” felt like a strong pedagogical approach to teaching that I believed in and had seen in class. Her explanation of how the brain’s amygdala shuts down when threatened makes higher-order learning nearly impossible. When students feel threatened, their brains shut off the ability to do meaningful learning. It spoke to me deeply and reinforced my belief that a physically and intellectually safe environment is important for meaningful learning.

How do you take care of yourself when you’re not at work?

Friends and family are my priority outside of work. We have family rituals that keep me grounded. Family dinner at the table with no devices is obligatory except on Friday, which is movie night. We spread a blanket on the floor for our kids, and we have dinner and a movie together. I also try to get together with a group of friends at least once a week, usually to play board games. I love that board games bring people together in an analog way that promotes dialogue and human connection.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org

Newark’s West Side High School debuts 403 Salon and Spa, giving students hands-on cosmetology experience

2025-12-11T21:24:33+00:00

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The first time West Side High School senior Jovonna Robinson picked up a blow dryer and hairbrush to style a client’s hair, she felt nervous.

Robinson, who’s part of the high school’s cosmetology program, worried her client wouldn’t like her work and feared she would run out of things to talk about. But after a year of interacting with customers and practicing finger waves, pin curls, and other hairstyles, Robinson now feels confident in her skills and is considering a career in cosmetology as she nears graduation.

“I actually want to be a dentist, but if it doesn’t work out, I’m definitely going to pursue something in cosmetology. I really love, just, the whole setting of talking to [customers] and making sure they’re comfortable,” said Robinson.

Now, Robinson and other West Side High cosmetology students have a new place to learn their craft: 403 Salon and Spa, a full-service salon located on the first floor of the school. During Thursday’s salon debut, students like junior Amelia Liley were grooming their customers’ cuticles and getting their nails ready for a new coat of paint. Others, like senior Nakira Poole, were giving their classmates facials.

West Side High School teacher Ms. Harper gets a manicure from junior Amelia Liley at the new 403 Salon and Spa on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.

Like a traditional beauty salon, 403 Salon and Spa is equipped with a front desk to check in clients, a waiting area, and several hair styling stations with blow dryers, brushes, tall mirrors, and swivel chairs. The salon also includes a hair washing station and a manicure and pedicure area.

Towards the back of the salon, a private room with a spa bed is available for facial and wax services. Roughly 100 students are enrolled in the cosmetology program, but only those who’ve obtained a permit, a certification that allows students to perform cosmetology work under supervision, will practice their skills.

A price list was not available on Thursday, but the salon plans to offer a variety of services, such as shampoo and blow dry, hair cuts, braiding, hair coloring, scalp treatments, and skin and nail care by appointment to the public on Fridays between 3-7 p.m., according to Paul Brubaker, the district’s spokesperson.

Salon coordinator and the school’s cosmetology teacher, Nicole Daniels, said she was adamant about creating a space that allowed students to feel like they were working in a real salon. Daniels learned cosmetology in high school, an opportunity that allowed her to work during college, save money, and pay for schooling as she completed her science degrees. It also helped her buy her first home at 26, Daniels added.

“I want our students to be able to, yes, get a college degree, but not have to worry about how they’re going to pay for their books, pay for their meals, because now they have a license and credentialing that they can have for the rest of their lives,” said Daniels at Thursday’s grand opening.

West Side High School senior Marquesha Gordon washes senior Kylah Masey's hair at the new 403 Salon and Spa on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.

Alternative career paths are on the rise

Since returning to local control, Newark Public Schools, under Superintendent Roger León, has launched new trade-focused schools, including Newark Vocational, which offers pathways in culinary arts and hospitality, and the Newark School of Architecture and Design, which offers tracks in HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work.

Those efforts are on par with research that shows that, for the last few decades, just over 40% of recent high school graduates have enrolled in a four-year college. That number has been fairly stable, even as high school graduation rates have grown.

In 2024, only 45% of teens saw a two- or four-year college as their most likely step after high school, down from 50% in 2021 and 73% in 2018, according to research from the American Student Assistance, a nonprofit helping students make informed choices about their career goals. At the same time, students considering vocational schools, apprenticeships, and technical boot camp programs more than tripled from 12% in 2018 to 38% in 2024, according to the nonprofit.

To get a cosmetologist hairstylist license in New Jersey, students must be 17 or older and are required to complete 1,200 hours of instruction at an approved school, pass state exams, and apply to the state board of cosmetology. Those seeking certification as a manicurist or skin care specialist have similar requirements but require fewer hours of instruction. The new salon at West Side allows students to complete their required hours and earn their license by the time they graduate.

That’s a perk for West Side junior Dsyiah Ferdico, who said 403 Salon makes her feel excited about her future. While wearing an apron that read 403 Salon, Ferdico soaked her toes in a foot tub as Robinson, her classmate, sat on a stool to give her a pedicure. To Ferdico’s right, senior Kylah Masey rested her head on a shampoo bowl as senior Marquesha Gordon scrubbed her scalp.

West Side High School junior Dsyiah Ferdico soaks her toes in a foot tub as she prepares to get a pedicure from her classmate.

Like some of her classmates, Ferdico plans to pursue a career in cosmetology after high school, and eventually wants to open her own salon. Ferdico credits the program with teaching her how to engage with clients and lean into her expertise by recommending services and hair styles.

“If you want to pursue cosmetology after you graduate, you can do hair, and you can decide what services you want to do,” Ferdico said. “You don’t have to do everything. You can do what is personally for you. That’s what I love about this. I love how it makes you so confident.”

Jaylen Johnson, a junior football player at West Side, started the cosmetology program thinking he would learn how to be a barber and solely work on men’s hair. But after being exposed to different aspects of the program, he felt comfortable learning how to do braids and other techniques to style women’s hair. With the rise of AI and new technology, Johnson also feels cosmetology is a career “robots” won’t be able to do.

“Learning self-grooming is always wonderful and learning how to groom your peers is always necessary,” said Johnson on Thursday. “Everybody needs haircuts. And that’s one thing I look at, that robots and stuff won’t be able to do.”

Robinson, the senior cosmetology student, agreed that “doing hair is always going to be needed” and is thankful for the opportunity to explore a career she hadn’t considered before.

“It’s good to learn different skills,” Robinson said. “It’s not always good to be stuck on one mindset. I opened my options of what I want to do.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey 2025 state tests: Student performance improves statewide as Newark trails behind

2025-12-09T11:00:01+00:00

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Newark Public Schools students continued making gradual gains on standardized tests this year but still rank below statewide passing rates, according to new data released by the state last week.

A closer look at New Jersey’s largest school district shows improvements across the district and in certain schools and student subgroups — signs that local efforts to boost student skills in reading and math may be paying off.

The New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, commonly referred to as NJSLA, are administered annually in the spring for grades 3-9 in English language arts and math.

Statewide, just over half – 53% – of students passed the English language arts section, while 41% passed the math portion of the test, representing a nearly 1 percentage point increase from 2024. This year’s rate is still behind the 2019 proficiency rate of 57.6% by roughly 4.6 percentage points, according to the state’s analysis.

In Newark’s traditional public and charter schools – which are publicly funded but privately managed – less than half of the city’s students, 41.7%, passed the English language arts test, while 27% passed math this year, according to a Chalkbeat analysis.

According to the new data, 34% of Newark Public Schools students passed the English language arts test – roughly a percentage point under the 2019 score – while 21% of students passed math. In spring 2024, 31% of students passed the English portion of the test, while 17.7% passed the math assessment.

Newark Public Schools regained control of its schools after 25 years of state oversight and has struggled to recover from the effects of the pandemic, particularly on students, where more than 90% identify as Black or Latino.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka in 2023 declared an urgent literacy crisis across the city as the district created a literacy plan that implemented new approaches to teaching phonics, explicit writing strategies, and professional development rooted in the science of reading.

During last week’s State Board of Education meeting, Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said the results represent an “important snapshot of student learning” across the state and “serve as a critical tool” for guiding the department’s “next steps.”

”Understanding where students are thriving and where additional support is needed will all help us in focusing our initiatives for maximum impact,” Dehmer said.

The new results come five years after the COVID-19 pandemic and mark the first time New Jersey students’ scores have returned to pre-pandemic levels in one subject: science. The rollout of a new adaptive state test this school year could also impact how students perform.

Dehmer, during the board of education meeting last week, cautioned that “statewide assessments are not the sole measure of success, but they are a valuable data point in our broader system of continuous improvement. They allow us to monitor progress over time, identify trends, and ensure that resources are directed where they can make the greatest difference.”

Statewide achievement gaps narrow among racial groups

Across the state, student performance increased in nearly all grade levels, showing how state and local efforts to boost student skills in reading, writing, and math have fared.

Gaps between the highest and lowest performing student racial groups in English language arts persist, but this year, they are the smallest they’ve been since 2016 at 43.4%, compared to 48.3% in 2022, state leaders said. In math, the gap grew to 56.6% in 2022 but dropped slightly to 55.2% this year.

In English language arts, Black students saw the highest increase — a 1.6% bump — from 2024, state officials noted last week. White students saw the second-highest performance increase at 1.4%, according to the state. In math, all student racial groups showed a 2% improvement or higher.

The state’s gradual improvements in test scores follow broader efforts aimed at strengthening how students learn and how schools measure progress.

This school year, New Jersey is introducing a new “adaptive” version of its standardized test where the difficulty of test questions is adjusted based on student responses.

The state also launched the new Literacy Framework this school year, which requires public school districts to screen students in grades K-3 for reading difficulties. In Newark, the city’s public schools are using Amira Learning, an AI-powered tool, as a universal screener to assess students’ ability to read, sound out words, and identify areas needing support.

The story continues after the data table.

Newark’s youngest learners make slow gains

In Newark, the state’s largest city, test scores show student performance gradually improving, especially among early learners.

Public school scores in English language arts went up across all elementary grade levels, but math scores, although improving, are growing at a slower pace than reading. Across the city’s public schools, 27.7% of third graders reached proficiency levels in English language arts, up from the 2024 rate of 23.4%, according to a Chalkbeat data analysis. Between 2022 and 2024, third graders scored the lowest in reading among all grades.

Third graders in two district schools exceed the state and district’s average in English language arts, including Michelle Obama Elementary School at 79.4% and Sir Issac Newton Elementary School at 54.8%, the Chalkbeat analysis found. A handful of Newark public schools scored below the state and district proficiency rate in the same subject, including First Avenue, Oliver Street, Belmont Runyon, Roberto Clemente, and Dr. E. Alma Flagg elementary schools.

Among charter schools, third graders in four schools — Maria L. Varisco-Rogers, Gray, Robert Treat, and North Star Academy Charter School — surpassed the state and district’s English language arts proficiency rate, according to the Chalkbeat analysis. Third graders at Marion P. Thomas, Roseville, and Team Academy charter schools scored below the state’s rate of 53%, but remained above the district’s average of 34% in English language arts.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark teen coalition wants to work with school board to address mental health, infrastructure

2025-11-26T18:14:15+00:00

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Newark students say school building issues, such as irregular classroom temperatures and faulty water fountains, along with mental health struggles, are affecting their learning.

And on Tuesday night, a coalition of those students brought their own research about those and other urgent concerns — as well as solutions — to school board members directly.

During the meeting, Science Park High School Junior Cidell Torto said his school needs more spaces for students “to take a breather.” And former George Washington Carver Elementary School student Patience Iwarimie recalled how hard it was to learn when water started to drip from the ceiling during math class.

Other students, such as Science Park High School Senior Fatoumata Bah, pressed the board for more accountability.

“Tonight, I’m asking the board to keep working with us, to continue bringing students into these conversations before, not after, decisions are made. Let us sit at the table, not just so we can be heard, but so we can help build something that works,” Bah said.

Convened by the Gem Project, a nonprofit organization that aims to strengthen youth civic engagement, the Youth Power Action Coalition has previously met with board members. But now the group wants to share its months-long research on the effects of school infrastructure on learning and student mental health, and to propose solutions to the school board.

The coalition’s efforts come after the city lowered the voting age for school board elections to allow Newark’s 16- and 17-year-olds to vote. But this April, in the first election when those teenagers could vote, only 73 teens voted in the Newark school board race.

Gem Project founder, Amanda Ebokosia, said the teens were at Tuesday’s meeting because “they believe in the promise of this district.”

Through their Youth-Led Accountability Score Card initiative, students held focus groups with their peers to talk about the problems affecting their mental health and learning, with the goal of working with board members to create new policies and track how well they serve students. Students handed out a packet with their findings to those at Tuesday’s meeting.

During the meeting, board members listened to students share their concerns while Superintendent Roger León wrote down notes.

Among the findings, students found that many Newark students feel uncomfortable talking about mental health due to stigmas and negative school climates. They also found that schools often only address mental health issues after problems have escalated. Similarly, the teens found that issues such as inadequate heating, inconsistent water quality, broken desks, and wobbly chairs have affected a student’s ability to focus in class.

Their solutions range from launching a peer mental health education program to prioritizing infrastructure needs and advocating for more school construction funding.

“We bring the perspective, honesty, and creativity that you can’t find in a survey or spreadsheet. We can help you see what’s working on the ground and what’s missing,” Bah said.

After students spoke, Board President Hasani Council said he looks forward to meeting with students from the Gem Project. Brielle Monroe Holland, a senior at Newark Tech, hopes what the student coalition presented at Tuesday’s meeting sparks deeper conversations with board members.

“It was interesting to hear the response we got but I’m not sure if they’re actually going to talk to us. I also think [the meeting] was just hard to follow. They should use more public-friendly words so it’s easier to follow,” Monroe Holland said.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Rutgers receives new federal grant to train special education leaders amid rising autism rates

2025-11-13T11:00:01+00:00

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As the number of children diagnosed with autism rises in New Jersey, Rutgers University is launching a new federally funded program to prepare the next generation of special education administrators.

Backed by a five-year $3.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the new program called Preparation of Administrators in Special Education, or PASE, will provide full scholarships and stipends for certified special education teachers to earn a doctoral degree and move into leadership roles overseeing special education programs in schools. The program is currently accepting applications, with the first group of students scheduled to begin in January 2026.

Proposed federal cuts to special education funding, staff reductions, and changes in oversight that could worsen existing challenges, particularly in low-income districts like Newark, deepen the need for strong special education leaders, said Dake Zhang, the PASE program coordinator, who also has a son with severe autism.

What’s more, President Donald Trump’s administration has attempted to terminate teacher-training grants this year and laid off federal employees overseeing special education enforcement as part of a broader plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

Zhang, who is also a professor of special education at Rutgers Graduate School of Education, hopes PASE will help fill leadership roles with “people who have a strong special education background and real classroom experience.”

“Many of these [administrative] positions are filled with people who are not really special education educators, who are not certified in teaching special education, or have not had adequate experiences working with students with disabilities. That’s a concern,” Zhang added.

The new program comes as autism rates in the United States hit a record high this year, with 1 in 31 children identified with autism, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in April. In New Jersey, the rate is slightly higher, with 1 in 29 children being diagnosed with autism, the report found.

Rutgers researchers also found that as of 2020, 1 in 20 Newark children had been diagnosed with autism, compared with 1 in 167 in 2000. That increase has been felt by Newark Public Schools, where more than 7,000 students receive special education services, and where the district is faced with a shortage of qualified special education staff and administrators. Those shortages are on par with national trends that show nearly all states reported special education teacher shortages and high turnover rates during the 2023-24 school year.

The PASE program is a partnership between Rutgers University, the University of South Carolina, and Northern Arizona University. Rutgers PASE students will participate in shared courses, internships, and virtual seminars with their peers at the South Carolina and Arizona schools. University staff will recruit students from a pool of certified special education teachers with at least three years of full-time experience working with students with disabilities.

Students will earn a doctorate in education in roughly four and a half years through hybrid coursework taught by Rutgers education experts, research projects, and a dissertation focused on improving special education administration. The students will also participate in summer residences at each university, including visits to schools serving students with disabilities in South Carolina and Arizona.

The program has received federal funding for its first year, and pending its progress, will receive funding for the following years.

Zhang said she is hopeful the funding will continue. She recalled instances where special education teachers had trouble understanding her son’s needs and “didn’t really understand what it meant to have a student with a severe disability.”

“As an administrator, one thing they should understand is the teaching load and the challenges of special education teachers. Nationwide [special education teachers] have a very high attrition rate, and that’s because of the workload, a lot of burnout, and inadequate support,” Zhang added.

Zhang said she has already received applications from educators in Newark and Camden and hopes the program will strengthen leadership pipelines in the state’s highest need districts. Rutgers faculty are also looking to partner with Newark Public Schools and local organizations that support students with disabilities to serve as mentors or guest speakers for the program.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

What a Mikie Sherrill gubernatorial win means for education

2025-11-05T03:24:04+00:00

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Democrat Mikie Sherrill will be New Jersey’s next governor, delivering a sharp rebuke to Republicans who hoped to uproot the state’s school funding formula, expand the charter school sector, and launch a private school voucher program.

The Associated Press called the race for Sherrill Tuesday evening.

“I hear you, Newark. I’m going to work with communities from the ground up so all of our neighbors thrive,” Sherrill said late Tuesday evening. “I’m going to make sure our kids are safe online and schools have the resources they need to address the mental health crisis.”

Sherrill, a U.S. congresswoman since 2019 whose district includes Essex County, has pledged to invest in tutoring, student mental health, and equity in schools, largely echoing policies laid out by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

But notably, she and her opponent, Republican Jack Ciattarelli, both vowed to expand the state’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which allows students to attend a public school in a different district. That expansion could mean Newark may participate for the first time.

With more than 84% of ballots counted, the unofficial election results as of 10:15 p.m.:

Democrat Mikie Sherrill: 56.3% (1,549,432 votes)

Republican Jack Ciatarelli: 43.1% (1,187,437votes)

On the campaign trail, Sherrill did not make education issues central to her agenda, and her positions did not stray much from those of her predecessor, Murphy. Her election likely means Newark Public Schools will continue to enjoy the degree of local control they wrested back from the state five years ago.

The Newark Teachers Union endorsed Sherrill and president John Abeigon said he hopes she’ll further some of Murphy’s initiatives, such as the creation of teacher taskforces and boosting teacher pensions.

Sherrill has also said she would modernize the state’s school funding formula, originally written in 2008. Newark, the state’s largest school district, has historically been one of the most underfunded. This school year, 84% of the district’s budget came directly from state aid, and any changes in funding or policy could affect teacher hiring, tutoring programs, and support for the district’s most vulnerable students.

Abeigon thinks updating the formula is a good idea, but said he would urge the state to bring in teachers to the conversation.

“If they take a look at the formula with nothing but politicians at the table, then don’t bother sitting down,” Abeigon added.

Sherrill has also floated the idea of requiring some of the state’s smallest school districts to merge as a cost-saving mechanism.

In addition, Sherrill supports a statewide ban on cellphones in schools. In Newark Public Schools, the current policy allows electronic devices and cellphones in school, but students may not use them to make calls or take photos or videos from within the school building unless they receive permission from a school administrator.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey gubernatorial election: Next governor could reshape education

2025-11-04T17:17:25+00:00

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Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli head into Election Day in a tight race for New Jersey governor that could have major implications for schools across the state.

Education issues, such as reforming the state’s school funding formula and providing more school choice for families, have been key to both campaigns. The candidates have also agreed on limiting the use of cellphones in schools, expanding the state’s stalled choice program, and helping schools boost student achievement.

Despite the similarities, the two candidates offer starkly different visions on how to shape education.

Beyond funding and school choice, the candidates have also weighed in on curriculum and parent involvement, echoing national debates over what schools should teach and how the state should intervene.

The candidates are looking to succeed Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, who cannot seek a third consecutive term because of term limits.

Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker who’s received President Donald Trump’s endorsement, wants to create a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” requiring districts to post K-12 curriculum at the beginning of each school year and end a state law that allows schools to accept students’ asserted gender identities without notifying parents. His policies echo many of the Trump administration’s education priorities and would represent a significant shift to the right.

Meanwhile, Sherrill, a U.S. congresswoman who received an endorsement from former President Barack Obama, has said she would invest in student mental health and tutoring and make efforts to reduce inequities between affluent districts and those in areas like Newark and Camden.

New Jersey’s next governor must also address urgent decisions on student academic recovery, teacher shortages, and equity in schools amid the state’s ongoing school segregation lawsuit.

For Newark Public Schools, the outcome of this year’s governor’s race could have lasting impacts on how the state supports its largest school district. While Newark has regained local control after 25 years of state oversight, it still heavily depends on state aid. City residents are also watching how each candidate approaches expanding charter schools and school choice. Superintendent Roger León has opposed charter school growth and has vowed to regain school spaces occupied by them.

The race between the candidates remains close, with recent polls showing the candidates separated by just a few percentage points.

On Tuesday, bomb threats forced several polling locations across seven counties to close or relocate, but law enforcement officials said the threats were not credible, according to NJ.com. Newark police said they investigated the origin of bomb threats in the city that were later unfounded. No polling locations are closed in Newark as of 9:30 a.m.

Polls across New Jersey open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. You can also drop off your mail-in ballot at a county drop box or at your county’s Board of Elections office by 8 p.m. on election night. Ballots left after that will be considered late and won’t be counted. Find a ballot box and your local office by visiting vote.nj.gov.

Check back later for updates and results after the polls close.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Interdistrict Public School Choice Program could expand with bipartisan support amid funding, equity hurdles

2025-11-03T18:51:20+00:00

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In a race defined by radically different approaches to education, school choice may be one of the few things New Jersey’s gubernatorial candidates agree on.

Both Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli say they support expanding the state’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which lets some students attend public schools outside their home district. Sherrill says the program could be used to integrate New Jersey’s persistently segregated school system, while Ciattarelli wants to pair it with a Florida-style private school voucher program.

The candidates’ focus could bring life to a program that’s been stalled for more than a decade because of lack of funding. It could also mean that Newark and other districts in Essex County might participate for the first time since the program’s inception in 1999.

There are currently 119 so-called “choice districts” and about 5,000 students who participate in the program, with another 2,500 students on a waitlist, said Wells Winegar, executive director of the New Jersey Policy Institute think tank, who worked under former Gov. Chris Christie. He added that expanding the program could help districts that are facing enrollment declines while giving families more school options.

“It was designed to help families find public schools that fit their child’s needs,” Winegar said, while providing parents “an overall kind of better environment for their child without having to pay private school tuition.”

No Essex County districts currently participate in the program as receiving districts, but if the state’s next governor provides the first serious push in years to expand it, that could change, potentially affecting Newark’s enrollment and transportation costs.

Supporters — including many from New Jersey’s Republican policy circles — say that the program helps keep kids in public schools while boosting enrollment in districts that have lost students. They also note that it gives students access to schools with stronger academic programs, art, sports, and music classes. But skeptics warn that expanding the program could worsen funding gaps and make it harder to distribute resources fairly across districts.

What is the Interdistrict School Choice Program?

The program started as a small five-year pilot in 1999, hailed by then-Republican Gov. Christie Whitman as a way to give parents more choice while improving the public school system statewide through increased “competition.”

It’s not a charter or voucher program. Instead, it allows traditional public school districts to opt-in as choice districts, opening seats to students who live outside district boundaries. Typically, choice districts have experienced declining enrollment, financial strain, or are looking for new funding to launch new programs or strengthen their academic offerings. If there are more students requesting admission to a school than there are available openings, state law requires a district to hold a lottery to determine which students are admitted.

The choice program is budgeted for $62 million, Winegar said. To fund it, the state provides the receiving district with money to cover the cost of educating the student. But paying for students isn’t the same everywhere because of differences in tax levies across cities and towns, according to Danielle Farrie, research director at the Education Law Center. The state provides categorical funding in the amount equal to the tax levy per pupil in the receiving district, Farrie added, but depending on where students are transferring to and from, the costs could add up.

“So essentially, the state is covering both sides. Normally, there’s the state and the local share. But now the state is also picking up the local share,” Farrie added.

Though the program has been around for more than two decades, there’s little data available about how it is currently working, which students are participating, and the financial impact on sending and receiving districts. As of publication, a spokesperson for the state Department of Education said they would “look into” making such data available to Chalkbeat.

A 2005 Rutgers University report on the program found it was having some positive results. Increased choice revenue allowed some participating districts to increase enrollment, hire additional staff, reduce class sizes, offer new programs, and avoid tax increases and program cuts.

Farrie, the research director at ELC, said if the program were to expand, equity should be at the forefront. Early analyses of the pilot showed that participating students were overwhelmingly white. Black and Hispanic students, as well as students with disabilities, were not served quite as well as others, the Rutgers researchers found. A few receiving districts reported that their student body became more diverse because of the program.

But to understand the impacts of the choice program and potentially, help desegregate schools as Sherrill has proposed, the state has to provide data “to analyze which students are leaving which districts, going to which districts, is that improving segregation, is making it worse by either race or income,” Farrie said.

“We don’t really have the answers to those questions right now,” Farrie added.

In 2012-13, Gov. Chris Christie’s administration capped the program at 5% growth, which some participating superintendents said left it underfunded and incapable of meeting the demand for seats.

Former Glassboro Superintendent Mark Silverstein said the state cap prevented his district from growing the program. During his tenure, about 200 students from neighboring school districts participated in the choice program. That program helped boost student achievement and strengthen academic programs, Silverstein said.

In the program’s first year, Silverstein said, the district’s valedictorian was a choice student who came from outside Glassboro.

“That’s how I thought about school choice — it provides increased academic opportunities and maybe forces districts to provide programs they would have not done,” Silverstein said.

A 2023 review of the program determined there was little evidence to say whether students’ academic experience was improved.

Because funding follows the student, sending districts lose state aid for every student who participates, as they are no longer counted in the district’s enrollment. Those districts must also pay for up to 20 miles of a student’s transportation to their new school. After 20 miles, parents must cover the cost to send their child to school, causing more concerns over who can participate, Farrie added.

“Not everyone can do that. Some people need bus stop close to their house to get around,” Farrie said.

What would expanding the school choice program do?

Supporters of the program have signaled that an expansion into Essex County could be next, and growing attention from Sherrill and Ciattarelli may make that more likely. Researchers and experts have also said expansion and an increase in funding could improve the program and allow it to serve students more equitably.

But if the program were to expand, Farrie says the state should think about providing compensation to school districts that may experience a significant enrollment loss or higher transportation costs.

In their fiscal analysis of the program, NJPI experts lay out a scenario where roughly 5% — approximately 4,230 students — in “alleged highly segregated districts” (East Orange, Irvington, Newark City, Orange City, New Brunswick, and Perth Amboy) would move into new choice districts within Middlesex and Essex counties.

That could have implications for Newark’s enrollment and funding. Newark’s enrollment is on the upswing. Over the past 5 years, Newark Public Schools have added over 7,000 students. But experts warn that expanding the choice program could strain district budgets, especially those like Newark, where state aid makes up 84% of its budget this school year.

Farrie added that if the state’s next governor chooses to expand the program, they should look at who has the opportunity to change school districts and ensure those opportunities are distributed more equitably across communities.

“If we are going to expand it, it needs to be done in a much more careful way to make sure that it’s realizing the goals of what we want New Jersey public education policy to actually look like,” Farrie added.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark superintendent’s abrupt contract extension raises ethics questions

2025-10-31T20:01:09+00:00

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Experts say the Newark Board of Education’s late-night move to extend Superintendent Roger León’s contract without public notice or debate was ethically questionable and potentially “totally improper.”

In a surprise move Thursday night, one Newark school board member suddenly requested to switch her abstention on a September vote on León’s contract extension, which failed last month, to a “yes” vote without any formal motion to reconsider.

Both the board president and board counsel said Thursday that this verbal switch constituted an approval for León’s contract extension, and he would remain in office through 2030. The district’s general counsel, Brenda Liss, who is the district and school board’s attorney, said the decision was made possible under Robert’s Rules of Order, a set of rules used by public bodies to conduct business.

The vote switch created confusion among members and the public and reignited familiar concerns about the district and school boards’ transparency. Community members have repeatedly demanded more transparency around León’s contract extension requests and have instead witnessed automatic renewals and limited public discussion.

And experts Friday said the officials’ explanations for why they proceeded without prior notice don’t add up.

Bruce Bishop, executive director of the national Parliamentary Procedure Institute, told Chalkbeat the board’s procedure was not in line with Robert’s Rules. While Liss’s assertion that board members may change their vote if there are no objections is correct, Bishop said, there is a time limit. Once the board moves on to other official business, the time to swap votes has passed.

Because the prior meeting where the original vote was taken had been adjourned, and then a new meeting a month later was called to order, minutes were approved, and a quorum was established, “then certainly by any definition, other business took place or was introduced, and it would be totally improper” and “totally unauthorized” for that board member to change her vote from an abstention to a yes.

“It’s simply too late to authorize that,” Bishop said.

Betsy Ginsburg, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools and a longstanding school board member and board president, said while she doesn’t think “there’s anything illegal” about what the board did Thursday, “it’s not part of the orderly process by which you want a public body to conduct business,” she said. “If you’re going to do something that big, it should at least be an agenda addendum.”

Bishop did note that Robert’s Rules — or any parliamentary rules — create mechanisms by which board members could reconsider or rescind a prior vote. But that would mean giving proper notice and allowing time for debate or discussion in public.

“Absent a motion to reconsider, you can’t just reconsider something,” Bishop said. “If you’ve got an open meeting law, then it would require public notice that the board intends to revisit the issue that they considered last month,” he added. “None of that happened.”

Newark’s school board has quietly approved León’s contract extensions before

Decisions like these have underscored how the promise of community oversight and a more responsive leadership may differ from the reality of the school board and district’s governance. The board’s murky procedural practices also highlight how Newark Public Schools, New Jersey’s largest school system, is rebuilding its governance from scratch after 25 years of state oversight.

The contract extension makes León one of the longest-serving superintendents in state history.

Attempts to quietly move León’s contract extension to allow him to “accomplish the goals” laid out in his 10-year plan have happened before. Those attempts have been made with few opportunities for public input. In 2019, school board members added two years to León’s original contract at a sparsely attended board meeting, extending it to 2023.

School leaders were criticized in 2023 after reports that León’s contract had been automatically renewed because of a clause that extended his term by five years.

In August, Chalkbeat obtained León’s contract extension proposal only through a public records request. The district has also denied Chalkbeat’s public records request for León’s annual evaluations between 2018 and 2025, citing records laws that protect personnel documents.

The school board has also given little insight into other decisions it has made in the past.

In 2023, the board unanimously appointed a charter school teacher to fill a vacant seat, but after an unexplained delay to swear him in, the board eventually appointed someone else. In 2024, former member Dawn Haynes abruptly resigned from her role without a board explanation. Chalkbeat later found that Haynes resigned over a settlement with the district related to her daughters’ legal claim over alleged racist experiences at a Newark high school.

While parents and school advocates have raised concerns over how León addresses issues such as racism in schools, student achievement, and support for vulnerable students, others say extending his tenure to 2030 is necessary for “stability” of the school district.

During a September public hearing to extend León’s contract, Denise Cole, a longtime community advocate who fought for the return to local control, said keeping León on until 2030 is “a simple matter of stability, continuity, and fairness.” Parents raised a long list of complaints, but only a few opposed the extension, while others questioned why the board was considering it three years before Leon’s contract ends.

Ginsburg suggested upcoming elections may have added urgency to the contract extension request and underscored a need for stable leadership in an uncertain time.

The looming gubernatorial election could mean changes for Newark’s public schools, where more than 90% of students identify as Black or Latino, and just under half of district students require English language and special education support.

Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli has said if he wins, the state’s education department may place more scrutiny on “underperforming” districts like Newark, impact funding for English language learners, and institute changes to the school funding formula that could devastate Newark schools’ budget.

The Newark school board also has an election next spring where four board members’ terms end. Among those whose terms are up is member Josephine Garcia, who was on the committee to appoint León as the district’s first superintendent under local control. Board president Hasani Council, Allison James-Frison, and newly appointed board member Melissa Reed — the member who switched her vote — are also up for election next April.

And while it can be easy to criticize Newark’s governing slips, Ginsburg said, she urged empathy and understanding for board members who are volunteers conducting business in a politically turbulent time.

“It is a scary time for board members all across the state, not just in Newark,” Ginsburg said. “The level of rhetoric has gotten so extreme that just about any decision that boards make that has some amount of impact is not just going to be criticized thoughtfully, it’s going to be criticized in irrational and emotional ways.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board approves superintendent’s contract extension after member abruptly switches vote

2025-10-31T02:48:20+00:00

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In the dead of night and amid a flurry of confusion, Newark’s school board seemingly extended Superintendent Roger León’s contract through 2030 on Thursday — without an official motion or prior public notice.

Last month, the board failed to pass a proposal to extend León’s contract, which had been set to expire in 2028. Four board members voted in favor, two abstained, and two recused themselves due to conflicts of interest. One board member was absent.

A contract extension proposal was not officially on the board’s voting agenda on Thursday. But after the superintendent’s report during the meeting, one board member, Melissa Reed, who previously abstained on the contract extension vote, said she would consider changing her decision and vote for the extension if León were to make a “public commitment” to “fix equity” in the district.

In addition, Reed said León should release a report that details instances of racism and religious harassment at the Newark School of Global Studies. She also said León should implement recommendations included in the report, improve district transparency, and provide a concrete process to register every 16- and 17-year-old to vote, among other changes.

“Mr. Superintendent Roger León, if you’re willing to stand publicly with us on these commitments, then I will stand with you,” Reed said during the board meeting.

León, who was present at the meeting, did not publicly respond to Reed’s request on Thursday.

Board president Hasani Council then asked Reed to clarify if she wanted to change her vote from last month and vote in favor of the extension. “That’s correct,” Reed responded.

Council told Chalkbeat after the meeting that Reed’s decision meant that León’s contract extension through 2030 had been approved.

“She changed her vote from an abstention to a yes, which now allows the superintendent’s two-year extension to pass,” said Council, who recused himself from last month’s vote to extend León’s contract due to a conflict of interest under the district’s nepotism policy.

During Thursday’s board meeting, Brenda Liss, the district’s general counsel, said the board policies and bylaws “have no provision on this, so we look to Robert’s Rules,” referring to a set of rules commonly used by deliberative bodies to conduct business

“Robert’s Rules provides that a board member may change their vote at any time if there is no objection from the board,” said Liss. “If she says that she wants to change her vote, as a matter of courtesy in the past, this board has allowed any member to change their vote without question or without motion.”

Last month’s attempt to extend León’s contract failed to pass after parents and advocates raised concerns about student achievement, racism in schools, and inadequate support for the district’s most vulnerable students.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Superintendent Roger León highlights equity efforts during Council of Great City Schools conference

2025-10-24T20:21:55+00:00

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Newark Public Schools’ approach to equity training “is quite simple,” Superintendent Roger León told a room full of superintendents and staff from the nation’s largest public school districts on Friday.

The strategy, León said during a presentation at the Council of Great City Schools conference in Philadelphia, involves forming leadership teams of principals, parents, students, and teachers that help identify challenges across schools and assess equity efforts.

Those teams serve as a way to “funnel” information from schools and help him “have a pulse of what is occurring in the organization.”

“Talk to me, tell me everything that’s wrong,” Leon said he had told a group of principals.

Newark’s approach also includes deploying equity resources to staff and soliciting expert help, León said during the session on equity training.

The district’s participation in the annual conference was significant as León spoke alongside representatives from public schools in Baltimore and Aurora, Colorado.

The conference convened superintendents and hundreds of employees from 81 of the country’s urban school districts. Superintendents and representatives from school districts in Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Denver also spoke at sessions during the conference.

Matthew Brewster, Newark’s director of instructional staff development, who also spoke during the equity presentation, said the majority of the district’s professional development on equity comes from consultants.

“Because if you’re going to be a learner, you have to be a learner, right? You have to bring in someone else to help you do the work. Equity work that you’re not uncomfortable doing, you’re not doing right,” Brewster said.

Their comments come as the district continues to face criticism over complaints of racism at the Newark School of Global Studies. In 2022, Black students and teachers described ongoing harassment to the school board member, prompting the district to hire an outside consultant to assess the cultural dynamics of the school. The comments also drew heavy criticism from parents and advocates about the way the school and district leaders handled the situation.

León was also criticized for withholding a scathing report – whose details so far have only been reported in draft form by Chalkbeat — that detailed the problems with racism at the high school and recommended the district improve the effects of anti-Blackness.

In September, Newark school advocates demanded the release of the report and pleaded for a curriculum that challenges racial biases and promotes inclusivity.

Brewster, during Friday’s conference session, also said that the Office of Staff Development has shared a list of books, articles, and research studies with district leaders during professional development sessions. Some of those books include “The Equity & Social Justice 50” by Baruti Kafele, “Becoming the Educator They Need” by Robert Jackson, and “Principal Leadership for Racial Equity” by Raskin, Krull, and Felix.

After the issues at Global Studies came to light, two former teachers sued the district, alleging they suffered “severe emotional problems” as a result of the incidents they experienced, they said. The lawsuit is ongoing.

The controversy also led one of Newark’s longest-serving school board members to step down as part of a settlement with the district after her daughter – a former Global Studies student who said she faced racial harassment at the school – threatened to sue the district.

Newark, New Jersey’s largest school system, is home to 41,000 students, with more than 90% of students identifying as Black or Latino. This school year, Hispanic students represent the largest student group in the district. Since 2019, the number of Black students has declined as Hispanic enrollment has steadily increased.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools receives $460,000 in new state literacy grants to boost reading outcomes

2025-10-23T13:51:35+00:00

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New Jersey’s largest school system will receive nearly half a million dollars in new federal funding to strengthen reading instruction and engage families in literacy as part of a first-year $13.6 million initiative announced this week by the state’s Education Department.

Two grants will support Newark Public Schools’ literacy work, with $400,000 to update instructional materials and train teachers in evidence-based practices and $60,000 to create home-based literacy programs for parents and children under age 3.

“Literacy is the tool that unlocks the opportunities education creates for our students. These grant awards will help sustain our efforts to infuse best practices into classrooms across our state, uplifting our school communities with crucial tools and resources,” said Gov. Phil Murphy in a statement Wednesday.

The new investments come as Newark continues to face challenges in helping students recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Across Newark, less than 40% of the city’s traditional public and charter school students scored proficient in English language arts last year, and just under 24% did so in math, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of state test scores.

This year, 34% of students in Newark Public Schools passed the English language arts test, while 21.1% passed math, according to the district’s overview of 2025 state test scores.

The state Education Department has not yet released statewide scores for this year, which will include the latest charter school results.

The new literacy funding comes from the federal Comprehensive Literacy State Development grants, a $50 million investment to be used over five years. The grants, which will be disbursed by the state Education Department, will build upon the New Jersey Literacy Framework, the state’s new plan to refine literacy practices in schools.

That framework requires schools across the state this year to start new training on reading instruction for prekindergarten-6 staff, implement literacy screenings for students in K-3, and create reading intervention plans.

The district has said it will use Amira Learning, an AI-powered literacy screener, to help identify students who may be struggling to read, as part of the framework.

Newark charter schools also received literacy funding from the state’s new grant.

Marion P. Thomas Charter School and Philip’s Academy Charter School received $150,000 and $124,999, respectively, to hire literacy coaches.

Marion P. Thomas also received $50,000, while Discovery Charter School got $20,000, to expand reading intervention for middle and high school students.

For Newark, the new grants could mean more support for teachers and families working to help students learn to read.

School leaders in Newark identified early literacy as a key part of the city’s academic recovery plan post-pandemic. In 2023, Mayor Ras Baraka declared an urgent literacy crisis in Newark and created a 10-point action plan. The city’s public school district expanded its summer school and tutoring programs and adopted an AI tutor chatbot, and charter schools sought new partnerships to provide high-dosage tutoring in math and reading.

Superintendent Roger León has previously said that federal dollars were the district’s “saving grace” in expanding academic recovery programs, including high-impact tutoring, a research-based practice with three or more sessions per week with the same tutor in small group settings.

León has also said district teachers are providing that type of tutoring as a way to support academic recovery, but more details about those efforts have not been shared publicly.

In a statement, Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz, whose district includes Newark, said she hopes that the new grants can improve classroom instruction by taking “a holistic approach to strengthening literacy – training educators to deliver effective instruction, equipping schools with evidence-based resources, and fostering meaningful familial connections through reading at home.”

Michael Duffy, president of GO Tutor Corps, a nonprofit that partners with schools in New Jersey and across the country to provide high-impact tutoring, said in a recent interview with Chalkbeat that tutoring works but added that “the question isn’t whether high-dosage tutoring can move the needle for kids, it’s who has access to it.”

Liz Cohen, vice president of policy at 50can and author of a new book, “The Future of Tutoring,” said academic recovery efforts should no longer be viewed as a short-term pandemic solution but should shape education long-term.

“It’s less about recovering now and it’s more about what do we want education to look like in the 21st century and going forward,” Cohen said.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

NJ governor election: How would Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli shape education in Newark?

2025-10-20T14:42:50+00:00

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In the increasingly tight New Jersey governor’s race, education has become a key issue, with Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican former state lawmaker Jack Ciattarelli offering starkly different visions on how to shape the state’s public school system.

If elected, Sherrill, a congresswoman since 2019 whose district includes Essex County, has pledged to invest in tutoring, student mental health, and equity in schools, largely echoing policies laid out by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

Ciattarelli, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, has outlined a conservative platform that echoes many of the Trump administration’s education priorities and would represent a significant shift to the right. Among his proposals is the expansion of charter schools and voucher programs.

Both candidates secured their party’s nomination in June’s historic primary election, which saw the highest voter turnout in a primary election in recent years. The Nov. 4 election – one of two gubernatorial races in the country this year – has gained national attention in part because it may serve as a test of Trump’s policies in a blue-leaning state like New Jersey.

A rightward shift could have a major impact on the future of Newark Public Schools and carries significant weight for the district, especially as it marks five years since it regained local control of its schools. The district has seen progress in recent years, but student achievement, outdated school buildings, and funding remain persistent challenges.

The next governor’s policies may also determine whether the progress of the city’s 41,000 public school students continues or stalls. Measures such as graduation rates and student performance have improved, and chronic absenteeism is trending downward. But Newark’s students have faced ongoing academic challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic, with younger students suffering the biggest declines.

Last school year marked the third year in a row that third grade English language arts state test scores remained the lowest of any grade.

Here’s where the candidates stand and what that could mean for classrooms in Newark and across the state.

Jump to: Student achievement | Charter schools | Funding formula | Infrastructure | Cell phones

What are the plans to boost student achievement?

When it comes to improving students’ reading skills, Ciattarelli says he has plans “to do something on day one.”

In response to a Chalkbeat question during last month’s Newark Today episode on WBGO radio, the Republican candidate said he would implement a “high-impact curriculum,” a set of research-based teaching strategies and learning practices that align with state standards and help boost student achievement. He pointed to Louisiana and Mississippi’s high-impact reading curriculum that has gained national recognition for improving state test scores, particularly in literacy.

Ciattarelli also noted that school districts with low state test scores, like Newark, where only 34% of students passed their English language arts test this spring, need the most support. He also said the state needs to invest in high-impact tutoring to help struggling students.

“We have to get back to the basics and make sure all our kids can read and do math at grade level. A child who cannot read well will find it hard to succeed in life,” Ciattarelli told Chalkbeat this week.

The Republican candidate added that his administration would use metrics similar to those in the state’s current evaluation system for public school districts, known as NJQSAC, to “tell us if a school system is failing.” This year, Newark received a high-performing designation from the state based on its evaluation system.

Ciattarelli would also implement a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” that would require school districts to post K-12 curriculum sources online at the beginning of each school year, according to his campaign website. The Republican candidate would also mandate that schools create “age-appropriate” sexual and “social education” instruction for all grade levels.

At an August rally for Moms for Liberty, a right-wing organization that has lobbied to restrict access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth, ban LGBTQ-focused books and curriculum, and limit teaching about race, Ciattarelli said he would end a state law signed by former Gov. Chris Christie in 2017 that allows school districts to accept students’ asserted gender identities without notifying parents.

Sherrill’s approach to help improve student performance focuses on high-impact tutoring, the Democratic candidate said in response to a Chalkbeat question on last month’s Newark Today episode. That tutoring consists of small-group sessions lasting at least half an hour, three times a week, with the same tutor each time. Research has shown it to be an effective method to combat learning loss.

Newark schools implemented high-impact tutoring with the help of an infusion of federal COVID relief dollars, which the district said was its “saving grace” in expanding programming. The district in 2023 also received a state grant to fund the tutoring work.

During the Newark Today episode, Sherrill also said she is “working hard to drive down costs” in the state and that her administration would evaluate what programs are working and prioritize support for those.

“As governor, [high-impact tutoring] is something I’m going to ensure we are funding in the budget and ensuring that we are getting that into schools, especially those schools that need it most,” Sherrill said.

The Democratic candidate also believes the state has a role in setting academic standards but said school districts should have flexibility in implementing them.

“Teachers and local school leaders know their students best. They understand the needs of their communities, and they should be trusted to tailor lessons, choose materials, and innovate in ways that make learning engaging and relevant,” Sherrill said to Northjersey.com in an interview this month.

Where do candidates stand on charter school expansion and school choice?

Ciattarelli has been clear about his plans to expand charter schools and provide vouchers, and offer more school choice for New Jersey’s families. His plans differ from Newark Superintendent Roger León and the district, who have asked the state to stop the expansion of charter schools in the city and work to regain school spaces taken by them.

The Republican candidate told Chalkbeat this week that he would not “buckle to pressure from anyone” trying to block charter schools in Newark. He added that the city’s charter schools are exceptional, “not only among the best charter schools in the country, but some of the best public schools ever created.”

With record-high charter school applications in Newark for this school year, Ciattarelli said he would “answer that demand by getting students off of wait lists and supporting the growth of high-performing charter schools.” Similarly, Ciattarelli has previously said that by creating a voucher program, which uses tax dollars to cover the cost of student tuition at private schools, families would have more school choice.

When it comes to funding charter schools, Ciattarelli said Newark’s $1.5 billion budget has “enough funding for district and charter schools to share.” But León and other district officials have raised concerns about rising charter school costs year over year. This school year, charter school payments made up the district’s largest expenditure, totaling $401 million, a $47.2 million increase from the 2024-25 school year.

He added that his administration would work with Newark Public Schools “to ensure that every decision, every dollar, every program is laser-focused on improving outcomes for children.”

The Republican candidate believes the state’s Education Department should “get off the back of higher-performing districts” while focusing on underperforming ones, according to his website.

“Local control should empower the district, but, in turn, the district must demonstrate an unwavering commitment to student success and be held accountable when it falls short of this goal,” Ciattarelli said.

Sherrill has not specifically stated her position on expanding charter schools but has expressed support for merging school districts, adding that mandatory consolidation could be considered.

“I’d start by offering the carrot to help the areas that want to consolidate, but when there are areas that are not putting enough money into students, into educators, into the buildings, and then they are taking a lot of money in property taxes and from the state level, then we’ll have to start to look at compulsory movements,” Sherrill said during September’s gubernatorial debate.

The state is home to more than 500 school districts, but 16 are non-operating districts, which have a Board of Education but send their students to schools in other districts. Sherrill, during last month’s debate, said those districts could be the first to merge.

“We have some school districts who have the whole administrative cost, all of the buildings, and yet they’re not even running a K-12 school system, so we do need to merge some of these school districts,” she said.

The Democratic candidate has also said she would expand the state’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which allows students to attend a public school in a different district. That solution would also tackle segregation in schools, Sherrill said to Northjersey.com earlier this month

“I believe that part of the solution should include new regional magnet schools that enroll a diverse group of students from both urban and suburban communities,” Sherrill said.

Will New Jersey’s school funding formula change?

Both candidates have said they would reform the state’s school funding formula, but have dueling approaches.

Newark has historically been one of the most underfunded school districts based on the funding formula, which uses a weighted student formula to give districts financial support in addition to local taxes. The school year, Newark Public Schools received an additional $75 million in funding from New Jersey, making up 84.2% of the district’s budget. City taxes make up 9.1%, an excess fund balance makes up 5.8%, and other local and federal aid make up the remaining 0.9%, according to the budget.

During the September gubernatorial debate, Ciattarelli promised a new funding formula that would reduce property taxes but provided no details about his plans.

“I have a very specific plan on how to lower property taxes. We need a new school funding formula. A more equitable one will help lower the property tax,” Ciattarelli said during the debate.

The Republican candidate also told Chalkbeat this week that he would hold Newark Public Schools accountable for how it spends its money. He pointed to Newark’s misuse of funds after a state investigation revealed a $44,000 “staff fun day” violated laws on how school boards can spend taxpayer money.

“That kind of spending is unacceptable and underscores the need for transparency and accountability,” Ciattarelli said.

Sherrill is also interested in updating the funding formula to lower costs and ensure more equity among school districts. But she is focused on getting federal funding for education back from the Trump administration.

“At almost every level, the federal government right now has limited the money that they’re sending back to New Jersey for education. And as a state that sends so much money to the federal government, that’s offensive.” Sherrill said during October’s gubernatorial debate.

Will a new governor fix old school buildings?

Newark school leaders have long raised concerns about the district’s aging buildings, which are among the oldest in the state. The district has said it would take more than $2 billion to fully repair and update schools.

Ciattarelli told Chalkbeat this week that the state “must make significant and sustained investments in school construction and modernization.”

“These projects are not only essential for student safety and educational outcomes, but they also represent a smart economic investment, creating thousands of family-sustaining construction jobs that strengthen local economies,” Ciattarelli said.

But to make those investments, the next governor must work with the legislature to determine a long-term funding plan for the state’s Schools Development Authority, which oversees construction projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty school districts. By law, the state must pay for Newark’s school construction.

Ciattarelli said the SDA “needs additional reform” and “should be more transparent in how it selects and prioritizes school construction projects.”

Additionally, charter schools can benefit from facilities funding once the Charter School Facilities Loan Program is funded, Ciattarelli added.

Sherrill has also said that New Jersey has some of the nation’s oldest school infrastructure and updating those facilities is critical and expensive. In Congress, Sherrill has backed bills that include investments in school infrastructure.

During the September gubernatorial debate, the Democratic candidate highlighted the need to fix the state’s school buildings. She pointed to a stairway that fell at a high school in Montclair and a ceiling collapse at an elementary school in Paterson that caused some students to miss school.

“We have to address it, but unfortunately, so much of the money is going to administration right now. We need to move that money into the places that we want to address,” Sherrill said.

Last year, the state agreed to replace 13 of Newark’s oldest school buildings, but that deal leaves out 20 schools in dire need of updates. New Jersey also said it would build the district a new high school, but those plans are stalled until the Schools Development Authority receives more funding.

Where do the candidates stand on cell phones in classrooms?

Both candidates agree that cellphones should not be allowed during class time but differ on the approach.

The state’s Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents in September recommended a “bell-to-bell” ban on cellphones in schools. State lawmakers are considering a Murphy-backed plan to ban cellphones in classrooms, but the bill has yet to receive a vote in the state Assembly.

If approved, it would require the state’s Education Department to create guidelines on the use of cellphones and social media during class time. It would also require school districts to create guidelines in line with the state.

In Newark Public Schools, students are allowed to bring cellphones into classrooms but the devices must remain on silent or vibrate settings at all times, according to district policy. Students may not use them to make calls, take photos, or videos from within school buildings and parents must sign a user agreement acknowledging that the district assumes no responsibility for any loss or damage to the phone.

Ciattarelli opposes a statewide ban and suggests school districts should work with parents to set their own policies on cellphones in schools.

Sherrill said she supports a statewide ban on cellphones in schools, which is in line with her campaign’s push to raise awareness about the dangers of social media and their effects on youth mental health.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools’ state test scores near pre-pandemic levels in English language arts and math

2025-10-07T10:00:01+00:00

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Newark Public Schools students inched closer to pre-pandemic levels on statewide assessments this spring, with English language arts and math scores up by roughly 3 percentage points over last year, according to a district analysis presented last week.

On average, 34% of district students in grades 3 to 9 passed the English language arts test – roughly a percentage point under the 2019 score – while 21.1% of students passed the math test, according to the district’s overview of spring 2025 New Jersey Student Learning Assessment scores. In spring 2024, 31% of students passed the English portion of the test, while 17.7% passed the math assessment.

Former English language learners continue to be the highest performing subgroup across all student populations in English language arts, according to the district. The results indicate that Newark students are continuing to recover from pandemic-era learning disruptions, but the majority are still falling short of state standards. In recent years, district leaders have bolstered tutoring, summer and Saturday school efforts, and introduced a new reading and writing curriculum to help further students’ academic recovery.

The new scores come five years after the emergence of COVID-19 and are the fourth round of tests given to students since then. They also coincide with the district’s fifth year of local control, following 25 years of state oversight of Newark’s public schools.

The state Education Department has not yet released statewide scores publicly. Newark’s analysis is based on state test results given to school districts ahead of time.

Newark’s scores this year are in line with national trends, said Superintendent Roger León, during the September board meeting when scores were presented.

“Students who are in the older grades are able to demonstrate better recovery than the students that are in the younger grades, and English language arts is moving a whole lot faster than the area of mathematics,” León added.

Students who were in grades 5 and 6 in 2020 may need about five years to fully recover, and even longer for those entering eighth grade or high school now, according to the Northwest Evaluation Association, a nonprofit that develops assessments to measure K-12 schools’ student achievement. Students from different racial and ethnic groups, such as Black and Latino, and low-income backgrounds were among the hardest hit by the pandemic’s effects. In Newark, more than 90% of students identify as Black or Latino.

The results are filled with “bright spots” but “do not eclipse the real work that we still have to do,” said Rochanda Jackson, executive director of the Office of Data and Research, who presented the scores last week.

Of the district’s roughly 41,000 students, 3,892 students moved up at least one proficiency level in English language arts since last year, while 3,225 did so in math, according to the district’s analysis.

Students who stayed enrolled from third to fourth grade and seventh to eighth grade saw their average pass rate increase between 2 and 2.5 percentage points, Jackson added. Those who stayed enrolled from fourth to fifth grade and from fifth to sixth grade saw a 3 percentage point increase, while students from sixth to seventh grade saw the largest gain at nearly 8 percentage points, Jackson said.

“These seventh graders were babies in the pandemic. In 2020, they were in the second grade. They spent nearly two years getting foundational math knowledge and virtual classroom experiences they didn’t know,” Jackson added.

Since students began taking the state test after the pandemic, all grades have seen steady growth in English language arts, Jackson said. In 2019, just under 35% of Newark students reached proficiency levels in English, while about 24% of students did so in math.

In comparison to last year, scores in English language arts went up across all elementary grade levels, Jackson said. Students’ math skills are also improving, but more slowly than English language arts, according to the district’s analysis.

As the district continues to work on students’ academic recovery, Jackson said that “with time, rigor, and consistency,” the district can “change the trajectory of students’ lives.”

“We need to keep these at the forefront of our thoughts as we continue to strategize on what needs to be done to accelerate beyond pre-pandemic performance to mastery and sustained academic excellence,” Jackson added.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Rise in Newark Public Schools enrollment is changing student makeup, increasing language needs

2025-10-02T10:00:01+00:00

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Newark Public Schools has experienced a nearly 20% increase in enrollment over the past five years, a rare surge as districts across the country report a decline in students.

The district’s enrollment growth includes a rise in English language learners, students with disabilities, and Hispanic students, who now represent the largest student group in the district. Since 2019, the number of Black students has declined as Hispanic enrollment has steadily increased.

Newark’s surge in student enrollment since 2019 stands out as other public school districts cite decreasing or stagnant student populations. Public school enrollment across the country has dropped by nearly 1.3 million students since the COVID-19 pandemic, partly due to declining birth rates and shifts in migration. Statewide, enrollment grew by only 0.39%, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of state enrollment data.

In a press release on Wednesday, the district noted that it had the highest student enrollment growth of any of the 78 largest U.S. urban districts.

But it’s unclear exactly why Newark’s enrollment has increased so dramatically. Paul Brubaker, the district’s spokesperson, did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Newark’s growing public school enrollment.

In Newark, New Jersey’s largest school system, enrollment is shaped by changing demographics, homeschooling options, and school choice policies, among other factors.

Mark Weber, an education policy analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective, said the city has seen an influx of Hispanic residents in recent years and a “significant growth” in the number of students who speak English as a second language. But whether those trends are related to Newark’s enrollment boost is unclear, Weber added.

“A 20% increase over five years, that’s a lot,” Weber said.

That growth comes as urban school districts around the country experience declining student enrollment, a trend that began before the pandemic, said Aaron Smith, director of education reform at Reason Foundation, a nonprofit think tank that analyzed national K-12 enrollment data.

“I think you can conclude that public school enrollment is plummeting and will continue to fall for years to come. But of course, the situation is local, and local context is key,” Smith said.

This school year, Newark Public Schools enters its fifth year of local control and has seen steady improvements in state test scores, declines in chronic absenteeism, and the opening of new schools. The district last year also spent more than a quarter of a million dollars to rehire a Memphis-based marketing firm to recruit students into district schools.

But, last week, parents at a public hearing to extend Superintendent Roger León’s contract raised concerns about student achievement, racism in schools, and inadequate support for the district’s most vulnerable students, highlighting questions about whether the district is meeting the needs of all students as enrollment grows.

Newark’s enrollment growth sets it apart from other school districts

Last school year, the district enrolled almost 44,000 pre-K through 12th grade students, up from roughly 36,600 in 2019, according to state enrollment figures. That’s just over 7,000 students who have enrolled in the district since 2019. The district also surpassed charter school growth in 2023, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of pre-K through 12 state enrollment data between 2019 and 2024.

In Essex County, Newark’s public schools have reported the biggest enrollment percentage gains in recent years. Essex Regional Educational Services Commission had a 13.16% growth, Irvington Public Schools experienced an 11.99% boost, and Orange Public Schools had an 11.94% increase, a Chalkbeat analysis found.

Newark’s growth makes it an outlier among other urban school districts in the country. Neighboring New York City has lost some 100,000 students since before the pandemic. Philadelphia schools are down nearly 10,000 students since the 2019-20 school year, and Chicago Public Schools enrollment has dipped by roughly 30,000 students since the 2019-20 school year, according to a Chalkbeat analysis.

A closer look at Newark Public Schools’ enrollment shows that the number of Hispanic students increased by roughly 40% over the last five years and accounts for almost all of the district’s 20% growth since 2019, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of state enrollment data. That’s a sharp contrast from pre-pandemic years, when Black student enrollment was steadily growing at the same rate as Hispanic students. Last school year, the district enrolled more than 26,000 Hispanic students; just under 14,000 students were Black.

The enrollment shifts are on par with demographic changes in Newark. According to the latest U.S. Census figures, Newark is home to more than 317,000 people, with roughly 114,000 identifying as Hispanic or Latino and just over 140,000 identifying as Black or African American.

Last school year, the district enrolled more than 12,000 English learners, according to state fall enrollment data. The number of English learner students rose almost sixfold in 2024 compared to 2019, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of district enrollment figures. In 2022, the district also experienced its most significant growth in English learners.

As the student makeup shifts, district officials are also facing urgent questions about the way they provide resources to students, determine capacity demands, and plan long-term to meet the needs of all students.

Smith, the director at Reason Foundation, added that school districts like Newark that receive state funding based on student enrollment are better equipped to absorb growing populations. In New Jersey, student enrollment numbers are used to calculate how much funding a district gets from the state.

“Generally, it might put a little pressure on the facilities side of things, but otherwise, [school districts] will have to find new talent and hire new staff, which they’ll get the additional resources to do so,” Smith added.

The surge in vulnerable student populations prompted Newark to launch a new bilingual education program at Malcolm X Shabazz High School last fall to help English learners access services closer to where they live. At the same time, some students with disabilities missed class during the first week of the 2024-25 school year after being told they did not have a school placement.

Smith added that enrollment changes “don’t just impact the school system,” they also dictate how a district will have to operate during the school year.

“Schools are just going to have to adjust to their new enrollment reality, and part of that is dealing with staffing issues and sometimes, school closures or budget cuts, which are difficult but necessary,” Smith said.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Las escuelas de Newark recuperaron el control. Unificar a la comunidad escolar sigue siendo un reto

2025-09-26T18:11:01+00:00

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Cuando Newark retomó el control de sus escuelas después de que el estado tomara el control por 25 años, ese momento marcó el comienzo de una nueva era en el sistema escolar más grande de Nueva Jersey.

Para los padres, educadores, estudiantes y líderes de la ciudad, el retorno oficial del control local, en 2020, representó una victoria impulsada por la defensa y la creencia de que la comunidad debería dar forma a sus propias escuelas.

En los cinco años transcurridos de este logro, las escuelas de Newark —una vez llamadas “abismales” por los líderes estatales— han mostrado signos de progreso. Las tasas de graduación se han incrementado, el ausentismo crónico se ha reducido, la cantidad de matrículas ha aumentado y las puntuaciones de los exámenes han mejorado constantemente.Los programas y departamentos que se habían perdido durante la supervisión del estado han sido restaurados, y se han aperturado nuevas escuelas bajo la dirección del superintendente escolar Roger León, quien fue nombrado en 2018 como el primero en liderar el distrito escolar después de retomar el control local.

Marques Lewis, quien lideró la Junta Escolar de Newark cuando era conocida como la School Advisory Board (Junta Consultiva Escolar) bajo el control estatal, dijo que “no está totalmente satisfecho” con la actual situación de las escuelas de Newark, pero se siente “mejor hoy sobre el futuro del distrito que durante el control estatal”.

“¿En dónde pienso que estamos hoy?”, agregó Lewis. “Creo que hoy continuamos teniendo bastante trabajo por hacer”.

Mientras el distrito ha hecho mejoras, padres, estudiantes, maestros y defensores dicen que quieren tener más participación en las decisiones de las escuelas de la ciudad, y han cuestionado si es que el control local ha cumplido con su promesa de un liderazgo si el más receptivo y una mejor educación para los estudiantes de Newark.

“Es muy bueno querer restaurar las escuelas y hacerlas más accesibles para las familias, pero todos sabemos que sin las familias y la comunidad como fuerza motriz, ningún distrito escolar puede prosperar, y eso es con lo que están luchando”, dijo Yolanda Johnson, ex presidenta de la Parent Teacher Association (Asociación de Padres y Maestros) y defensora del retorno del control local.

En un correo electrónico a Chalkbeat esta semana, Paul Brubaker, vocero del Distrito, dijo que funcionarios “se reúnen y hablan con los miembros de la comunidad todos los días, informamos sobre asuntos de interés público todo el tiempo, y somos auditados por agencias estatales y federales frecuentemente”.

“Estamos comprometidos en asegurar que el público entienda qué están haciendo las Escuelas Públicas de Newark”, añadió Brubaker.

Bajas puntuaciones en los exámenes de los estudiantes y la mala gestión condujo al control estatal

Cuando el estado se hizo cargo de Newark en 1995, el distrito había soportado más de una década de tasas decrecientes de graduación, resultados decepcionantes en las pruebas, asistencia atrasada y mala gestión.

Los edificios escolares se estaban desmoronando y goteando, los estudiantes no eran competentes en lectura, escritura y matemáticas, y los miembros de la junta escolar hacían viajes lujosos a Honolulu y cenaban en restaurantes finos con dinero de los contribuyentes, según funcionarios estatales de la época. El caso de la toma de control del estado fue respaldado por un informe condenatorio escrito por Sally Ann Fields, fiscal general principal del estado en ese momento, que dijo que el distrito había sido “en el mejor de los casos flagrantemente delincuente y en el peor engañoso en el cumplimiento de sus obligaciones con los niños matriculados”.

Aunque los padres y los defensores habían expresado anteriormente su preocupación por la forma en que se administraban las escuelas, algunos consideraron destructiva la toma del poder por el estado. Newark fue el tercer distrito escolar que pasó a manos del estado, después de Jersey City y Paterson, donde también hay una gran proporción de estudiantes negros y latinos. Los defensores que criticaron la toma del poder por el estado lo vieron como una intervención política y racista. Esta idea está respaldada por una investigación que muestra que los distritos escolares con alumnos predominantemente negros tienen más probabilidades de ser absorbidos.

Durante los siguientes 22 años en Newark, superintendentes designados por el estado cerraron escuelas, despidieron a cientos de empleados y supervisaron la expansión de las escuelas chárter.

Los defensores de la reforma educativa y los donantes filantrópicos se unieron en torno a la idea de que las escuelas chárter, administradas por el sector privado pero financiadas con fondos públicos, podrían proporcionar a los estudiantes de la ciudad el cambio académico que tanto necesitaban.

En 2010, una donación de $100 millones del director ejecutivo de Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, impulsó la expansión de las escuelas chárter, que se expandieron por toda la ciudad, causando un descenso en la matrícula de las escuelas públicas, una disminución en la financiación de los distritos y recortes presupuestarios en las escuelas públicas tradicionales.

Bajo el control estatal, las calificaciones y el rendimiento de los estudiantes aumentaron lentamente, pero la comunidad escolar de Newark siguió mostrándose escéptica ante los esfuerzos realizados.

Lewis, el ex presidente de la junta bajo control estatal, dijo que la junta en ese momento “no tenía realmente el poder de tomar decisiones” ya que los superintendentes nombrados por el estado podían vetar las acciones de la junta.

“Creo que el estado nos impidió ser realmente capaces de educar a nuestros hijos correctamente y darles los recursos que necesitaban”, dijo Lewis.

Y muchos padres estuvieron de acuerdo. “Siento que, bajo el control del estado, se destruyó nuestra comunidad en Newark”, explicó Johnson, quien agregó que los cierres de escuelas ordenados por superintendentes designados por el estado fueron especialmente dañinos. “Destruyeron familias, separaron familias, dividieron familias”.

Después de la toma del estado, NPS trabajó para reconstruir las escuelas

Cuando el distrito volvió oficialmente al control local en 2020, después de una transición de dos años durante los cuales el estado dijo que había hecho “un progreso sustancial y sostenible” para mejorar las escuelas, León prometió recuperar los espacios escolares públicos perdidos durante la toma del estado y frenar la expansión de las escuelas chárter.

León, un alumno de las Escuelas Públicas de Newark que ascendió en la escala de distrito, creó una ambiciosa estrategia de 10 años conocida como "La próxima década: 2020-2030“, con el objetivo de reabrir escuelas y programas cerrados y mejorar el absentismo crónico, la infraestructura escolar, la asistencia y los planes de estudio. También se comprometió a ampliar el personal docente.

Para este año —año seis del plan estratégico— “habremos sentado las bases para el progreso de todas nuestras prioridades, y veremos la imagen, dirección y formación de un sistema escolar unificado en el sistema escolar de la ciudad de Newark”, promete el plan de León.

Pero esos esfuerzos se vieron obstaculizados por la pandemia de COVID-19, que cerró las escuelas y causó interrupciones generalizadas del aprendizaje. El rendimiento de los estudiantes cayó, los problemas de salud mental aumentaron, los maestros se agotaron y la necesidad de apoyar a los estudiantes más vulnerables del distrito se hizo más urgente.

“Estoy preocupado por cómo este sistema se recupera”, dijo en el momento, “no de COVID-19, pero del distrito escolar operado por el estado”.

En 2022, cuando los estudiantes de Nueva Jersey tomaron las pruebas estatales estandarizadas por primera vez desde la pandemia, León llamó a los resultados “horribles”, señalando que solo el 13% de los estudiantes de los grados 3 a 9 aprobaron matemáticas y alrededor del 27% aprobó artes en inglés.

Sin embargo, una inyección de fondos federales de ayuda para la COVID se utilizó para reformar los programas extraescolares del distrito y ampliar las iniciativas de tutoría y recuperación académica, lo que contribuyó a que el plan de León para mejorar el rendimiento de los estudiantes volviera a encarrilarse.

Los esfuerzos —combinados con una revisión 2023 de su currículum de lectura y escritura— ayudaron a aumentar las puntuaciones en alrededor de dos puntos porcentuales cada año entre 2022 y 2024, pero las pruebas estatales mostraron que los estudiantes seguían teniendo dificultades para leer y escribir. Casi el 70% de los estudiantes de los grados 3 al 9, no alcanzaron las tasas de alfabetización en sus exámenes estatales en 2024 y alrededor del 82% no cumplían con los estándares en matemáticas.

Aun así, las ganancias fueron suficientes para que el distrito consiguiera una designación de alto rendimiento del estado este año.

Desde el regreso al control local, el distrito también ha abierto 10 nuevas escuelas, incluyendo la reapertura de una escuela para estudiantes con discapacidades en el barrio norte de la ciudad. Mientras que los distritos de todo el país vieron una disminución en la matrícula después de la pandemia, la matrícula de Newark aumentó, incluso superando el crecimiento de las escuelas chárter en 2023. El distrito atendió aproximadamente a 44,000 estudiantes de pre-K hasta el grado 12 en el año escolar 2024-25, frente a los 37,000 en 2020, cuando terminó la supervisión estatal.

En los últimos cinco años, el distrito también ha mejorado otras métricas clave. Durante el año escolar 2023-24, el año más reciente con datos estatales disponibles, el distrito elevó su tasa de graduación al 86.3% y redujo el absentismo crónico al 11.5%, frente al 75.7% y 32%, respectivamente, en el año escolar 2017-18.

La relación anteriormente “hostil” del sindicato de maestros de Newark con el distrito controlado por el estado también se ha descongelado bajo el control local. El presidente del sindicato, John Abeigon, dijo que los superintendentes designados por el estado “fueron muy despectivos con los maestros y sus aportaciones”. Pero el sindicato ha trabajado amistosamente con León para resolver disputas y ambas partes negociaron un nuevo contrato de maestros que incluye aumentos salariales y oportunidades para que los educadores tengan más voz en las decisiones curriculares.

Esas victorias son solo una fracción de lo que los maestros del distrito buscaban, dijo Abeigon, pero “ahora hay más comunicación y respeto mutuo” entre el liderazgo y los educadores.

Brubaker, el portavoz del distrito, atribuyó las ganancias de los últimos cinco años al plan estratégico de 10 años de León.

“La implementación exitosa del plan estratégico ha sido posible gracias al personal del distrito, las partes interesadas, los estudiantes y sus familias, quienes creen que la transformación total de las escuelas públicas de Newark es posible”, dijo en el comunicado a Chalkbeat.

La comunidad escolar de Newark quiere un asiento en la mesa

Aunque el distrito celebra el progreso bajo cinco años de control local, los miembros de la comunidad dicen que aún queda trabajo por hacer. Los estudiantes, maestros y padres han expresado repetidamente su preocupación por la falta de transparencia del distrito en la toma de decisiones y la resolución de problemas en las escuelas.

Los intentos de ampliar el contrato de León se han llevado adelante silenciosamente con poco espacio para la opinión pública, y padres, estudiantes, y los defensores han criticado a León y a los funcionarios del distrito por retener un informe mordaz en el que se detallan casos de racismo en la School of Global Studies (Escuela de Estudios Globales) de Newark y recomendaciones para mejorar los efectos de la anti-negritud en el sistema escolar.

Los antiguos miembros de la junta también han expresado su preocupación por la retención de maestros y la moral del personal, un problema que se puso de relieve cuando dos ex maestros presentaron demandas alegando acoso en el lugar de trabajo y hostilidad racial en las escuelas, y un ex empleado demandó al distrito por alegadamente permitir un ambiente de trabajo hostil.

Abeigon, el presidente del sindicato de maestros, explicó que depende del distrito resolver los problemas.

“Si y cuando cometemos errores, tenemos que ser responsables. Ya no podemos culpar al estado”, agregó Abeigon.

Al comienzo del año escolar 2021-2022, el distrito comenzó con 120 vacantes de instrucción y contrató maestros jubilados en medio de una escasez de personal. En el año escolar pasado, León también dijo que el distrito estaba trabajando para llenar “puestos difíciles de personal”, como ayudantes de educación especial, maestros bilingües y STEM.

Pero Lewis, el ex presidente de la junta, dijo que está preocupado por la falta de liderazgo afroamericano y la composición docente en las escuelas de Newark a raíz de los problemas en la escuela Global Studies. También planteó preguntas sobre el funcionamiento de la junta escolar.

“Rezo para que el distrito continúe avanzando, y como dije, hay espacio, siempre hay espacio para mejorar”, agregó Lewis.

Johnson, la ex presidenta de la PTA que abogó por el retorno al control local, explicó que el distrito debe hacer más para involucrar a los padres y hacerles sentir que se les escucha. Cuando los padres de antiguos estudiantes de Global Studies trataron de encontrar una solución a los problemas en la escuela, Johnson se confundió sobre por qué no fueron incluidos en el proceso, dijo.

“¿Cómo esperas que [los padres] participen, o se entusiasmen con un distrito escolar donde sienten que sus voces no son escuchadas?”, señaló Johnson.

Johnson dijo que el distrito también podría estar haciendo más para proporcionar servicios y apoyo a sus estudiantes más vulnerables. El año escolar pasado, el distrito matriculó a más de 11,000 estudiantes multilingües y aproximadamente 7,000 estudiantes de educación especial, según los datos de matrícula del estado.

En 2021, el Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos encontró "fracasos de amplio alcance" en el programa del distrito para estudiantes de inglés, y algunas familias de estudiantes con discapacidades han dicho que han luchado por obtener los servicios que se les deben a sus hijos. Aunque Newark ha cumplido con los requisitos para salir del monitoreo estatal sobre servicios a estudiantes de inglés y estudiantes con discapacidades, los padres de esos estudiantes han pedido más apoyo al distrito.

Para hacer mejoras radicales y duraderas para los estudiantes, los líderes del distrito “necesitan dar a todos la oportunidad de expresar sus preocupaciones” sin temor a represalias, dijo Lewis.

“Estoy esperando el día en que todos podamos sentarnos a la misma mesa y decir: escucha, nuestro objetivo principal es educar a cada niño de esta ciudad y darles la oportunidad para un gran futuro”, dijo Lewis.

Traducido por Bernardo de la Cruz.

Jessie Gómez es una reportera por Chalkbeat Newark y cubre las escuelas públicas de Newark. Puede ponerse en contacto con ella: jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board fails to approve Superintendent Roger León’s contract extension after public pushback

2025-09-26T03:43:24+00:00

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A proposal to extend Newark Superintendent Roger León’s contract failed to pass late Thursday after parents and advocates raised concerns about student achievement, racism in schools, and inadequate support for the district’s most vulnerable students.

Four board members voted in favor of extending León through 2030, two abstained, two recused themselves due to conflicts of interest and one board member was not in attendance. The proposal required a majority vote, at least five, to pass.

León’s current contract is set to expire June 30, 2028. The vote Thursday does not necessarily mean an extension is off the table. The board may revisit the issue at a later date.

During Thursday’s heated public hearing, dozens of Newarkers packed Ann Street Elementary School to weigh in on the proposed extension. Those in attendance endured the humidity inside the school’s auditorium as some waited more than an hour to speak for only three minutes.

Parents, teachers, and advocates raised concerns about school lunches, racism, bullying, student achievement, parent engagement, overcrowded classrooms, and support for English language learners and students with disabilities.

Community advocates also demanded the release of a report — whose details so far have only been reported in draft form by Chalkbeat — documenting problems with the cultural climate at a city high school. Advocates also pleaded for a curriculum that challenges racial biases and promotes inclusivity.

Carlos Castañeda, an organizer with Movimiento Cosecha, which advocates for immigrants’ rights, said he opposed the proposed extension because “the process lacks transparency.”

“The public was given a short window to respond, yet the board is considering a decision that will shape our schools for the next five years,” Castañeda said during Thursday’s hearing. “Our families deserve a superintendent that tackles inequities head-on.”

He was joined by a group of Spanish-speaking mothers from the grassroots group New Labor, who also demanded that the board address issues raised instead of deciding on an extension.

Others like Denise Cole, a longtime community advocate who fought for the district’s return to local control, said she was “in strong support” of extending León’s contract and believes the extension would allow him to complete his 10-year plan for the district.

“It’s a simple matter of stability, continuity, and fairness,” Cole added.

After public comment, school board members met for more than an hour behind closed doors to discuss personnel matters. The board voted, without discussion, when it reconvened in public. León did not give a statement about the contract extension or the vote.

Two board members who have relatives who work for the school district recused themselves from the vote in accordance with the board’s nepotism policy.

The hearing lasted nearly five hours and was supposed to be followed by a full school board meeting, which instead was postponed to Sept. 29 at the district’s central office.

León, who became superintendent in 2018, is the first to lead the district under local control and the first Latino to helm New Jersey’s largest school system.

Thursday’s meeting marked another contentious moment between Newark’s school community and district leadership, highlighting growing public scrutiny as the district enters its fifth year under local control and faces questions about whether it has delivered on its promise of a better education for Newark students.

Those in support of the extension pointed to initiatives launched under León’s leadership, including his 10-year plan meant to improve the district by 2030, increased graduation rates, and his commitment to Newark schools after working in the district as a teacher and principal.

But critics said more work needs to be done to improve student reading and address bullying and harassment against students.

This isn’t the first time community members have called on the district to address school issues or provide more transparency into their decision making.

León’s salary this school year is $319,785 according to the district budget.

Victoria Grant, a senior at North Star Academy, a charter school, spoke last and was the only student who spoke during Thursday’s public hearing. Instead of opposing or supporting the extension, she encouraged León to “soak in” the concerns raised.

“What is the school board or superintendent doing to address students’ concerns individually?” Grant added.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools regained control. Uniting the school community remains a challenge.

2025-09-19T15:35:41+00:00

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Leer en español.

When Newark took its schools back after 25 years of state oversight, the moment marked the beginning of a new era for New Jersey’s largest school system.

For parents, educators, students, and city leaders, the official return to local control in 2020 represented a victory fueled by advocacy and the belief that the community should shape its own schools.

In the five years since, Newark’s schools — once called “abysmal” by state leaders — have shown signs of progress. Graduation rates are up, chronic absenteeism has dropped, enrollment has grown, and test scores have steadily improved. Programs and departments once lost under state oversight were revived, and new schools have opened under Superintendent Roger León, who was appointed in 2018 as the first to lead the district after the return to local control.

Marques Lewis, who led the Newark school board when it was known as the School Advisory Board under state control, says he’s “not totally satisfied” with the current state of Newark schools but feels “better today about the future of the district than I did during state control.”

“Where do I think we are today?” he added. “I think today we still got a lot of work to do.”

While the district has made strides, parents, students, teachers, and advocates say they want more input in decisions about the city’s schools, and have questioned whether local control has delivered on its promise of a more responsive leadership and a better education for Newark students.

“It’s all good to want to restore schools and make it accessible for the families, but we all know that without the families and the community as the driving force … that no school district can thrive, and that’s what they’re struggling with,” said Yolanda Johnson, a former Parent Teacher Association president for the district and advocate for the return to local control.

In an email to Chalkbeat this week, Paul Brubaker, a spokesperson for the district, said officials “meet with and talk to community members every day, we report on matters of public concern all the time, and we are audited by state and federal agencies frequently.”

“We remain committed to ensuring that the public understands what Newark Public Schools is doing,” Brubaker wrote.

Low student test scores, mismanagement led to state control

By the time the state took over Newark in 1995, the district had endured more than a decade of declining graduation rates, disappointing test scores, lagging attendance, and mismanagement.

School buildings were crumbling and leaking, students were not proficient in reading, writing, and math, and school board members were taking lavish trips to Honolulu and dining at fine restaurants on the taxpayers’ dime, according to state officials at the time. The state’s takeover case was bolstered by a damning report authored by Sally Ann Fields, senior state deputy attorney general at the time, that said the district had been “at best flagrantly delinquent and at worst deceptive in discharging its obligations to the children enrolled.”

Although parents and advocates had previously raised concerns about the way schools were run, some saw the state takeover as destructive. Newark was the third school district to be taken over by the state, following Jersey City and Paterson, which also enroll a large share of Black and Latino students. Advocates who criticized the state’s takeover saw it as a political and racially motivated intervention. That idea is backed up by research that shows school districts with predominantly Black students are more likely to be taken over.

Over the next 22 years in Newark, state-appointed superintendents shut down schools, laid off hundreds of employees, and oversaw the expansion of charter schools.

Education reform advocates and philanthropic donors rallied behind the idea that charter schools, which are privately run but publicly funded schools, could deliver the academic turnaround city students desperately needed.

In 2010, a $100 million donation from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg fueled the expansion of charter schools, which boomed across the city, causing a decline in public school enrollment, a decrease in district funding, and budget cuts at traditional public schools.

Under state control, test scores and student achievement slowly increased but Newark’s school community remained skeptical about the efforts.

Lewis, the former Board president under state control, said the board at that time “didn’t really have the power to make decisions” since state-appointed superintendents could veto board actions.

“I think the state crippled us in really being able to educate our children correctly and give them the resources that they need,” Lewis said.

And many parents agreed. “I feel like, under state control, it destroyed our community in Newark,” said Johnson, who added that school closures ordered by state-appointed superintendents were especially damaging. “It destroyed families, separated families, divided families.”

After state takeover, NPS worked to rebuild schools

When the district officially reverted to local control in 2020, after a two-year transition during which the state said it had made “substantial and sustainable progress” to improve schools, León promised to reclaim public school spaces lost under the state’s takeover and slow the spread of charter schools.

León, a Newark Public Schools alum who worked his way up the district ladder, created an ambitious 10-year strategy known as “The Next Decade: 2020-2030,“ aimed at reopening shuttered schools and programs and improving chronic absenteeism, school infrastructure, attendance, and curricula. He also pledged to expand the teacher workforce.

By this year — year six of the strategic plan — “we will have laid the groundwork for progress for all of our priorities, and we will see the image, direction, and formation of a unified school system in the City of Newark,” León’s plan vows.

But those efforts were set back by the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down schools and caused widespread learning disruptions. Student performance dropped, mental health issues grew, teachers burned out, and the need to support the district’s most vulnerable students became more urgent.

“I’m worried about how this system recovers,” he said at the time, “not from COVID-19 — but from the state-operated school district.”

In 2022, when New Jersey students took state standardized tests for the first time since the pandemic, León called the results “horrible,” noting that just 13% of students in grades 3–9 passed math and about 27% passed English language arts.

But an infusion of federal COVID relief funds was used to overhaul the district’s after-school programming and expand tutoring and academic recovery efforts and helped put León’s plan to boost student achievement back on track.

The efforts — combined with a 2023 overhaul of its reading and writing curriculum— helped grow scores by about two percentage points every year between 2022 and 2024, but state tests showed ongoing student challenges in reading and writing. Nearly 70% of students in grades 3-9 fell short of meeting literacy rates on their state tests in 2024 and around 82% did not meet math standards.

Still, the gains were enough for the district to earn a high-performing designation from the state this year.

Since the return to local control, the district has also opened 10 new schools, including reopening a school for students with disabilities in the city’s North Ward. While districts across the country saw a post-pandemic decline in enrollment, Newark’s enrollment increased, even surpassing charter school growth in 2023. It served roughly 44,000 pre-K through 12th grade students in the 2024-25 school year, up from 37,000 in 2020, when state oversight ended.

Over the last five years, the district has also improved other key metrics. During the 2023-24 school year, the most recent year with available state data, the district raised its graduation rate to 86.3% and reduced chronic absenteeism to 11.5%, up from 75.7% and down from 32%, respectively, in the 2017-18 school year.

The Newark Teachers Union’s formerly “hostile” relationship with the district under state control has also thawed under local control. Union President John Abeigon said state-appointed superintendents “were very dismissive of teachers and their input.” But the union has worked amicably with León to resolve disputes and both parties negotiated a new teachers contract that includes salary raises and opportunities for educators to have more say in curriculum decisions.

Those wins are just a fraction of what district teachers sought, Abeigon said, but “there is more communication and a mutual respect” between leadership and educators now.

Brubaker, the district spokesperson, attributed the gains over the last five years to León’s 10-year strategic plan.

“Successful implementation of the strategic plan has been made possible by the district staff, stakeholders, students, and their families, who believe the total transformation of the Newark Public Schools is possible,” he said in the statement to Chalkbeat.

Newark’s school community wants a seat at the table

Even as the district celebrates the progress under five years of local control, community members say work remains to be done. Students, teachers, and parents have repeatedly voiced concerns about the district’s lack of transparency in decision-making and problem-solving in schools.

Attempts to extend León’s contract have been quietly moved forward with little space for public input, and parents, students, and advocates have slammed León and district officials for withholding a scathing report detailing instances of racism at the Newark School of Global Studies and recommendations to improve the effects of anti-Blackness in the school system.

Former board members have also raised concerns about teacher retention and staff morale, an issue highlighted when two former teachers filed lawsuits alleging harassment in the workplace and racial hostility in schools, and a former employee sued the district for allegedly allowing a hostile work environment.

Abeigon, the teachers union president, says it’s up to the district to resolve the problems.

“If and when we make mistakes, we have to own it. We can no longer blame the state,” Abeigon added.

At the start of the 2021-22 school year, the district started the school year with 120 instructional vacancies and recruited retired teachers amid a staff shortage. Last school year, León also said the district was working to fill “hard-to-staff positions” such as special education aides, bilingual and STEM teachers.

But Lewis, the former board president, said he is concerned about the lack of African American leadership and teacher makeup in Newark schools in the wake of issues at Global Studies. He also raised questions about the way the school board operates.

“I’m praying that the district will continue to move forward, and like I said, there’s room, there’s always room to improve,” Lewis added.

Johnson, the former PTA president who advocated for the return to local control, says the district must do more to engage parents and make them feel heard. When parents of former Global Studies students tried to find a solution to the problems at the school, Johnson was confused as to why they were not included in the process, she said.

“How do you expect [parents] to participate, or be enthusiastic about a school district where they feel like their voices aren’t being heard?” Johnson said.

Johnson said the district could also be doing more to provide services and support for its most vulnerable students. Last school year, the district enrolled more than 11,000 multilingual students and roughly 7,000 special education students, according to state enrollment data.

The U.S. Department of Justice in 2021 found “wide-ranging failures” in the district’s program for English language learners, and some families of students with disabilities have said they’ve struggled to get the services their children are owed. Although Newark has met compliance requirements to exit state monitoring over services to English learners and students with disabilities, parents of those students have called on the district for more support.

To make radical and lasting improvements for students, district leaders “need to give everyone a chance to express their concerns” without fear of retaliation, Lewis said.

“I’m just looking for the day when we can all sit at the same table and say, listen, our main goal is to educate every child in this city and give them the opportunity for a great future,” Lewis said.

A translation of this story was provided by New Jersey Hispano, in partnership with Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media and is supported financially by the NJ Civic Information Consortium. The story was originally written in English by Chalkbeat Newark and is republished under a special content-sharing agreement through NJ News Commons’ Spanish Translation News Service.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools students head back to class. Here’s what’s new this school year.

2025-09-02T18:21:34+00:00

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On the first day of classes for Newark Public Schools on Tuesday, students dressed in dark blue polo shirts walked through the doors of the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design, marking the long-awaited opening of the district’s newest campus after a three-year delay.

Dozens of students and their families walked down Jefferson Street to reach the entrance of the high school, located in the heart of the city’s East Ward neighborhood, an area with a high number of Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking families. Students walking to school passed by the construction site of the school’s new gym and auditorium, slated for completion by June 2026. Cars lined up on the side of the school as students said quick goodbyes to their parents before running to the entrance.

One mom kissed her daughter and blessed her with the sign of the cross. Another gave her son a tight hug before he walked through an archway of blue, white, and silver balloons, representing the school colors.

The school opens with a freshman class of 240 this year, marking a significant milestone for the district and students starting their high school journeys. The district plans to add a grade level each year.

Kendrick Thomas, one of the students walking to the new high school, carried his summer reading assignment, a poster explaining 1960s pop culture that he created after reading “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton. Thomas is excited to start high school and plans to specialize in the HVAC track, one of three specialties students can choose to study.

Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design ninth grader Kendrick Thomas shows Chalkbeat his summer project on Tues., Sept 2, 2025.

“I chose that because I think I’m good with my hands and, like, it sounded interesting and different,” said Thomas, as he rushed to get to school before the bell rang at 8:15 a.m.

Aside from the HVAC track, the School of Architecture also offers students a chance to specialize in plumbing and electrical trades, while also exploring architecture and interior design. According to district officials, the program will enable students to graduate with both a high school diploma and a trade license.

The new high school is housed in the Ironbound neighborhood at the former St. James Hospital building, which had stood vacant for years before being repurposed. The school was scheduled to open in the fall of 2022, but stop-work orders issued by the state’s Labor Department over wage complaints and changes in contractors delayed the project.

Superintendent Roger León was at the school early Tuesday to greet students, who were among the roughly 40,000 Newark Public Schools students returning to classrooms. He waved to parents driving past the school and shook hands with kids eager to start their first day of classes in a new building.

One mother, who asked to be identified as Maria due to fears of immigration enforcement, said her son, who has a disability, felt nervous to start high school, let alone a new school. But after attending freshman orientation and meeting with teachers and the school’s principal, Soraia Mendes, he was put at ease. The mother hopes León and district leaders will boost efforts to help students with disabilities and better communicate with parents.

“I just hope he gets the academic support he needs,” said Maria in Spanish to Chalkbeat on Tuesday.

Across the street, at the intersection of Congress and Lafayette Streets, cars swerved around pedestrians and honked at each other. A crossing guard held a stop sign as a mom and her three children navigated the busy intersection to reach Lafayette Elementary School. A group of siblings held each other’s hands as they ran down the block and into the elementary school building.

An adult and three kids cross the street on the first day of school on Tues., Sept. 2, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey.

In addition to the opening of the new high school, the 2025-26 school year brings other significant milestones, as well as challenges for the state’s largest public school system.

This school year marks the district’s fifth year under local control after 25 years of state takeover. It also marks the fifth year of León’s 10-year strategy, known as “The Next Decade: 2020-30,” an ambitious plan aimed at tackling learning loss, implementing new curriculums, addressing emerging issues, and adding more teachers, among other goals.

León’s contract is also under consideration for an extension through 2030, which would make him the longest-serving superintendent in New Jersey. The Newark school board has scheduled a public hearing on Sept. 25 to discuss and vote on the proposal.

This school year, district leaders must also address a host of concerns, such as how to support the growing needs of schools as student enrollment increases, manage district finances, tackle transportation issues, expand academic recovery efforts, fix the district’s aging buildings, and assess the effects of anti-Blackness following concerns of racial harassment at a city high school. The district is also expanding AI technology to support student learning and identify struggling readers.

This spring, the Newark school board approved a $1.57 billion budget that included more money for teachers, school renovations, and an increase in charter school payments as district leaders said they budgeted conservatively in light of potential changes to federal funding.

What’s new this school year?

Newark Public Schools will implement new state mandates this year as it works to boost student performance and address other issues. Since 2022, the first year New Jersey students took the state standardized tests since 2019 due to remote learning, standardized test scores have pointed to student difficulties in writing and English language arts.

Newark Public Schools students enter the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design on Tues., Sept. 2, 2025. The school opened for the 2025-2026 school year after a three-year delay.

In response, New Jersey this fall is launching its new Literacy Framework, which requires public school districts to screen students in grades K-3 for reading difficulties. In Newark, schools will use Amira Learning, an AI-powered tool, as a universal screener to assess students’ ability to read, sound out words, and identify areas needing support.

The state is also introducing a new “adaptive” version of its standardized tests this school year, in which the difficulty of test questions is adjusted based on student responses, according to NJ Spotlight.

León has also said the district is experiencing a growth in student enrollment, which has prompted the opening of new schools and grade-level expansion in others. This fall, Nelson Mandela Elementary School expands to grade 5, Michelle Obama and Sir Isaac Newton Elementary schools expand to grade 6, Ironbound Academy expands to grade 7, and East Ward Elementary School expands to grade 8, according to the district.

The boost in enrollment prompted the district in March to budget for 53 new positions consisting of 20 teachers, 11 aides, and 23 school support staff. It also allocated an additional $1.4 million to support the expansion of schools and an extra $8.1 million to accommodate an additional 1,600 students in the upcoming school year, according to this year’s budget.

The district is also expecting an increase in the number of and English language learners and students with disabilities who require special education services.

Historically, Newark has struggled to implement programs and support for students with disabilities. At the beginning of last school year, some of those students missed class due to enrollment issues that left parents scrambling to find solutions. Students with disabilities also face greater learning challenges as they have been some of the hardest hit by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The district has not released data on the number of bilingual and special education teachers it has hired for the upcoming school year.

A crossing guard helps students cross a busy street on Tues., Sept. 2, 2025 on the first day of school in Newark, New Jersey.

District leaders are also working with the state’s School Development Authority to replace 13 school buildings built before the 1920s, but the deal leaves out 20 schools that need to be replaced, district officials had previously said.

Last school year, León estimated that roughly $2.5 billion is needed to fix Newark’s dilapidated school buildings. After ruling out a bond to supplement the cost, district officials used some of their capital reserve funds to finance renovations for Newark Schools Stadium and the cafeteria at Sussex Avenue. It was the first time the district used some of its capital reserve funds to finance school renovations.

Newark is also bracing for the potential impacts of ongoing federal changes to education. At the start of the year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to close the U.S. Department of Education. León in March said the district was aware of potential setbacks in federal funding and would make modifications and pivot as needed, but provided no details about its plans to address potential federal cuts.

On Tuesday, as the opening bell at the School of Architecture rang at 8:15 a.m., parents chatting outside began to disperse. They hugged goodbye and wished each other a smooth start to the school year.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark quietly schedules Sept. 25 public hearing, vote to extend superintendent’s contract

2025-08-27T19:02:38+00:00

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The Newark Board of Education has quietly scheduled a public hearing and vote to extend Superintendent Roger León’s contract to 2030, according to a public notice posted online over the weekend.

The public hearing, meant to give the community a chance to weigh in on the proposal to extend León’s contract, is set for 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 25 at Ann Street School, just half an hour before the scheduled board meeting that day. As of Wednesday, the public hearing had not been listed on the district calendar on the board’s website.

At the board’s August meeting, community members called for more transparency and public input after news about the board’s plan to extend León’s contract was first reported by NJ.com and Chalkbeat.

State law requires school boards to provide the public with at least 30 days notice before voting on a superintendent’s contract, in addition to a public hearing before the vote, with at least 10 days notice of the hearing.

Essex County Superintendent Joseph Zarra first approved the district’s request to extend León’s contract to 2030 in July, according to letters obtained by Chalkbeat. Zarra also authorized an additional three months at the end of León’s proposed term, pushing the extended end date to Sept. 30, 2030.

The proposal requires board approval, and if passed, it would make León one of the state’s longest-serving superintendents.

This isn’t the first time community members have called for more involvement in the process to renew León’s contract since he was hired in 2018 under a three-year contract. In 2019, the first year of his contract, the school board, at a “sparsely attended” public hearing, voted to add another two years to that contract, extending it to 2023. There was also no notice of a public hearing ahead of that decision on the district website.

León’s current contract took effect on July 1, 2023, after public scrutiny over reports in 2023 that his contract was automatically renewed the year before. It is set to end on June 30, 2028, according to a copy of his 2018 contract that allowed for an automatic, five-year renewal at the end of it.

León’s appointment in 2018 made him the first Latino to lead the district and the first superintendent since the city regained control of its schools. After his appointment, León and his team created a 10-year plan for the district known as “The Next Decade,” which will be in its fifth year this upcoming school year. The plan spans from 2020 to 2030 and is Leòn’s vision to improve district schools following 25 years of state control.

During the 2024-25 school year, León’s base salary was $308,971, according to the district’s budget that year.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Modest increase in state test scores help Newark Public Schools earn high-performing status

2025-08-15T19:50:17+00:00

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Two years after being placed under interim review due to low standardized test scores, Newark Public Schools is meeting state standards, according to a New Jersey Board of Education certification this month.

Under the state’s evaluation system for public school districts, administered every three years, districts are deemed certified, or “high performing,” if they meet benchmarks in five areas: instruction and program, fiscal management, governance, operations, and personnel.

School districts are assessed using a 100-point scale to determine how well they’re meeting standards. Those who score below 80% in any category are placed under an interim review in which a state proxy evaluates the district every six months.

The state board of education certified Newark as being in compliance with state standards in the instruction and program area, a category that assesses state test scores, graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, and a district’s curriculum. The district was placed on the biannual interim review in 2023 after scoring below 80% in the instruction and program area. The district scored a 79 out of 100 in 2023, then dropped slightly to 77 out of 100 in 2024. Any score below 80% in any of the five areas requires an improvement plan with state oversight.

Under Newark’s improvement plan submitted last year, the district met its goal to raise state test scores in English language arts by at least 4 percentage points over 2023. But it fell short of its targets to raise math scores by at least 8 percentage points and science scores by at least 3 percentage points, based on state school performance reports. The district also met its goals to raise graduation rates between 1 and 1.5 percentage points and reduce chronic absenteeism by a minimum of half a percentage point from 2023, based on the state data.

Those modest increases were enough to lift the district out of interim review and earn the high-performing designation.

Although the designation signals a positive mark for the district, education experts have raised questions about the role the state’s evaluation system plays in measuring school performance and student achievement.

Mark Weber, an education policy analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective, said the state reviews school performance but argues that those measures aren’t necessarily indicators of student achievement.

“There are lots of other things that influence student performance that are not judged by test scores,” Weber told Chalkbeat on Thursday. “We should, in my opinion, be more judicious about how we use these measures, especially when they have high stakes involved, and whether the district has autonomous control of its schools; that’s a high stakes question.”

Paul Brubaker, Newark Public Schools’ communications director, did not respond to a request for comment about this year’s state evaluation.

The state self-evaluation system, known as the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum, or NJQSAC, was established in 2005 to ensure accountability in school districts requiring state intervention. In 2017, Newark’s evaluation was vital in the state’s decision to initiate the district’s return to local control after it made “significant progress” and satisfied regulatory requirements of the monitoring system, according to the district’s 2017 transition plan for local control.

As part of the state’s evaluation process, districts must also submit their own performance review.

In 2022, Newark gave itself high scores in each area of the evaluation. That year, Superintendent Roger León said the board’s responsibility is to say “we’ve met 100 points,” meaning the highest level of performance the district can reach based on all five components of the state’s monitoring system.

In 2023, the last time Newark received a full evaluation, the district was tasked with proving student achievement to the state despite the effects of the pandemic and learning loss suffered during remote learning.

Many of the trends in Newark, such as students scoring lower in math than English language arts, echo those seen nationally as students continue to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the spring of 2022, New Jersey students took the state standardized test for the first time since 2019 due to disruptions during remote learning.

León described 2022 scores as “horrible” at the time, citing passing rates of just 13% in math and 27% in English language arts for Newark students in grades 3 through 9. In 2023, students scored 15% in math and 29% in English language arts, and in 2024, 17.7% passed the math test and 31% passed the English language arts test. Although those scores improved by about two percentage points year over year, they still highlighted ongoing struggles among Newark students in math, reading, and science.

“We set these bars for quote, unquote proficiency, and you know, a student could be right below it or right above it. Are we really going to say that that’s the difference? Is that all that’s important?” Weber added.

In addition to scoring 80% on the instruction and program portion of this year’s state evaluation, Newark scored 100% in fiscal, governance, and operations areas, according to the state board of education. The district also scored a 97% in the personnel area.

In the 2025-26 school year, the district will get a full review under the state’s evaluation system. Each of the five areas used to evaluate districts is weighted and used to determine if a district is providing a “thorough and efficient education.”

State test results released last December also showed an overwhelming majority of students in the district are still struggling to perform on grade level in key subjects. Nearly 70% of students in grades 3-9 fell short of meeting literacy rates, around 82% did not meet math standards, and 93% of fifth graders were below grade level in science.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Family ties may block Newark board members from key vote on Superintendent Roger León’s contract

2025-08-11T22:27:04+00:00

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Three Newark school board members have relatives who work for the school district, connections that could prevent them from weighing in on a proposed extension of Superintendent Roger León’s contract.

Board President Hasani Council and members Kanileah Anderson and Louis Maisonave Jr. have more than one family member working for the district, according to this year’s state personal and relative disclosure records.

Under the Newark Board of Education’s nepotism policy, members with a relative working in the district may not participate in matters concerning the superintendent’s contract, including evaluations and contract discussions. Those board members must also exclude themselves from closed session discussions about the matter.

The state’s School Ethics Commission has also issued decisions to school districts that limit a board member’s role in superintendent employment matters.

The district’s policy and state guidance could complicate a proposal to extend León’s contract to 2030.

Board members Anderson and Maisonave did not respond to Chalkbeat’s questions about the perceived conflicts of interest. Council, in an email Monday, said it was “insulting to suggest that board members are unaware of their responsibility to recuse themselves when personally impacted.”

“We are well-trained, fully informed, and take these responsibilities seriously,” Council added, while providing no comment on the proposal to extend Leòn’s contract.

Council’s father, Patrick Council, who is a Newark councilman, works as the district’s youth opportunity coordinator, and his sister is a per diem teacher, state disclosure forms records show.

Anderson’s sister is a school psychologist; her niece is an academic interventionist; and her cousins are district custodians, according to state records. Maisonave’s son is a substitute teacher at Elliot Street School, and his nephew is a per diem security guard at Roberto Clemente Elementary School, state records show.

The superintendent’s proposed contract extension, which is up for consideration at this month’s school board meeting, requires the approval of the majority of the board — or at least five members on the nine-member board –– to be accepted, according to school board voting requirements. If approved, it would put León at the helm of Newark Public Schools for 12 years, making him one of the longest-serving superintendents in the state.

León’s contract extensions have caused controversy in the past, with some in the community raising concerns about the board’s transparency. His contract was last extended in 2022 without public discussion.

State and local anti-nepotism rules provide specific procedures for when a relative is hired by the school district to ensure “what’s in the best public interest,” said Sandra Graise, an associate attorney at Florio Perrucci Steinhardt Cappelli & Tipton. Board members must recuse themselves rather than abstain from voting on employment matters related to the superintendent, Graise added.

She compared the superintendent to the chief executive officer of a company and added that any perceived influence from relatives could blur lines and create distrust between school boards and the public. Graise advises board members to complete conflict of interest questionnaires annually to maintain public trust.

“Any public servancy requires full transparency,” said Graise in a call with Chalkbeat on Monday. “What you want to avoid is this quid pro quo. Hire my relative, I’ll make sure I vote on your contract and you stay in the district.”

The state’s School Ethics Commission, which helps school board members and officials understand how ethics laws apply in practice, has issued several advisory opinions regarding possible nepotism.

In 2015 and again in 2017, the commission issued at least four advisory opinions in districts across the state that provided guidance to school board members whose relatives were hired by the school district and their roles concerning their families’ supervisors, including the superintendent.

In a 2015 advisory opinion, the commission reviewed an instance where seven out of nine school board members had relatives who had been hired by the school district or other districts. In that situation, the commission decided that conflicts of board members “based upon relatives being employed by the District also apply to any matter touching upon the relatives’ employment.”

León was appointed as Newark’s schools chief in 2018, becoming the first superintendent after the city regained control of its schools and the first Latino to lead the district. His current contract took effect on July 1, 2023, after public scrutiny over reports that his contract was automatically renewed the year before. It is set to end on June 30, 2028, according to a copy of his 2018 contract that allowed for an automatic, five-year renewal at the end of it.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Board of Education will consider extending Superintendent Roger León’s contract this month

2025-08-07T00:03:41+00:00

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Newark Superintendent Roger León’s contract would be extended to 2030 under a proposal approved by Essex County Superintendent Joseph Zarra, according to letters obtained by Chalkbeat.

The proposal, outlined in the district’s letter requesting Zarra’s approval obtained by Chalkbeat, will be considered by the Newark Board of Education at its Aug. 21 meeting. If approved, it would put León at the helm of New Jersey’s largest school district for 12 years, making him one of the longest-serving superintendents in the state.

State law requires school boards to hold a public hearing before voting to extend a superintendent’s contract and provide at least 10 days notice before holding the hearing.

León’s current contract took effect on July 1, 2023, after public scrutiny over reports that his contract was automatically renewed the year before. It is set to end on June 30, 2028, according to a copy of his 2018 contract that allowed for an automatic, five-year renewal at the end of it.

Zarra approved the extension and authorized an additional three months at the end of León’s term, pushing the end date to Sept. 30, 2030, according to a copy of Zarra’s July 21 response to the district’s attorney, Brenda Liss. Any changes to the terms of León’s contract must be reviewed and approved by the county before the required public notice and hearing of such changes, according to Zarra’s letter.

During the 2024-25 school year, León’s base salary was $308,971, according to the district’s budget that year.

The Newark school board has not yet posted the agenda for its Aug. 21 meeting, the first of the school year after a virtual retreat on Aug. 16. The district also has not publicly announced its plans to consider extending León’s contract.

León was appointed as Newark’s schools chief in 2018 –– making him the first since the city regained control of its schools and the first Latino to lead the district. At that time, he was hired for a three-year term that extended to June 30, 2021, according to board documents

Newark Public Schools Communications Director Paul Brubaker and school board President Hasani Council did not confirm on Wednesday whether the board plans to discuss León’s contract extension at its Aug. 21 meeting. The district also denied Chalkbeat’s public records request for León’s annual evaluations between 2018 and 2025, citing records laws that protect personnel documents.

So far, the proposal has elicited mixed reviews from community members.

Newark Teachers Union President John Abeigon praised the proposed extension during a call with Chalkbeat on Wednesday, saying that “longevity has its place” and comparing it to how a teacher’s skills improve with experience over time.

“We like longevity in the education field. And I think that the same thing applies for superintendents,” Abeigon said. “Communities have to give a superintendent an opportunity to be successful. Some of them are going to be greeted amicably by the community. Some will not, but the proof is going to be in the pudding.”

Fatoumata Bah, a rising senior at Science Park High School, said the decision to extend a school superintendent’s contract should be driven by public input.

A big decision like that should “not just be made behind closed doors,” especially when families and students have been critical of the leadership, said Bah to Chalkbeat on Wednesday.

A Newark Public Schools student since seventh grade, Bah said she would like to see better communication between the superintendent, schools, and students, a responsibility that she feels should be spearheaded by León. The rising senior said providing more mental health resources for students is important to her, and although the district has created initiatives such as this year’s mental health summit at Montclair State University, Bah doesn’t always receive the information.

“I didn’t even know about the [mental health summit] that they had, but upon further research, I found out about it. So I think that says a lot about … the communication with the students … that they serve,” Bah added.

Extension could make León one of NJ’s longest-serving superintendents

This is not the first time the district has sought to extend León’s contract. In 2023, school leaders were criticized after reports that León’s contract had been automatically renewed in May 2022 due to a clause in his contract that extended his term by five years. The clause said that board members needed to alert León by May 15, 2022, if his term, set to expire on June 30, 2023 at the time, would not be extended the following year.

That move prompted dozens of Newark parents, teachers, students, and advocates to attend a board meeting in January 2023, where they raised issues affecting public school students at the time. Current and former students at Newark’s School of Global Studies brought up concerns over allegations of racist harassment at the school that former students said were unaddressed, high school teachers shared their worries over the lack of bilingual teachers supporting English language learners, and advocates criticized the board’s handling of the superintendent’s contract renewal.

Under state law, boards of education are not required to provide public notice or hearings for new contracts, including contracts that replace expired contracts for tenured and non-tenured employees. But according to that same law, a 10-day public notice on a hearing is required for extensions, amendments, or other alterations to the terms of existing contracts, along with a 30-day notice prior to a school board’s action to alter a contract.

Lisa Gray, a former social worker in the district’s Office of Early Childhood, called the proposal to extend León’s contract a “nightmare.” Gray, who left the district last fall after more than a decade because of issues with her supervisors in the workplace, said she is concerned about test scores, diversity in schools, and teacher retention under León’s tenure.

“Another thing that I was disappointed about with was [León’s] 10-year plan, because people are saying ‘oh he wants to stay on to finish his 10-year plan’ but I’m concerned that there is no plan to desegregate the schools,” Gray told Chalkbeat on Wednesday. “It’s time for us to thank Roger León for his service and move on to another administrator.”

León’s 10-year plan, known as “The Next Decade,” is in its fifth year this upcoming school year. It spans from 2020 to 2030 and is Leòn’s vision to improve district schools following 25 years of state control.

The Newark school board will consider extending Superintendent Roger León's contract to 2030 at its Aug. 21 meeting.

If the board approves León’s contract extension, his tenure would rival other long-serving superintendents in the state.

Mark Toback was the superintendent of Wayne Township Schools for 11 years from 2014 to roughly 2025. Charles T. Epps Jr. led Jersey City Public Schools for 11 years, from 2000 to 2011. But it’s Murray A. Chittick, former superintendent of East Brunswick Schools, who may hold the longest tenure in New Jersey, serving for 28 years between 1929 and 1957.

The Newark school board will meet twice this month, first virtually on Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. for its retreat meeting and then again on Aug. 21 at 6 p.m. at 765 Broad Street for its first regular school board meeting of the year.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board to pay $200K to settle legal claim filed by ex-school board member’s daughter

2025-08-05T15:00:07+00:00

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Former Newark school board member Dawn Haynes and her daughter, who had both been vocal about alleged racist experiences at a Newark high school, reached a $200,000 settlement with the district in May, according to sources and documents reviewed by Chalkbeat.

The agreement called for Haynes to step down from the school board and for Haynes’ daughter to drop her legal claim to sue the district, according to two people with knowledge of the agreement.

The settlement, which has not been previously reported, offers new clarity about the abrupt end of Haynes’ board term and the culmination of a messy legal and political battle stemming from allegations of discrimination and racist harassment at the Newark School of Global Studies.

Haynes’ resignation in May came without explanation, an unusual move for a member who had advocated for greater transparency on the board. Haynes had spent months petitioning to keep her seat after fellow board members asked the state education department to remove her after her daughter threatened to sue the district.

The settlement, obtained by Chalkbeat through a public records request, acknowledges no wrongdoing by the Newark school board and includes a confidentiality clause that prohibits the parties involved from disclosing the terms and details. It was heavily redacted by the district, citing public records laws that protect confidentiality and student privacy.

Two individuals, whose names were redacted, signed the settlement agreement on May 13, a day after Haynes submitted a resignation letter to the Newark school board. A heavily redacted letter that appears identical to that resignation letter is included as an exhibit in the settlement.

This marks at least the second settlement that the school district has entered into to end potential lawsuits tied to the School of Global Studies, a five-year-old school where incidents of racial harassment in 2022 led to half a dozen Black students transferring and the resignation of educators and the school’s vice principal. A lawsuit from two teachers claiming a hostile work environment, filed in Essex County Superior Court in April 2024, is ongoing.

Haynes and her daughter, Akela Haynes, did not respond to a request for comment. District spokesperson Paul Brubaker and school board President Hasani Council did not answer questions about the settlement or Haynes’ departure. Bryant Horsley, who represented Haynes in the district’s petition to remove her from the school board, did not respond to a request for comment about the petition.

Haynes, her daughter called for change after Global Studies allegations

Throughout Haynes’ three-term tenure on the board, she and her daughter had been vocal about alleged racial discrimination that students and teachers said they faced at Global Studies. In November 2022, a group of Black students and teachers from the high school spoke about the ongoing racial harassment they said they experienced on campus. The way district and school leaders handled the allegations drew heavy criticism from the community.

Haynes’ legal fights around Global Studies began in 2023 when she first faced an ethics complaint filed by former Global Studies parent liaison Samantha Heer, who alleged that Haynes used her position as board president to organize a meeting between parents and the Black student council at the school. The complaint was dropped in July 2024 after Heer failed to appear for hearings, according to the state education department.

Haynes, along with former board members Crystal Williams and A’Dorian Murray-Thomas, was also the subject of an ethics complaint filed by Global Studies Principal Nelson Ruiz in 2023, which remains under review by the state’s School Ethics Commission.

State administrative code requires the School Ethics Commission to keep confidential all matters until there is a finding of probable cause, or a determination of a violation, or the matter is dismissed, according to the state Education Department on Tuesday.

Months later, on Oct. 25, 2024, Akela Haynes filed a legal claim against the school district over allegations of racial and religious harassment during her time as a student at Global Studies, which she described as her dream high school and where she studied Mandarin and looked forward to a trip to China. A Muslim, Akela Haynes, previously told Chalkbeat that she dealt with a student calling her a terrorist and a racial slur. She said she had raised the issue with school administrators, who she said failed to address the problems.

The claim alleged Superintendent Roger León and Ruiz were liable for violating their obligation to protect the former student from “the physical and psychological harms” she experienced there. The settlement between Haynes, her daughter, and the Newark Board of Education marks the first time the district has formally responded to the allegations in the legal claim filed in October. Ruiz has not publicly addressed the allegations.

Akela Haynes’ legal claim was not a lawsuit against the district, but rather a notice of her intent to sue. But the claim kicked off the school board’s efforts to oust her mother, with members citing a conflict of interest as the reason for her immediate removal.

In November 2024, the Newark school board voted to ask the state education department to recommend the removal of Haynes due to a conflict that stemmed from her daughter incorrectly listing her mother’s address on her legal claim rather than Akela Haynes’ new address in Georgia, where she now attends school, according to court filings. But the school board’s request was shot down in January by the state’s education commissioner and was sent back to the state’s office of administrative law for a resolution.

The matter remained unsettled for months until the Newark school board voted on a resolution to approve the settlement with Haynes and her daughter at its May 17 retreat meeting. The resolution said the May 13 settlement was in the district’s best interest “in order to avoid protracted and costly proceedings” and was recommended by León.

A day earlier, on May 12, Haynes submitted a resignation letter to Council, the school board president, effective May 1. In June, the Newark school board appointed South Ward leader Melissa Reed to replace Haynes, but still offered no explanation about why Haynes resigned.

The Newark school board withdrew the petition to remove Haynes on June 20, more than a month after it had approved the settlement, according to a copy of the withdrawal letter obtained by Chalkbeat.

Since 2022, when Global Studies students first spoke out about the allegations of racial harassment, the Newark school district has worked to quell public discussion about the situation at the high school. The district refused to release a report from Creed Strategies, a consulting firm hired by the school board to examine the racial, religious, and cultural dynamics at Global Studies. Haynes, who had read the report, had previously called it “traumatizing to read.”

León had previously said the report would remain internal and inform the district’s strategy on diversity, but no details about the strategy have been made public.

The Newark Teachers Union filed two lawsuits seeking the release of the secret report about the high school, but the district reached a settlement with the union last fall, and the report was not released. Details of that settlement also remained secret.

Chalkbeat obtained a copy of the Creed Strategies’ report, which found that district leaders failed to “quickly and consistently” respond to racist and bigoted incidents against Black students and teachers at Global Studies, a high school designed to embrace world cultures. Creed Strategies also recommended that the district assess the effects of anti-Blackness on the school system.

Before her resignation, Haynes demanded a public apology from the board during the January school board retreat, due in part to the “false information,” she alleged, that was given to board members about the situation. She was never given one.

This story has been updated to include information from the New Jersey Department of Education on the ethics case initiated by Global Studies principal Nelson Ruiz against Haynes and two former board members.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New NJ law requires public schools to provide parents with more information about IEP meetings

2025-07-25T09:30:00+00:00

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Gov. Phil Murphy signed a new law this week that requires New Jersey public schools to provide parents of students with disabilities with more information about a child’s annual special education program meeting ahead of time.

The new law mandates that schools provide parents with a written statement of items to be discussed at an annual individualized education program, also known as an IEP, meeting no later than two business days before it takes place.

The information should include the student’s current academic levels and functional performance, a list of the names of any required IEP team members who will miss the meeting, along with their input on any services or programs they oversee for the student, and an invitation for parents to provide feedback about the proposed services.

Typically, during those meetings, parents and school staff discuss a student’s IEP, a legally binding plan that outlines the services a student with a disability needs in school.

Previously, the law only required parents to receive details about a meeting’s purpose, time, location, and participants. More information, including reports or documents, was usually provided to parents at least 10 calendar days before an IEP meeting only if the meeting was to determine a student’s eligibility for special education. Parents were also informed in advance if a school team member would miss the meeting and provided that person’s written input.

The law is an update to what New Jersey’s public schools are required to provide parents ahead of an IEP meeting and also establishes an IEP working group in the state’s education department to review the process. The new mandate takes effect in the upcoming school year.

Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz, who represents Essex County, introduced the legislation last year in an attempt to give families more time and information to prepare ahead of an IEP meeting, Ruiz told Chalkbeat on Thursday.

“The goal here was to at least have a document before a guardian so that they can go through and start making notes before the meeting,” Ruiz said. “Those 504s and IEPs are hugely voluminous. If English is your second language, it becomes even more difficult.”

A 504 is a plan for students with disabilities who don’t require specialized instruction or services typically included in IEPs but still require accommodations to learn. The new law does not apply to 504 plans.

Under existing state law, parents are given written notice of an IEP meeting “early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity to attend.”

Peg Kinsell, policy director at the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, a group that supports families of children with disabilities in New Jersey, calls the new law a “first step” in helping parents navigate the IEP process, but added that two business days isn’t enough time for parents to prepare for an IEP meeting.

“Getting a statement that says what the current levels of academic and functional performances is nice, but it’s one section of the IEP,” Kinsell added.

Elizabeth Athos, senior educational equity attorney at Education Law Center, a nonprofit that works to protect the rights of public school students, agrees that the new law can help address some of the knowledge gaps that may exist between schools and parents of students with disabilities, but notes that more can be done to make the IEP process run smoothly for parents who may not understand their child’s needs.

“Because of limitations on the information provided,” parents may not “have had a chance to digest and understand” their student’s disability, needs, or IEP, preventing parents “meaningful participation” during those meetings, said Athos.

The new law comes as the number of children needing special education services in New Jersey has grown since 2000. Researchers at Rutgers University found that in New Jersey, autism rates among 8-year-olds without intellectual disabilities spiked by 500% from 2000 to 2016, and overall cases among children with intellectual disabilities tripled during the same period. In Newark, home to New Jersey’s largest school district, researchers found that as of 2020, 1 in 20 Newark children had been diagnosed with autism, compared with 1 in 167 in 2000.

Newark Public Schools has seen an increase in the number of students with disabilities. Last school year, nearly 7,000 students with disabilities enrolled in the district, highlighting a growing need to support students who require a range of special education services. In recent years, the district has faced challenges in supporting them.

At the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, several parents of children with disabilities told Chalkbeat Newark that on the first day of school, they were told their child did not have a school placement. Other parents said they were told their child was enrolled at a different school. The district that year had also opened the new Branch Brook Elementary School, formerly known as ECC-North, and welcomed 48 pre-K to second grade students with disabilities in the school’s first year.

In 2022, the state education department found the district had problems with reporting in education plans, notifying parents of meetings, and missing meetings with parents and students with disabilities as part of responsibilities mandated under the Individuals with Disabilities Act, or IDEA. The state ordered the district to take corrective action by November 2022. And in 2019, the state education department also cited the district for failing to meet key mandates related to education plans for students with disabilities.

Kinsell, of the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, also hopes that the state’s new IEP working group, set to be organized in the coming months, will find new solutions to improve the process in schools. The working group’s recommendations will cover areas including comparing IEP practices in different states and districts, reviewing research, identifying legal limitations, and suggesting improvements.

The group, which will be made up of school leaders, teachers, child study team members, parents, and those with experience representing students with disabilities, must create a report with recommendations no later than four months after the group convenes, according to the new law.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark educators and students: Are school buildings overcrowded and affecting teaching or learning?

2025-07-22T19:20:23+00:00

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Newark’s public school buildings are among the oldest in the state, with many dating back to the 1920s and in need of repairs and upgrades to support student learning.

Over the years, the district has asked New Jersey to fix its most egregious infrastructure problems, such as crumbling buildings, damaged roofs, broken windows, leaky boilers, and faulty heating and cooling systems.

But many schools are still in need of major renovations that can only be funded by the state. Chalkbeat is looking for feedback from the community about the state of Newark schools and how it’s affecting teaching and student learning.

Tell us: Do you think your public school building is overcrowded?

This spring, a state education department report found that Newark’s middle schoolers are learning in overcrowded public school buildings that fall short of the state’s space requirements. The report also found that roughly two-thirds of the state’s 31 high-poverty districts do not have enough space to meet student needs, underscoring other existing infrastructure problems in Newark and across the state.

In 2024, the state agreed to replace 13 of the district’s oldest school buildings, but the deal leaves out 20 schools that need to be replaced. The state last year also committed to spending nearly $153 million to build a new high school in Newark’s South Ward and relocate a nearby elementary school – a project still in its early stages that requires state funds to begin.

The state, through the Schools Development Authority, is responsible for funding school construction projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts. Overall, the SDA estimated that more than $7 billion is needed to address current construction needs in the 31 high-poverty districts. But the state legislature provides funding to the SDA on a “pay-as-you-go basis” with no long-term financing plan to support the work.

Newark’s infrastructure problems aren’t new, and in 2016, the district identified more than 100 buildings in need of repairs. The state only approved 11 for repairs.

Newark used some of its money to make emergency repairs, renovate school auditoriums, install contactless water fountains, and install air conditioners last summer. Superintendent Roger Leòn had previously suggested a bond for school construction projects but ruled out that option this year after meeting with parents, teachers, and union members who said they would be unlikely to approve the measure. In January, León said the bond would have supplemented the cost of repairing Newark’s aging school buildings.

Advocates have urged the state legislature to invest $500 million annually to fund the SDA after educators and parents from across the state described the experiences of students and staff forced to learn and work in old and crumbling buildings.

These problems have created issues for the educators teaching in Newark’s school buildings and the students learning in them. Chalkbeat Newark wants to know how the district’s aging and overcrowded buildings may be affecting you.

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Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Equipo de Trump suspende supervisión del fallido programa de aprendizaje de inglés en las escuelas de Newark

2025-07-18T16:11:25+00:00

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El Departamento de Justicia de EE. UU. ha terminado silenciosamente su supervisión del programa de aprendizaje del idioma inglés de las escuelas públicas de Newark, incluso después de que el departamento, bajo el expresidente Joe Biden, encontró que el distrito no usaba regularmente intérpretes calificados para los padres que no hablaban inglés, según descubrió Chalkbeat.

Un acuerdo de 2021 halló “fracasos de amplio alcance” en el programa de aprendizaje de inglés del distrito y dio un plazo al distrito hasta finales de 2024 para solucionar 10 asuntos que violaban la ley federal.

En diciembre de 2024, el Departamento de Justicia encontró que el distrito había solucionado la mayoría de los problemas, pero no estaba utilizando constantemente intérpretes calificados para ayudar a los padres con un dominio limitado del inglés cuando se ponían en contacto con las escuelas o proporcionaban información en un idioma que entendían, según una carta federal que parcialmente terminó y prorrogó el acuerdo de 2021.

El Departamento de Justicia también encontró que el personal del distrito estaba usando Google Translate para proporcionar información escolar a los padres que hablan inglés limitado. Estas deficiencias llevaron al Departamento a prorrogar el acuerdo hasta julio, según la carta de 2024 del departamento federal.

Pero luego, en abril, Alina Habba, que fue nombrada fiscal interina del Distrito de Nueva Jersey por el presidente Donald Trump, notificó al distrito que había cumplido con sus requisitos bajo el acuerdo de 2021 y el acuerdo ampliado de 2024. El distrito no ha anunciado públicamente el fin de la supervisión federal, sino que en lugar de ello incluyó la noticia en un informe del comité de mayo.

El acuerdo ampliado obliga al distrito a realizar pruebas para determinar la capacidad del personal de entender y hablar un idioma en particular y presentar una propuesta al Departamento de Justicia en febrero. También requería que el distrito presentara un informe final para el 1o de julio. No está claro qué pasó con esos requisitos ahora que la vigilancia ha terminado.

La investigación del Departamento de Justicia que resultó en el acuerdo de 2021 comenzó en 2017, cuando el distrito escolar todavía estaba bajo control estatal, en respuesta a las quejas de que Newark estaba fallando a los estudiantes de inglés. La investigación duró cuatro años y encontró que el distrito no estaba cumpliendo con las leyes federales de derechos civiles relacionadas con la educación. Específicamente, se encontró que las prácticas del distrito dejaron a algunos estudiantes de inglés con pocos o ningún servicio lingüístico, mientras que otros fueron retirados de los programas de idiomas antes de que dominaran el inglés.

Como resultado, en 2021 el distrito acordó revisar su programa de aprendizaje de inglés y cumplir con los términos de un acuerdo de 25 páginas que exigía al distrito evaluar a todos los estudiantes que hablaban idiomas distintos del inglés para verificar si necesitaban servicios lingüísticos, proporcionar esos servicios en cualquier escuela a la que asistieran, contratar más maestros calificados, verificar su progreso e informar a los funcionarios federales.

La población que aprende inglés en las escuelas públicas de Newark ha estado creciendo a lo largo de los años, y los funcionarios escolares están luchando con una escasez de maestros bilingües que puedan comunicarse en diferentes idiomas. Desde el año escolar 2020-21, los estudiantes de inglés en el distrito han crecido del 17.1% al 24.2% en 2023, según el informe de rendimiento escolar de Nueva Jersey de 2023-24.

El distrito es hogar de más de 11,000 estudiantes de inglés e incluye una mezcla de estudiantes nacidos en el país y en el extranjero. La mayoría habla español o portugués, aunque algunos hablan árabe, francés, creole haitiano u otros idiomas.

Paul Brubaker, director de comunicaciones del distrito, no respondió a los correos electrónicos sobre el plan de las escuelas públicas de Newark para solucionar problemas con el uso de intérpretes calificados.

El Departamento de Justicia no ha explicado la razón por la que puso fin a su supervisión, ni ha publicado un informe en el que se indique cómo ha cumplido el distrito con sus obligaciones.

La agencia federal se negó a comentar sobre el fin de la supervisión, según un correo electrónico del 5 de junio de NaSheena Porter Poznansky, oficial de asuntos públicos para el U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey (Fiscalía Federal de EE. UU. en Newark).

Desde que Trump asumió el cargo en enero, ha sido claro acerca de eliminar las prácticas y políticas que apoyan la diversidad, la equidad y la inclusión en las escuelas. En marzo, Trump declaró al inglés el idioma oficial de los Estados Unidos y despidió a casi todos los empleados del Departamento de Educación responsables de asegurar que los distritos escolares estuvieran usando fondos federales destinados a ayudar a los estudiantes de inglés.

El Departamento de Justicia destacó las deficiencias de los traductores de las Escuelas Públicas de Newark a lo largo de los años

Entre las 10 formas en que el distrito violó la ley federal, el Departamento de Justicia ya había encontrado que no se estaba comunicando eficazmente con los padres que no hablaban inglés y que también estaba fallando al personal de sus programas de aprendizaje del inglés con maestros bilingües certificados, según el acuerdo de conciliación de 2021.

Durante una reunión de la junta en enero de 2024, los estudiantes informaron que en los últimos años, usaban aplicaciones de traducción en sus teléfonos para comunicarse con los maestros, mientras que otros dijeron que era difícil comunicarse con los compañeros de clase. En esa misma reunión, un exmaestro también afirmó que los educadores no estaban recibiendo suficiente apoyo para ayudar a los estudiantes bilingües.

Como parte de la vigilancia cuatrienal del Departamento de Justicia que comenzó en 2021, los funcionarios federales visitaron las escuelas del distrito, de acuerdo con las cartas de cumplimiento federal de 2023 y 2024 al distrito. Observaron varias clases de inglés como segunda lengua y bilingües y entrevistaron a directores, maestros bilingües de evaluación de necesidades y secretarios de inscripción, según las cartas.

Los funcionarios del Departamento de Justicia bajo la administración de Biden encontraron que la mayoría de las escuelas tenía una lista de personal, y en algunos casos personal de todo el distrito, que hablaba diferentes idiomas, pero esas listas típicamente incluían una combinación de personal que estaba certificado bilingüe y otros que se autoidentificaron como hablantes de otros idiomas en sus respuestas a una encuesta escolar, según las cartas de cumplimiento federal de 2023.

Del mismo modo, en 2023, los funcionarios federales también encontraron que el distrito aún tenía que capacitar a todos los maestros de ESL que también trabajaban con estudiantes con discapacidades, según las cartas de cumplimiento federal. Los funcionarios federales también encontraron que el distrito no contrató suficiente personal con experiencia relacionada con la intersección de estudiantes de inglés y servicios de educación especial, según las cartas de cumplimiento de 2023.

En 2024, los funcionarios federales continuaron visitando las escuelas de Newark y encontraron que el distrito había progresado al contratar más maestros certificados de inglés como segunda lengua (ESL por sus siglas en inglés) después de descubrir que algunas escuelas no tenían maestros sustitutos ESL a largo plazo. El distrito también proporcionó más recursos a los maestros bilingües de evaluación de necesidades, quienes deben ayudar a los padres con el proceso de inscripción utilizando intérpretes calificados. Newark también mejoró la forma en que rastreaba el progreso de los estudiantes de inglés y fortaleció las necesidades de los estudiantes para salir del programa de aprendizaje de inglés del distrito.

A pesar de las deficiencias de Newark, el distrito “ha trabajado diligentemente” para corregir los problemas descritos en el acuerdo de conciliación de 2021 y ha demostrado un “cumplimiento sustancial” con los términos del acuerdo durante al menos un año, como lo requiere el acuerdo, señaló la carta de diciembre de 2024.

Sin embargo, en la misma carta también se señalaba que el distrito no utilizaba sistemáticamente intérpretes calificados en las escuelas o a través de Language Line, una empresa que proporciona servicios de traducción e interpretación para ayudar a las organizaciones a comunicarse con personas que hablan diferentes idiomas. También señaló que los secretarios escolares y otro personal del distrito son responsables de hablar con los padres que no hablan inglés sobre la registración, matrícula, selección de escuelas, y los servicios de aprendizaje en inglés.

Los funcionarios federales también señalaron en la carta de 2024 que se debe recordar al personal que use intérpretes calificados y materiales traducidos por ellos cuando se comuniquen con padres con un dominio limitado del inglés y deben ser entrenados para usar servicios telefónicos de interpretación.

Este año escolar, el distrito lanzó un nuevo programa de educación bilingüe en la escuela preparatoria Malcolm X Shabazz High School para ayudar a la creciente población de estudiantes de inglés de Newark a tener acceso a los servicios más cerca de donde viven.

Traducido por Bernardo de la Cruz.

Esta traducción fue proporcionada por New Jersey Hispanoen asociación con el Centro de Medios Cooperativos de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair, y cuenta con el apoyo financiero del Consorcio de Información Cívica de NJ. La historia fue escrita originalmente en inglés por Chalkbeat Newark y se vuelve a publicar en virtud de un acuerdo especial para compartir contenido a través del Servicio de noticias de traducción al español de NJ News Commons.

Jessie Gómez es una reportera por Chalkbeat Newark y cubre las escuelas públicas de Newark. Puede ponerse en contacto con ella: jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Trump administration freezes $140 million for NJ schools as Gov. Murphy urges feds to release funds

2025-07-11T18:54:24+00:00

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The Trump administration’s decision to withhold billions in public school funding – more than $140 million earmarked for New Jersey alone – could jeopardize programs serving thousands of low-income students and English language learners in the state.

The U.S. Department of Education notified the state’s education department on June 30 that it would not issue the funds, which were approved by Congress earlier this year and set to be available on July 1, a move nonprofit advocacy groups called unlawful.

Last school year in New Jersey, the funds supported over 14,000 students in free summer and after-school programs, helped more than 100,000 students improve English proficiency and academics, and expanded STEM programs, dual enrollment, tutoring, family support, and staff training, according to the state’s education department in an email to Chalkbeat on Thursday.

In response, Gov. Phil Murphy this week urged federal leaders to disburse the funds immediately to prevent delays that “could threaten school districts’ continued provision of critical services,” according to a letter he sent Wednesday to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought.

“This departure from past practice threatens harm to students and educators in New Jersey and around the country. It undermines the timely, high-quality, thoughtful education and support services our students depend on to achieve their full learning potential,” said Murphy in his Wednesday letter.

The state’s education department “is reviewing and evaluating its options to ensure that students receive the resources they deserve,” wrote Mike Yaple, NJDOE spokesperson, in an email on Thursday.

Congress had approved the nearly $7 billion as part of a continuing resolution in March. The money was earmarked for seven federal programs in schools nationwide. Five of the programs fund K-12 education, while the other two support schools, community colleges, and organizations providing adult literacy and civics education.

A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget told Chalkbeat last week that its initial findings “have shown that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda” but the office did not provide documentation for its findings.

Nonprofit advocacy groups like the Education Law Center and the Learning Policy Institute have been sounding the alarm about the consequences of halting federal funds. The policy institute last week in a blog post said that, for now, “states must begin to plan for the possibility that these funds may not become available, and if they do, it may not be for several months or longer.” They added that states may need to replace funds with state funds, provide funding to school districts most impacted and unable to replace the funds, or take other actions.

The Education Law Center in a press release last week called the Trump administration’s move to hold the funds an “illegal decision.”

“That illegal decision, like the other steps this administration has taken to shut down the Department, is unlawful and will harm students and families across the country,” the group wrote.

Of those funds in New Jersey, nearly $46 million is earmarked for teacher training, $23 million for English language learners, and $32 million for tutoring and other academic enrichment programs, according to the state education department. A state education department spokesperson did not confirm the amount of federal funds for state migrant education and before- and after-school programs that will be frozen by publication deadline.

Additionally, the state receives more than $15 million to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services, according to Murphy’s Wednesday letter. The state partnered with school districts, community colleges, and vocational schools across the state to provide the support.

In Newark Public Schools, New Jersey’s largest school district, the withheld federal funds include just under $2.5 million for teacher training, nearly $2 million for English learners, and another $2 million for tutoring. A state education department spokesperson did not confirm by publication deadline how much federal funding could be withheld for migrant education and before- and after-school programs in the Newark school district.

Federal funding has been a critical piece for Newark. In 2023, Superintendent Roger León said federal pandemic relief dollars were the district’s “saving grace” in expanding summer school, Saturday school, and before- and after-school programming.

In Newark, summer school is a combination of enrichment activities, specialized programs for high schoolers, and mandatory academic programs, and is funded in part by federal dollars. The district’s summer school also provides a program for English learners who have recently arrived in the country and a program for students with disabilities, focusing on maintaining the skills they developed throughout the school year.

The district has also been cautious in building its $1.5 billion budget for the upcoming school year. Historically, Newark has been one of New Jersey’s most underfunded school districts based on the state’s school funding formula, despite receiving a record high $1.3 billion in state aid for this fiscal year.

During the district’s budget hearing this spring, school business administrator Valerie Wilson said they budgeted conservatively in light of funding uncertainties at the federal level.

“We’re not quite sure what’s happening, how we’re going to deal with that, and you can’t assume that you’re going to have all the money you had in the past,” said Wilson during the March budget hearing.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools welcomes six first-time principals, new leadership this fall

2025-07-08T19:13:27+00:00

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The Newark Board of Education has named six new principals – all stepping into the role for the first time – with the majority coming from within the district.

Four of the new principals will be at elementary schools, and two will work at high schools, including the new Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design opening this fall after a three-year delay. The majority are veteran educators and administrators and, combined, they bring decades of experience to the job.

Other leadership changes include the appointment of Sandra Marques as the new assistant superintendent of the East and Central School Leadership Team and Corey Dawkins, who comes from a community college in New York, as the new executive director of facilities.

Candidates for principal roles must have the New Jersey principal standard certificate or a certificate of eligibility for principal and complete an application for the position. Each candidate interviews with multiple departments and staff members before a final interview with Superintendent Roger León.

This year’s announcement of top leaders follows last year’s efforts to diversify the ranks of school principals and vice principals and create teacher-to-leader pipelines. Four of the six principal promotions are for women of color, one is for a Black man, and another for a Latino man.

It also follows the district’s trend of hiring first-time principals while reshuffling school leadership. In previous years, the district’s support of first-year heads had been under scrutiny after it replaced first-year principals at Science Park and Vocational High Schools and last school year demoted Avon Avenue Elementary School’s first-year principal to a teacher.

The new principals “bring a deep commitment to academic excellence and student success,” said León in a district press release last week. The appointees “have demonstrated the expertise, integrity, and passion” to lead district schools, added school board President Hasani Council in the release.

The school leaders must also work to help students learn and create inclusive spaces, as recommended by a district consulting firm following allegations of racism and harassment at the Newark School of Global Studies. More than 90% of the student body identifies as Latino or Black, but the district’s teaching force doesn’t always match.

Six first-time principals to lead Newark schools

The Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design is expected to welcome students in September, and district leaders tapped Soraia Mendes, the former vice principal at Technology High School, to lead the new school. The new trade high school opening in the East Ward is set to focus on three trades – plumbing, electricity, and HVAC – and allow students to study architecture and interior design. It was originally scheduled for a 2022 fall opening, but stop-work orders issued by the state over wage complaints and changes in contractors have delayed the project.

Mendes taught English at East Side High School for six years before assuming the role of vice principal at Technology for 12 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in modern languages and literature from the University of Coimbra in Portugal and a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Scranton. As a child, Mendes attended Wilson Avenue School before moving to Portugal.

The district also recruited Kean University assistant professor Dr. Rafael Inoa to lead Bard High School Early College. This is Inoa’s first time in a K-12 administrative role. He will replace former principal David Cutts, who was appointed to the principal position in 2023. Inoa brings more than 20 years of experience as a teacher, researcher, and program evaluator. He holds a bachelor of arts in Hispanic and Caribbean studies from Rutgers University, a master of arts in educational leadership from Saint Peter’s University, and a Ph.D. in educational research and program evaluation from Seton Hall University. He started his career as a middle school English teacher in Jersey City.

The district also hired Michael F. Dixon, the former assistant principal at Orange Preparatory Academy, to lead Belmont Runyon Schools. He will replace former principal Robin Williams, who was appointed last school year. Dixon started his career in 2000 as an eighth grade teacher at the district’s former Miller Street School and later became a teacher coach at Ivy Hill Elementary School. He holds a bachelor of arts in management with a minor in retail merchandising from Montclair State University, and a dual master’s in curriculum and instruction math K-14 and leadership from Concordia University.

At the elementary school level, Tania Sousa-Vilar will lead Wilson Avenue Elementary School after former principal Margarita Hernandez-Abeigon retired after more than two decades in the district. Sousa-Vilar graduated from Wilson Avenue and previously served as a teacher at Ann Street Elementary School and a teacher coach and vice principal at Wilson Avenue. She brings 20 years of experience working in the district.

Najie Kennedy was tapped to lead Rafael Hernandez Elementary School this year, replacing former principal Jessica Rios, who was appointed in 2023. Kennedy began her teaching career in the South Bronx and, most recently, was the vice principal at Elliot Street Elementary School. She earned a bachelor of business administration in accounting from Adelphi University and a master’s degree in childhood education with a specialization in special education from Brooklyn College, and another in educational leadership from the College of Saint Rose.

The district also promoted Qadriyyah Williams to a principal role at South Seventeenth Street School. She will replace former principal Clarence Allen, who led the school for more than 10 years. Williams was the vice principal at South Seventeenth and began her career as an English language arts teacher at the district’s former Harold Wilson Middle School. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Montclair State University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Seton Hall University.

District leaders also recruited two other individuals for top roles.

Newark appointed Marques as the district’s new assistant superintendent of the East and Central School Leadership Team. She brings more than 25 years of experience working in district schools. She is the former district director of career and technical education.

The district appointed Dawkins as the district’s new executive director of facilities, bringing more than 20 years of experience in facilities management. He recently served as the director of campus facilities and chief sustainability officer at SUNY Orange, a public community college.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board appoints Melissa Reed to fill vacant board seat left by Dawn Haynes

2025-06-27T17:06:26+00:00

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The Newark school board voted to appoint Melissa Reed to fill a board seat that was left empty after one of its longest-serving members abruptly resigned last month.

Reed, a 29-year-old district leader for the South Ward and Newark Public Schools graduate, won a unanimous vote at a board meeting Thursday to join the Newark Board of Education and succeed former member Dawn Haynes. She will serve a one-year term up for election in April 2026. She was one of seven candidates interviewed by the board on Thursday, including several former school board candidates.

In total, nine people applied to fill the vacant board seat, according to information obtained through a public records request. The district was accepting applications for the position until June 2.

Reed’s swearing-in was added to a special school board meeting originally scheduled for so-called “Donaldson hearings,” where staff members can appeal a district decision not to renew their contracts. The agenda for the meeting was posted less than an hour before the meeting began and did not mention the board’s intent to swear in a new member.

The Newark Board of Education swore in Melissa Reed, a Newark resident and public school graduate, for a one-year term to the Newark Board of Education.

Reed recited the oath of office in front of her new board colleagues and attendees, as her sister held the Bible. She then sat in the empty board seat and addressed the other contenders for the seat, many of whom she knew and had worked with.

“You guys have been in the community for years. Like, when I walked through the door, I greeted everybody, because all you guys’ faces are familiar,” she said. “We all do the same thing. We all have the love and passion and compassion for our kids, and we want a better community, and we want a better city for the people that live here.”

She added: “Just because I’m here doesn’t mean that I can’t work with you.”

Reed’s selection is the latest reshuffling of board members and comes after Haynes, who was elected in 2018 and serving her third term, resigned from the board as of May 1. Last school year, Thomas Luna, a charter school teacher, won a unanimous board vote to fill an empty seat after former board President Asia Norton suddenly resigned. But the school board refused to swear in Luna and eventually appointed someone else.

Haynes was under scrutiny from district Superintendent Roger León and other leaders after her daughter filed a legal claim against the district alleging religious, racial, and gender discrimination, and other harassment during her time as a student at Newark School of Global Studies. In November 2024, the school board voted to ask the state education department to recommend removing Haynes on grounds that her daughter’s claim led to a conflict of interest. But the state education commissioner shot down the petition in January.

Reed will join the other eight board members in deciding policies for New Jersey’s largest school system, which has roughly 40,000 students across 64 schools. The board is also tasked with holding the superintendent accountable and addressing the public schools’ most pressing issues, such as managing district finances, transportation, facilities needs, academic recovery efforts, implementing federal and state policies, and supporting its growing number of students, including multilingual learners and students with disabilities.

The school board has also faced criticism from the community over transparency in addressing racism in schools; the district’s decision not to pay board members’ attorneys fees in their fight against an ethics complaint initiated by a high school principal; and the board’s approval of thousands of dollars for a staff fun day that the state’s education department deemed an inappropriate use of funds.

Newark Board of Education members pose for a picture with their newest member, Melissa Reed, and her sister.

Reed works in the Essex County Division of Senior Services and has experience working on political campaigns in Newark. She is serving a two-year term as the South Ward Democratic committee leader for Municipal District 25, a position she was elected to in 2024. She has been an advocate for policies that promote equity, sustainability, and community well-being. Before her interview with the board on Thursday, Reed told Chalkbeat she wanted to become a board member because she wanted to give back to city youth and offer transparency and support to students and parents.

During the meeting, Reed sat next to Elaine Asyah Aquil, who ran for school board this year under the All Kids Matter banner and who was also vying for the empty board seat. Reed said Aquil had inspired her to use her voice, and she praised her for her support throughout the years.

“She really motivated me, and I appreciate that so much,” Reed said.

Along with Aquil, the other candidates who interviewed for the board position were former school board candidates Ade’Kamil Kelly, who ran twice, Latoya Jackson, who ran three times, Sheila Montague, who ran three times, and Yolanda Johnson, who ran four times, along with Fawn Ross, who was vying for a board seat for the first time.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools adopts AI literacy screener as part of state plan to boost reading skills

2025-06-24T15:07:04+00:00

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Newark Public Schools will use a new artificial intelligence tool this fall to help identify students who may be struggling to read, as part of the state’s new literacy plan aimed at boosting early reading skills.

The Newark school board last week approved the use of Amira, an AI-powered literacy tool developed by San Francisco-based company Amira Learning, as a universal screener, an assessment given to students to identify who may be at risk for reading difficulties. Under the state’s new Literacy Framework, New Jersey school districts are required to screen students in grades K-3 starting this fall.

Amira is designed to assess student reading deficiencies and improve reading skills through personalized intervention plans based on individual needs.

Although the use of AI for literacy screening is a growing trend across the country, the state’s working group on student literacy noted that the tool may have difficulty assessing students with accents or complex speech challenges. That could be a concern in a district like Newark, which has more than 11,000 English language learners, with most speaking Spanish or Portuguese, although some speak Arabic, French, Haitian Creole, or other languages.

The board approved a two-year term contract with Amira Learning that will run from July 1 through June 30, 2027, at a cost not to exceed $900,000.

Amira is the only AI screener recommended by the state’s working group, which helped create the Literacy Framework that is meant to boost early reading skills among young learners starting this fall. The Newark school board last week also approved a $109,260 grant to help fund the district’s screener as part of one of two state grants to help school districts implement the new literacy requirements.

Newark is among a growing number of school districts adopting Amira as a literacy screener. The AI tool is currently used in over 2,000 school districts across the country, including in Oklahoma and Colorado, and has been approved by a number of states, including California, Idaho, and Georgia.

Literacy screeners are reading assessments used to quickly identify students who may be at risk for reading challenges and help educators pinpoint students who may need additional support. Most literacy screeners use digital tools to analyze students’ reading skills, but typically don’t include an AI component.

Using AI literacy screeners such as Amira to identify which students need support could help, but Yaacov Petscher, a professor at Florida State University and associate director at the Florida Center for Reading Research, stressed that AI should add to – not replace – teachers’ expertise, particularly in addressing multilingual diversity and instructional needs.

“We’re in a culture of AI where there’s a rush to integrate, but we need evidence of how well the systems are working without biases,” said Petscher, who also works to build reading assessment tools. “We want to think about how to support and augment systems, but not completely replace teachers and their training for delivering core reading curriculum.”

Amira has been piloted in six Newark Public Schools, and initial data shows increased student growth, according to the district’s request for proposals for screeners. Last school year, the district adopted new approaches to teaching phonics, implemented explicit writing strategies, and began training teachers’ knowledge of the science of reading as part of its plan to boost student achievement after spring state test scores showed student difficulties in writing and English language arts.

Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, did not respond to questions about piloting Amira Learning, what type of growth students had shown, and why the district decided to use an AI literacy screener.

What is a literacy screener and how is it used?

Literacy screeners are typically given to young students at the beginning of the school year and again during the winter or spring to test their ability to read, sound out words, and pinpoint trouble areas. Research shows that it’s best to identify at-risk readers at an early age to prevent them from falling further behind as they learn new literacy skills.

Using AI to help screen for student reading deficiencies is new, and the level at which they could improve academic performance is still being researched, according to Petscher, the professor at Florida State. Similarly, an independent research review of literacy tools such as Amira found that AI could be beneficial if it shows evidence of accurately measuring reading deficiencies.

The study also reviewed Amira and found that its measure for predicting reading challenges may not be capturing important aspects of early reading development, but may show accuracy in the future if it conducts a study.

“A company will say, we have a screener that screens for dyslexia, but we have to go deeper to understand well, what do they mean by that?” Petscher added.

Amira Learning was founded in 2018, but the work to develop Amira started at Carnegie Mellon in 1993, according to Mark Angel, CEO of Amira Learning. Angel, who has worked in the AI tech industry for more than three decades, took over Carnegie’s research and collaborated with education experts to launch and train Amira in the science of reading. Amira uses machine learning technology to learn from students and adjust to their needs, Angel added.

Last June, the company announced it had merged with Istation, a reading screening tool widely used in Colorado and other states across the country.

As students read aloud, Amira listens for pauses, hesitations, fluency, and other factors, while pinpointing strengths and areas for growth, Angel said. Student recordings and other data are owned and controlled by each school district, Angel added.

Last school year, Amira reached a more than 95% accuracy rate among all student subgroups, and intervention effectiveness matched or exceeded what would be expected from a skilled human tutor, according to a company assessment.

Angel acknowledged that there are biases with AI based on how each system is trained but the goal with Amira is “to correct that systemic bias” by overexposing the system to different speech patterns and accents so Amira is more accurate in understanding students who have been historically under- or over-identified for reading deficiencies, Angel added.

Similarly, Angel said, Amira is not meant to replace the teacher’s knowledge but rather support their work.

“Our belief is that Amira will help teachers to really get back to a workable, worthwhile situation in the classroom, and in ways that the pandemic and other things have kind of robbed them of,” Angel added.

Literacy screeners aren’t a one-size-fits-all, Petscher said, noting that school districts often use multiple screeners to help inform curriculum decisions and identify student reading challenges.

AI systems “don’t seem to be trained or fine-tuned” well enough to account for linguistic diversity and require humans to double-check outcomes created by systems like Amira, Petscher said.

The state’s working group report noted that teachers are encouraged to listen to Amira’s student recordings and rescore tests if needed, which also helps the software learn a student’s speech profile.

In August 2024, Gov. Phil Murphy signed four bills that launched the New Jersey Literacy Framework and called on school districts to implement literacy screenings for students in K-3, create reading intervention plans, and start new training on reading instruction for pre-K-6 staff starting this fall. The bills also established the Office of Learning Equity and Academic Recovery, or LEAR, in the state’s Education Department, which will oversee the new literacy initiatives.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Biden’s DOJ found lingering issues in Newark’s English language learner program. Trump’s team closed the case.

2025-06-18T09:45:00+00:00

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Leer en español.

The U.S. Department of Justice has quietly ended its monitoring of Newark Public Schools’ English language learner program, even after the department, under former President Joe Biden, found that the district did not consistently use qualified interpreters for non-English speaking parents, Chalkbeat has learned.

A 2021 settlement agreement found “wide-ranging failures” in the district’s English learner program and gave the district until the end of 2024 to fix 10 issues that violated federal law.

In December 2024, the Justice Department found the district had fixed the majority of the problems but was not consistently using qualified interpreters to help parents with limited English proficiency when they contacted schools or provided information in a language they understood, according to a federal letter that partially terminated and extended the 2021 settlement agreement.

The Justice Department also found that district staff were using Google Translate to provide school information to parents who speak limited English. Those deficiencies prompted the department to extend the agreement to July, according to the federal department’s 2024 letter.

But then in April, Alina Habba, who was appointed acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey by President Donald Trump, notified the district that it had satisfied its requirements under the 2021 settlement agreement and the 2024 extended agreement. The district has not publicly announced the end of federal monitoring but instead tucked the news into a May board committee report.

The extended agreement required the district to conduct testing to determine staff’s ability to understand and speak a particular language and submit a proposal to the Justice Department in February. It also required the district to submit a final report by July 1. It is unclear what happened to those requirements now that the monitoring has ended.

The Justice Department investigation that resulted in the 2021 settlement agreement began in 2017, when the school district was still under state control, in response to complaints that Newark was failing English learners. The investigation took four years and found that the district was not complying with federal civil rights laws related to education. Specifically, it found that the district’s practices left some English learners with little or no language services, while others were removed from language programs before they were fluent in English.

As a result, the district in 2021 agreed to overhaul its English learner program and comply with the terms of a 25-page settlement agreement that required the district to assess all students who spoke languages other than English to check if they needed language services, provide those services at any school the students attended, hire more qualified teachers, monitor their progress, and report back to federal officials.

Newark Public Schools’ English language learner population has been growing over the years, and school officials are wrestling with a shortage of bilingual teachers who can communicate in different languages. Since the 2020-21 school year, English language learners in the district have grown from 17.1% to 24.2% in 2023, according to 2023-24 New Jersey school performance report.

The district is home to more than 11,000 English language learners and includes a mix of students born in the country and abroad. Most speak Spanish or Portuguese, although some speak Arabic, French, Haitian Creole, or other languages.

Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, did not respond to emails about Newark Public Schools’ plan to fix problems with using qualified interpreters.

The Justice Department has not explained its rationale for ending its oversight, nor has it released a report outlining how the district has met its obligations.

The federal agency declined to comment about the end of monitoring, wrote NaSheena Porter Poznansky, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey, via email on June 5.

Since Trump entered office in January, he has been clear about stripping away practices and policies that support diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools. In March, Trump declared English the official language of the United States and fired nearly every Education Department employee responsible for ensuring that school districts were using federal funds meant to help English learners.

DOJ highlighted NPS’ translator deficiencies over the years

Among the 10 ways the district violated federal law, the Justice Department had already found it was not communicating effectively with non-English speaking parents and that it was also failing to staff its English learner programs with certified bilingual teachers, according to the 2021 settlement agreement.

In recent years, students reported using translator apps on their phones to communicate with teachers, while others, during a January 2024 board meeting, said it was tough to communicate with classmates. A former teacher during the January 2024 meeting also said educators weren’t getting enough support to help bilingual students.

As part of the Justice Department’s four-year monitoring beginning in 2021, federal officials visited district schools, according to 2023 and 2024 federal compliance letters to the district. They observed several English as a second language and bilingual classes and interviewed principals, bilingual needs assessment teachers, and the enrollment clerks, according to the letters.

Justice Department officials under the Biden administration found that most schools had a list of staff, and in some cases districtwide staff, who spoke different languages, but those lists typically included a combination of staff who were certified bilingual and others who self-identified as speaking other languages in response to a school survey, according to 2023 federal compliance letters.

Similarly, federal officials in 2023 also found that the district had yet to train all ESL teachers who also worked with students with disabilities, according to federal compliance letters. Federal officials also found that the district did not hire enough staff with experience related to the intersection of English learners and special education services, according to 2023 compliance letters.

In 2024, federal officials continued to visit Newark schools and found that the district had made progress by hiring more certified ESL teachers after finding that some schools had no long-term ESL substitute teachers. The district also provided more resources to bilingual needs assessment teachers, who are required to help parents with the enrollment process by using qualified interpreters. Newark also improved the way it tracked English learner progress and bolstered student requirements to exit the district’s English learner program.

Despite Newark’s shortcomings, the district “has worked diligently” to correct the problems outlined in the 2021 settlement agreement and has demonstrated “substantial compliance” with the terms of the agreement for at least one year, as required by the agreement, the December 2024 letter noted.

However, that same letter also noted that the district did not consistently use qualified interpreters at schools or through Language Line, a company that provides translation and interpretation services to help organizations communicate with people who speak different languages. It also noted that school clerks and other district staff are responsible for speaking with non-English speaking parents about registration, school selections, enrollment, and English learner services.

Federal officials also noted in the 2024 letter that staff should be reminded to use qualified interpreters and materials translated by them when communicating with parents with limited English proficiency and must be trained on using telephone-based interpretation services.

This school year, the district launched a new bilingual education program at Malcolm X Shabazz High School to help Newark’s growing population of English language learners access services closer to where they live.

A translation of this story was provided by New Jersey Hispano, in partnership with Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media and is supported financially by the NJ Civic Information Consortium. The story was republished under a special content-sharing agreement through NJ News Commons’ Spanish Translation News Service.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Integrante de la Junta Escolar de Newark vinculada al caso de Global Studies renuncia a su cargo

2025-06-13T17:28:40+00:00

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Una de las integrantes con más años de servicio en la Junta Escolar de Newark, quien se enfrentó a una destitución este año y ha denunciado el acoso racial y las tensiones en una controvertida escuela secundaria del distrito, dejó repentinamente la Junta, según supo Chalkbeat.

Dawn Haynes, quien cumplía su tercer mandato, se retiró de la Junta de Educación de Newark con efectividad inmediata según varias fuentes.

Elegida por primera vez en 2018, Haynes enfrentó recientemente críticas del superintendente de las Escuelas Públicas de Newark, Roger León, y otros líderes del distrito después de que su hija presentara una demanda legal contra el distrito alegando discriminación religiosa, racial y de género, entre otros tipos de acoso durante su tiempo como estudiante de la escuela Newark School of Global Studies. En noviembre de 2024, la Junta Escolar de Newark votó a favor de pedir al Departamento Estatal de Educación que recomendara la destitución de Haynes debido a un conflicto derivado de la demanda legal de su hija, pero la petición fue rechazada en enero por el comisionado estatal de educación.

La vacancia fue anunciada por el presidente de la junta, Hasani Council, después de una sesión ejecutiva durante un retiro de la junta el mes pasado. La noticia llega apenas unas semanas después de las elecciones de la Junta Escolar de abril, aunque Council no identificó a Haynes por su nombre. Council agregó que la junta está solicitando nominaciones hasta el 2 de junio a las 4 p.m., para llenar un mandato de un año, para las elecciones del próximo año. El anuncio del puesto vacante fue publicado en la página de Facebook del Distrito.

Paul Brubaker, director de comunicaciones del Distrito, y Council no respondieron a las preguntas el lunes sobre la vacante de la junta o la salida de Haynes. Haynes se negó a comentar.

Durante los últimos tres años, Haynes, que hubiera sido reelegida en 202, y su hija habían hablado abiertamente sobre la supuesta discriminación racial que los estudiantes y maestros dijeron enfrentar en la Newark School of Global Studies. En su demanda, su hija, Akela Haynes, también alegó que, entre septiembre de 2020 y diciembre de 2022, “sufrió discriminación generalizada y consistente”, acoso sexual, agresión, intimidación, acoso, ciberbullying, angustia emocional y otros tratos inapropiados e ilícitos.

La salida de Haynes llega un mes después de que Moving Newark Schools Forward, una coalición política fuertemente respaldada por el alcalde Ras Baraka y otros poderosos legisladores demócratas, ganó los tres escaños en las elecciones de la junta de este año. Haynes fue parte de la lista de Moving Newark Schools Forward, que ha ganado continuamente todas las elecciones de juntas escolares desde 2016.

El nuevo puesto vacante ya ha llamado la atención de los candidatos a la Junta Escolar de este año. Ade’Kamil Kelly, que se postuló representando a Prioritizing Newark’s Children, anunció el mes pasado que presentó su petición para ocupar el escaño de Haynes. En su carta de intención compartida con Chalkbeat, Kelly escribe que es un defensor apasionado de la juventud y la educación. Ha pasado varios años “desarrollando y dirigiendo programas” que apoyan el “crecimiento académico, desarrollo social y compromiso cívico” de los jóvenes, según se lee en la carta.

Durante un foro de candidatos de la Junta Escolar en marzo, Kelly, quien se postuló junto a los candidatos primerizos Shana Melius y Nathanael Barthelemy, dijo que la política de hostigamiento, intimidación y acoso del distrito no se estaba aplicando adecuadamente, en particular, a la luz de las denuncias de racismo y acoso.

Dawn Haynes, residente de Newark, fue elegida para la Junta Escolar de la ciudad en 2018.

“Comprendo el papel vital que desempeña la junta en la elaboración de políticas, el establecimiento de prioridades y la garantía de que todos los estudiantes tengan acceso a una educación de alta calidad. Si soy elegido, aportaré una perspectiva reflexiva y orientada a la equidad a este trabajo”, dice la carta de intención de Kelly presentada a la Junta Escolar de Newark.

La salida de Haynes de la Junta es el último resultado de las tensiones raciales reportadas en Global Studies.

En enero, Chalkbeat Newark obtuvo un borrador del informe muy crítico de un asesor que encontró que los líderes de las Escuelas Públicas de Newark no respondieron “rápida y continuamente” a incidentes racistas e intolerantes contra estudiantes y maestros negros en la Newark School of Global Studies. En 2023, León afirmó que el informe, encargado por los miembros de la junta ese año, sobre las dinámicas culturales, religiosas y raciales de la School of Global Studies, se mantendría interno e informaría la estrategia del distrito sobre la raza.

Siguiendo los comentarios de León, el distrito publicó tres recomendaciones del informe realizado por la consultora Creed Strategies que instaba a una revisión de los efectos de “anti-negro” en el sistema escolar, a fomentar conversaciones sobre cuestiones raciales, y a crear un entorno que tenga en cuenta las diferencias raciales y que sea inclusivo. León no ha dicho cómo el informe ha difundido las políticas de diversidad del distrito u otras estrategias escolares.

Haynes, graduada de la escuela Malcolm X Shabazz High School y empleada del municipio, es conocida por sus esfuerzos para mejorar el rendimiento de los estudiantes y mejorar la cultura escolar y la diversidad. Haynes también ha sido activa en la lucha contra la violencia armada en la comunidad y en ayudar a las familias, padres, maestros y jóvenes como ex presidente de la Asociación de Padres de Alumnos de la Escuela Primaria Harriet Tubman.

Durante su gestión en Shabazz High School, Haynes fue parte del programa ROTC y más tarde se unió a la U.S. Air Force, según su biografía en el sitio web del distrito escolar. Después de la fuerza aérea, Haynes fue al Instituto Técnico Lincoln, donde obtuvo su certificación como técnica de sistemas electrónicos.

Traducido por Bernardo de la Cruz.

Esta traducción fue proporcionada por New Jersey Hispano, en asociación con el Centro de Medios Cooperativos de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair, y cuenta con el apoyo financiero del Consorcio de Información Cívica de NJ. La historia fue escrita originalmente en inglés por Chalkbeat Newark y se vuelve a publicar en virtud de un acuerdo especial para compartir contenido a través del Servicio de noticias de traducción al español de NJ News Commons.

Jessie Gómez es una reportera por Chalkbeat Newark y cubre las escuelas públicas de Newark. Puede ponerse en contacto con ella: jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s district and charter schools received over 10,000 applications for enrollment this fall

2025-06-10T21:26:30+00:00

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More than 10,000 students applied to Newark schools for the upcoming school year, with charter schools seeing the highest number of applicants through their recently launched enrollment system.

Newark Public Schools received 7,400 applications through its enrollment platform, Newark Enrolls, while city charter schools had a record-high 3,454 applications submitted through the Newark Common App, which was launched three years ago.

Newark parents must apply for a school if their student is enrolling for the first time, wants to switch schools, or is in the final grade of their current school, for example, a preschooler who will start kindergarten next fall, or an eighth grader who will be starting high school.

For years, the only way to apply to most public schools in the city was through the Newark Enrolls website, but in 2022, 10 Newark charter schools broke ties with the district’s enrollment system and created the Newark Common App. But the Newark school district requires all students, including those attending charter schools, to submit residency documents before formally enrolling in a matched school.

The open enrollment period for Newark Public Schools and charter schools began on Nov. 2, with families receiving school match letters in April.

The application data does not reflect actual enrollment for the 2025-26 school year, but it provides schools with an early projection of how many students to expect. The projections are important because enrollment impacts school funding, staffing decisions, transportation planning, meals, services for students, and school facilities needs.

Public school enrollment in districts across the country has decreased since the pandemic, while rates in some school districts are holding steady, according to data released in December by the National Center for Education Statistics. Across the country, public school enrollment reached 49.5 million students for fall 2023, which represents a less than 1% decrease compared to fall 2022 and a 2.5% decline from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Newark Public Schools enrolled over 40,000 students this school year, while city charter schools enrolled over 20,000. As districts dealt with the fallout of the pandemic and declining enrollment, Newark’s public schools surpassed charter school growth in 2023, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of state fall enrollment data between 2019 and 2024. In Newark, charter schools educate more than a third of the city’s public school students, and across the state, they represent about 5% of all public school enrollment.

Among district schools, Newark Enrolls applications slightly decreased from 7,407 for the 2024-25 school year to 7,400 for the upcoming year, according to Newark Enrolls data obtained by Chalkbeat through a public records request. Of the applications for enrollment this fall, 3,981 were for high school grade levels and 3,419 were for pre-K-8 grade levels, according to the data. On April 18, 7,377 match letters were sent to students, according to the figures.

Before the pandemic, Newark Enrolls received 11,800 applications for the 2020-21 school year, but that number dropped sharply to about 7,800 applications for 2021-22. Those applications were submitted before the creation of the Newark Common App in 2022.

Among the charter schools, the Newark Common App applications increased from 3,092 for the 2024-25 school year to 3,454 for the upcoming year, an increase of 362 applications, according to recently released Newark Common App data. Ninth grade received the highest number of applications, followed by kindergarten, according to the data. Overall, 82% of Newark Common App applicants were matched to schools, and 71% received their first choice, according to the figures.

District leaders are preparing for new and expanded costs to support rising enrollment and services for Newark’s most vulnerable students. The costs also include payments to charter schools, which are privately run but publicly funded schools. Under New Jersey law, school districts must provide charter schools with at least 90% of per-pupil funds for students who live in the district.

Since his appointment in 2018, Superintendent Roger León has been vocal about his attempt to stop the expansion of charter schools, while district leaders have raised concerns about the high costs associated with funding them.

Newark Public Schools’ payments to city charter schools are rising by $24.8 million, totalling $416 million for the upcoming school year.

District leaders have also raised concerns about charter schools serving a disproportionate number of vulnerable students, such as English language learners and students with disabilities, which costs schools more money to educate and provide services for them. Newark Public Schools expects more than 11,000 English language learners and over 7,000 students with disabilities next school year.

In New Jersey, enrollment has gradually increased over the last three school years, according to fall enrollment data. The 2024–25 school year marked the highest district and charter school enrollment in recent years, per state data, but those figures do not account for private or homeschool enrollments.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark Public Schools to pay over $300 million for trade high school under new 30-year lease

2025-06-04T20:15:38+00:00

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Newark Public Schools will pay over $300 million over 30 years for its new trade high school — but after many delays, the gym and auditorium may not be finished when it opens this fall.

The Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design is expected to welcome students in September, per an amended lease agreement that extended the deal from 20 to 30 years and was approved by the district’s Board of Education last month. But the deadline for the developer to finish those parts of the school isn’t until the middle of 2026.

The district also has the option to purchase the building for $1,000 at the end of the 30-year lease, according to the revised agreement obtained by Chalkbeat through a public records request.

The amended lease agreement comes after the developer of the property and Summit Assets CEO Albert Nigri promised last fall that the entire school facility would be finished by the start of the upcoming school year.

When the lease for the new trade high school was first signed by the district in 2021, NPS agreed to a $160 million, 20-year lease. The following year, Superintendent Roger León announced the opening of the new trade high school in the city’s East Ward at an invite-only groundbreaking ceremony. He touted the school — the first of its kind in the district — as an opportunity for students to fast-track their technical careers and earn a contract to work with the district.

It was originally scheduled to open in the fall of 2022. But stop-work orders issued by the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development over wage complaints and changes in contractors have delayed the project.

The district’s communications director Paul Brubaker did not respond to questions from Chalkbeat about the project’s setbacks, how the district plans to pay the lease for the school, or its reasoning for extending the lease agreement. Nigri did not respond to calls seeking comment.

The Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design is set to focus on three trades — plumbing, electricity, and HVAC — and allow students to study architecture and interior design. The curriculum will also give students a high school diploma and a license for trade work, district officials have previously said.

The new school is housed at the former St. James Hospital building that has stood vacant for years in the middle of the city’s Ironbound neighborhood. When it opens, the school will enroll 240 ninth grade students and add a grade level each year. Payments to Nigri, the property’s landlord and developer, are set to begin when the school opens this fall.

New high school delayed amid pay complaints

The latest version of the amended lease, approved by the school board in May, includes two new deadlines for the completion of the school.

By Aug. 1, 2025, the base of the school building must be completed, which includes new walls, roofs, and windows, elevators, restrooms, a courtyard, and landscaping. By June 1, 2026, the newly constructed gym and auditorium must be completed and the building must be finished, according to the lease amendment.

Those deadlines are later than those in the first amendment to the lease approved by NPS in August 2024, which were for the base of the school building to be completed by Jan. 9, the new gym and auditorium to be finished by July 30, and the building to be completed by Sept. 1.

The amended lease also extends the deal from 20 to 30 years and bumps up the total lease to $295,979,990 over 30 years. The district must also pay a total of $20 million in additional payments to Nigri between year two and year six and year 26 and year 30 of the lease.

Union workers at the high school’s construction site also encountered poor working conditions that were making their jobs unsafe and many were being paid late or in cash. That resulted in the union filing wage complaints with the state.

In September 2022, the New Jersey Department of Labor issued stop-work orders to Summit Assets as well as the former general contractor and an ex-subcontractor. That order halted work on the site for months before Nigri hired a new contractor and subcontractor.

Days later, dozens of union workers showed up to a district school board meeting demanding that León intervene after they were forced out of work and owed pay. León addressed laborers’ complaints and reiterated the district’s plan to open the school in September 2023.

In October 2024, the Department of Labor issued a second stop-work order on the site and to the new contractors and subcontractors of the project. Although the work subsequently resumed, district leaders have not addressed the project’s delays or issues related to worker pay.

Instead, the district began to advertise a fall 2025 opening date, and this spring, it opened up enrollment to the school. Brubaker did not respond to a request for comment about the district’s contingency plan if the landlord fails to deliver part of the building by Aug. 1.

State remains responsible for new school construction in Newark

During a May 2021 public hearing on the project, former assistant school business administrator Jason Ballard said that leasing a high school building is more affordable than building a new high school, which he said costs an average of $134 million. That’s less than half of what the district will pay on its lease for the new trade school, based on construction plans in other New Jersey cities.

The Schools Development Authority is the state agency responsible for paying construction projects in Newark and 30 other low-income school districts. According to its 2022 biannual report, the cost per square foot for a high school project was $369 at that time.

The agency’s largest and most expensive construction project is Perth Amboy High School, which opened its doors last fall and cost $284 million to add room for nearly 3,300 students.

Over the years, the agency has promised the district it would pay for school repairs and provide new buildings. But despite efforts to address these challenges, including the allocation of $18 million in state funding for building upgrades over the last three fiscal years, the district estimates that it would need more than $2 billion to repair and update all schools.

The Newark school district has identified 33 out of its 64 total schools that need replacing and dozens more that need renovations. The state agency last summer promised to replace 13 of Newark’s oldest buildings, but the deal still leaves out 20 schools that need replacements. The state agency also said it would spend nearly $153 million to build a new University High School and relocate Hawthorne Avenue Elementary School, but the plan is still in its early stages.

In 2023, the Schools Development Authority purchased the former University Heights Charter School building for $15.5 million and transferred it to the district to fulfill its promise to provide a new elementary school, now known as the Nelson Mandela Elementary School.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Marco de Alfabetización nuevo de NJ requiere que las escuelas implementen evaluaciones, intervenciones

2025-05-30T16:10:15+00:00

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El nuevo plan de alfabetización de Nueva Jersey, el primero de su tipo, tiene como objetivo impulsar las habilidades de lectura temprana entre los estudiantes jóvenes, pero los defensores temen que las escuelas no estén listas para implementarlo este otoño.

El esfuerzo estatal, lanzado bajo cuatro proyectos de ley firmados por el gobernador Phil Murphy en agosto de 2024, tiene como objetivo perfeccionar las prácticas fundamentales de alfabetización en las escuelas basándose en la investigación en lectura y aprendizaje.

Los proyectos de ley crearon el New Jersey Literacy Framework (Marco de Alfabetización de Nueva Jersey) e instaron a los distritos escolares a implementar evaluaciones de alfabetización para estudiantes de kínder a tercer grado, crear planes de intervención en lectura e iniciar nuevas capacitaciones en enseñanza de la lectura para el personal de preescolar a sexto grado a partir del próximo año escolar. El conjunto de proyectos de ley también creó la Office of Learning Equity and Academic Recovery (Oficina de Equidad en el Aprendizaje y Recuperación Académica o LEAR, por sus siglás en inglés), dentro del Departamento de Educación del estado, que supervisará las nuevas iniciativas de alfabetización.

Pero defensores como JerseyCAN, que han estado haciendo sonar la alarma sobre los bajos puntajes de lectura, dicen que temen que los distritos escolares puedan no tener el ancho de banda para revisar, comparar y seleccionar evaluadores de alfabetización o implementar un nuevo desarrollo profesional el primer día del próximo año escolar.

“Tenemos que asegurarnos de que estos distritos escolares tengan lo que necesitan, porque son los implementadores. Están en primera línea”, dijo Paula White, directora ejecutiva de JerseyCAN.

La líder de la mayoría del Senado, M. Teresa Ruiz, quien representa al condado de Essex, presentó la legislación el año pasado después de que las tasas de alfabetización disminuyeran tras la pandemia de COVID-19 de 2020. En Nueva Jersey, solo el 44% de los estudiantes de tercer grado alcanzaron niveles de competencia en lengua y literatura inglesa en la evaluación estatal de la primavera de 2024, en comparación con el 50% antes de la pandemia. En Newark, la tasa de competencia en lengua y literatura inglesa de tercer grado se mantuvo como la más baja de todos los grados por tercer año consecutivo la primavera pasada, pero fue superior a la tasa del 19% de 2023.

Los expertos dicen que el tercer grado es un momento crítico para la lectura en el desarrollo de un niño, y el dominio de la lectura en ese grado puede predecir cuáles serán los niveles de lectura de un estudiante en octavo grado y más allá.

El nuevo Marco de Alfabetización “representa un cambio sistémico en la enseñanza de la lectoescritura”, y su impacto “tardará en medirse”, según Laura Fredrick, directora de comunicaciones del Departamento de Educación de Nueva Jersey, en un comunicado enviado por correo electrónico el viernes por la noche. El objetivo es que, con el tiempo, las iniciativas estatales generen “mejoras mensurables en los resultados equitativos de lectoescritura para todos los estudiantes”, añadió Fredrick.

“Si bien los puntajes de las pruebas estatales y los niveles de competencia de los estudiantes pueden servir como indicadores de éxito a largo plazo, el enfoque inmediato estará en usar los datos de evaluación para fundamentar las prácticas instructivas y garantizar que todos los estudiantes reciban una instrucción de alfabetización efectiva y basada en evidencia”, dijo Frederick.

¿Qué es el Marco de Alfabetización de Nueva Jersey?

El impulso para modernizar la enseñanza de la lectoescritura ha crecido de forma constante en los últimos años. Nueva Jersey se encuentra entre los últimos estados en promulgar dichas políticas, según la encuesta de 2023 del Instituto Shaker sobre la legislación estatal en materia de lectura en Estados Unidos. Nueva Jersey, Hawái, Nuevo Hampshire, Virginia Occidental y Nueva York fueron los únicos estados que no aprobaron legislación en materia de lectura entre 2019 y 2022, según la encuesta.

En el año escolar 2025-26, los distritos escolares públicos tradicionales y las redes de escuelas chárter (escuelas de gestión privada pero financiadas con fondos públicos) estarán obligados a realizar dos evaluaciones de lectoescritura anuales para todos los estudiantes de kínder a tercer grado, incluyendo a los estudiantes con discapacidades y a los estudiantes multilingües, al principio y a mediados del año escolar. Los distritos escolares también pueden considerar una tercera evaluación para los estudiantes durante el año escolar. Las escuelas deben notificar los resultados a los padres en un plazo de 30 días y elaborar planes de intervención lectora.

Los equipos de liderazgo del distrito escolar, que incluyen administradores, directores de currículo, instructores, especialistas en lectura y maestros, deben supervisar las evaluaciones y analizar datos para identificar las necesidades de lectura de un estudiante y crear intervenciones, según la guía estatal publicada a principios de este mes.

El cuestionario de alfabetización evaluará las habilidades de lectoescritura en cuanto a la denominación de letras, la conciencia fonémica, la fonética y la decodificación, la fluidez lectora oral y la comprensión. El marco estatal establece criterios para elegir un cuestionario universal de alfabetización, pero no proporciona una lista de los que los distritos escolares puedan elegir.

White, directora ejecutiva de JerseyCAN, dijo que le preocupa la capacidad de los educadores y los 590 distritos escolares del estado para aprender e implementar los nuevos mandatos después de las vacaciones de verano.

“Incluso si tienes 300 distritos que dicen, ‘lo entiendo, no necesito tu ayuda, puedo resolver esto, puedo encontrar un evaluador de alfabetización’, vas a tener otros 150 que estarán luchando, y luego vas a tener otros 100 que estarán completamente perdidos”, dijo White.

El marco del estado tiene seis objetivos para mejorar los resultados de alfabetización entre los estudiantes: analizar datos, coordinar recursos, investigar las mejores prácticas, brindar apoyo distrital, desarrollar recursos para apoyar a los maestros y el aprendizaje, y establecer un grupo de trabajo sobre alfabetización estudiantil, que proporcionó al estado recomendaciones sobre la implementación de las nuevas iniciativas en febrero.

A principios de este mes, el estado publicó el “Marco de Alfabetización de Nueva Jersey: Guía para Prácticas de Alfabetización Basadas en la Evidencia y Evaluadores Universales”, una guía de 81 páginas diseñada para apoyar a los distritos escolares en la implementación de las nuevas iniciativas y la instrucción en alfabetización en los grados K-3. El Departamento de Educación publicará una segunda guía en los próximos meses, centrada en la definición de materiales didácticos y en brindar orientación a los distritos para su selección, adopción e implementación.

El marco también exige desarrollo profesional para maestros de preescolar a sexto grado, incluidos educadores que apoyan a estudiantes con discapacidades y estudiantes multilingües, especialistas en medios bibliotecarios, especialistas en lectura y alfabetización temprana, y especialistas en habla y lenguaje.

La maestra Ana Enriquez-Kozlow lee un libro en voz alta en una clase de autismo preescolar en la escuela Branch Brook en Newark, Nueva Jersey, el martes 3 de septiembre de 2024.

Antes de la nueva iniciativa estatal de alfabetización, los líderes de Newark implementaron planes para impulsar las tasas de lectura a nivel local. El alcalde de Newark, Ras Baraka, anunció en 2023 un plan de acción de 10 puntos para promover la lectura entre los niños de la ciudad. También en 2023, las Escuelas Públicas de Newark adoptaron un enfoque estructurado para la enseñanza de la fonética llamado SIPPS (Instrucción Sistemática en Conciencia Fonológica, Fonética y Palabras Visuales), implementaron estrategias explícitas de escritura y brindaron a los docentes desarrollo profesional basado en la ciencia de la lectura.

Este mes, el Departamento de Educación del estado también anunció dos oportunidades de subvención por un total de $5,250,000 para apoyar a los distritos escolares en la implementación de los nuevos mandatos.

La primera es la Subvención FOCUS (Financiamiento para Evaluadores Universales Integrales Óptimos), destinada a apoyar evaluaciones de alfabetización de alta calidad, el desarrollo profesional y el apoyo estudiantil. Todos los distritos escolares de Nueva Jersey que ofrecen educación preescolar y primaria podrán optar a la financiación. La segunda es la Subvención BRIDGE (Desarrollo de una Instrucción Receptiva mediante la Evaluación Guiada por Datos), una subvención competitiva que apoya el uso de datos de evaluación para implementar la instrucción en alfabetización basada en la evidencia en las aulas de primaria y secundaria.

Los defensores dicen que las familias y los maestros son una parte crucial del plan

A pesar de sus preocupaciones, White, directora ejecutiva de JerseyCAN, elogió las nuevas iniciativas del estado, pero también enfatizó la necesidad de involucrar a los padres y brindarles a los educadores instrucciones claras.

En abril, JerseyCAN publicó un informe que detalla la crisis de alfabetización del estado y describe una serie de propuestas específicas para abordar el problema a nivel estatal. El informe también sirvió como un llamado a la acción para que la legislación estatal sobre alfabetización se traduzca en resultados en las aulas.

El informe proporcionó a los líderes estatales cuatro recomendaciones: brindar capacitación en alfabetización continua e integrada en el trabajo para los docentes; eliminar la estrategia de lectura de “tres señales”, una práctica de adivinar palabras a partir de señales visuales; exigir el desarrollo e implementación de planes de lectura personalizados para estudiantes con una deficiencia de lectura; y exigir que los distritos proporcionen a las familias planes de lectura en el hogar para apoyar a los estudiantes identificados con una deficiencia de lectura.

“Por lo tanto, poder decir, está bien, sí, su hijo tiene una deficiencia de lectura, pero vamos a hacer algo al respecto, y esto es lo que estamos haciendo, eso es importante”, agregó White.

La necesidad de involucrar a los padres en distritos escolares como Newark, donde las tasas de alfabetización juvenil son bajas y muchas familias podrían no hablar inglés en casa, es crucial, añadió White. En las Escuelas Públicas de Newark, el distrito escolar público más grande de Nueva Jersey, solo el 31% de los estudiantes de tercer a noveno grado aprobaron su examen estatal de Lengua y Literatura Inglesas en la primavera de 2024.

White también destacó la importancia de la formación en lectoescritura para docentes, integrada en el trabajo, considerada la referencia del desarrollo profesional, afirmó. JerseyCAN recomienda una asignación multimillonaria del presupuesto estatal para financiar al menos a 10 formadores de lectoescritura en todo el estado y proporcionar asignaciones anuales para financiar más a medida que se implementa el marco. La legislatura estatal está en proceso de aprobar el presupuesto final, que debe ser firmado por el gobernador antes del 30 de junio.

Es importante tener un “entendimiento común” sobre los nuevos requisitos entre todos los distritos escolares, dijo White, y agregó que los entrenadores de alfabetización a nivel estatal podrían ayudar a difundir una comunicación clara entre los “líderes del distrito, los coordinadores del currículo” quienes “realmente pueden recurrir a ellos para apoyar a sus educadores”.

Traducido por Diego Maya.

Esta traducción fue proporcionada por The Latino Spirit, en asociación con el Centro de Medios Cooperativos de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair, y cuenta con el apoyo financiero del Consorcio de Información Cívica de NJ. La historia fue escrita originalmente en inglés por Chalkbeat Newark y se vuelve a publicar en virtud de un acuerdo especial para compartir contenido a través del Servicio de noticias de traducción al español de NJ News Commons.

Jessie Gómez es una reportera por Chalkbeat Newark y cubre las escuelas públicas de Newark. Puede ponerse en contacto con ella: jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark middle schoolers face overcrowded classrooms and space shortages, state report says

2025-05-22T09:45:00+00:00

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Middle schoolers in Newark Public Schools are attending classes in overcrowded buildings that fall short of state space requirements, a new report from the New Jersey Department of Education finds.

Newark, New Jersey’s largest school district, does not have a dedicated middle school and enrolls grades 6-8 in elementary and high schools across the district. The district’s enrollment has increased in recent years, pointing to its need for more school space.

The report highlighted Newark’s ongoing need to replace its public schools, some of which date back to the 1920s and are among the oldest in the state. The report also found that roughly two-thirds of high-poverty districts — formerly known as Abbott districts — do not have enough space to meet student needs, underscoring other existing infrastructure problems such as inadequate HVAC systems and outdated school buildings.

Newark faces significant facilities challenges due to its crumbling school buildings and a lack of funding from the state. The district has identified 33 out of its 64 total schools that need replacing and dozens more that need renovations.

The state’s Schools Development Authority, or SDA, is required to pay for construction projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts. Despite efforts to address these challenges in Newark, including the allocation of $18 million in state funding for building upgrades over the last three fiscal years, the district estimates that it would need more than $2 billion to repair and update all schools.

The new report “speaks to the ongoing need to continually assess school facilities” and fund construction projects, said Theresa Luhm, an attorney and managing director at Education Law Center, a nonprofit that works to protect the rights of public school students.

“I would argue it’s also for the SDA to have some kind of consistent funding stream so they can make plans as they go. Right now, it doesn’t matter what needs they identify because there’s no money to fund projects in the long run,” Luhm said.

Studies show that investing in school facilities, and new school construction in particular, can improve K-12 student outcomes, particularly for students from low-income backgrounds. A report from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University found that after three years in a new school building, student attendance improves by “a statistically significant but small one percentage point” annually.

Luhm added that overcrowding can also cause schools to sacrifice specialized spaces to make room for classrooms.

“So now you’ve taken away your science labs or art, music rooms, or other areas because now you’re just using that as regular classroom space,” Luhm added.

Newark among 31 school districts with urgent repair needs

Required every five years to help the SDA prioritize school construction projects, the new report found that 19 of the 31 SDA districts have capacity deficiencies or provide fewer square feet per student than mandated in the New Jersey Facilities Efficiency Standards, which set minimum square footage to support learning.

Newark Public Schools’ buildings serving grades 6-8 are over capacity, and provide less space per student than required, according to the report. The district does not have a school dedicated solely to middle school grades. Of the district’s 64 schools, 36 enroll students in pre-K-8, three enroll K-8, two high schools enroll grades 7-12, one enrolls K-6, and another enrolls pre-K-7, according to the district’s school directory.

Newark’s neighboring city Elizabeth faces the most severe overcrowding and space shortages across all grade levels, the state report says. Bridgeton, Garfield, Irvington, New Brunswick, Orange, and Union City face overcrowding and inadequate space in at least one grade span. Paterson, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, West New York, Union City, and Vineland rank among the districts with the lowest square footage per student.

To fix the problems in these and other districts, the SDA needs more money. Over the last three fiscal years, New Jersey has allocated $2 billion for school construction projects, but that money has already been committed to emergency projects, leaving no money for new projects, according to Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) earlier this year.

It currently receives funds from the legislature on a “pay as you go” basis with no long-term funding to support their work.

Last year, Newark Public Schools was weighing whether to present a $1.2 billion bond referendum to city voters this April to cover school repairs. But district leaders squashed that plan after learning that it was unlikely to gain support, Superintendent Roger León said earlier this year.

Luhm and others have called on state leaders to provide more funding. The Healthy Schools Now coalition, which represents more than 100 organizations across the state, is also calling on Gov. Phil Murphy and the legislature to provide $500 million annually to the SDA, starting with the upcoming budget, which must be finalized by June 30.

The SDA last summer promised to replace 13 of Newark’s oldest buildings, but the deal still leaves out 20 schools that need replacements. The state agency also said it would spend nearly $153 million to build a new University High School and relocate Hawthorne Avenue Elementary School, but the plan is still in its early stages.

Since 2006, only nine new schools have been built in the district; one other property was given to Newark by the state to open the Nelson Mandela Elementary School. And since 2016, district officials have asked the SDA to fix more than 100 buildings.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board member involved in Global Studies cases steps down from her role

2025-05-19T22:06:12+00:00

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One of Newark’s longest-serving school board members, who faced removal from her seat this year and has spoken out about racial harassment and tensions at a controversial district high school, has suddenly left the board, Chalkbeat has learned.

Dawn Haynes, who was serving her third term, has stepped down from the Newark Board of Education effective immediately, according to multiple sources.

First elected in 2018, Haynes recently faced criticism from Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger León and other district leaders after her daughter filed a legal claim against the district alleging religious, racial, and gender discrimination and other harassment during her time as a Newark School of Global Studies student. In November 2024, the Newark school board voted to ask the state education department to recommend the removal of Haynes due to a conflict that stemmed from her daughter’s legal claim, but the petition was shot down in January by the state’s education commissioner.

The vacancy was announced by board President Hasani Council after an executive session during Saturday’s board retreat. The news comes just weeks after April’s school board election, though Council didn’t identify Haynes by name. Council added that the board is soliciting nominations until June 2 at 4 p.m. to fill a one-year term up for election next year. The vacancy announcement is posted on the district’s Facebook page.

Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, and Council did not respond to questions on Monday about the board’s vacancy or Haynes’ departure. Haynes declined to comment.

For the last three years, Haynes, who would have been up for reelection in 2027, and her daughter had been vocal about alleged racial discrimination that students and teachers said they faced at Global Studies. In her claim, her daughter, Akela Haynes, also alleged that between September 2020 and December 2022, she “suffered pervasive and consistent” discrimination, sexual harassment, assault, battery, intimidation, bullying, cyber-bullying, emotional distress, and other inappropriate and unlawful treatment.

Newark resident Dawn Haynes was elected to the city school board in 2018.

Haynes’ departure comes a month after the Moving Newark Schools Forward, a political slate heavily backed by Mayor Ras Baraka and other powerful Democratic lawmakers, won the three seats up for election in this year’s school board race. Haynes was part of the Moving Newark Schools Forward slate, which has consistently won every school board election since 2016.

The new vacancy has already drawn attention from this year’s school board candidates. Ade’Kamil Kelly, who ran on the Prioritizing Newark’s Children slate, announced on Saturday that he submitted his petition to fill Haynes’ seat. In his letter of intent shared with Chalkbeat, Kelly writes that he is a passionate advocate for youth and education. He has spent several years “developing and leading programs” that support youth’s “academic growth, social development, and civic engagement,” the letter reads.

During a school board candidate forum in March, Kelly, who ran alongside first-time candidates Shana Melius and Nathanael Barthelemy, said the district’s harassment, intimidation, and bullying policy wasn’t being properly enforced, particularly in light of complaints of racism and harassment.

“I understand the vital role the Board plays in shaping policy, setting priorities, and ensuring every student has access to a high-quality education. If selected, I will bring a thoughtful, equity-driven perspective to this work,” reads Kelly’s letter of intent submitted to the Newark school board.

Haynes’ departure from the board is the latest fallout from the racial tensions reported at Global Studies.

In January, Chalkbeat Newark obtained a scathing draft of a consultant’s report that found Newark Public Schools leaders failed to “quickly and consistently” respond to racist and bigoted incidents against Black students and teachers at Global Studies. León in 2023 said that the report, commissioned by board members that year, on Global Studies’ cultural, religious, and racial dynamics, would remain internal and inform the district’s strategy on race.

Following León’s comments, the district released three recommendations from the report conducted by the consulting firm Creed Strategies that urged a review of the effects of “anti-Blackness” on the school system, foster conversations about racial issues, and create an environment that is racially conscious and inclusive. León has not said how the report has informed the district’s diversity policies or other school strategies.

Haynes, a Malcolm X Shabazz High School graduate and a city hall staffer, is known for her efforts to raise student performance and improve school culture and diversity. Haynes has also been active in working against gun violence in the community and for helping families, parents, teachers, and youth as the former president of Harriet Tubman Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Association.

During her time at Shabazz, Haynes was part of the ROTC program and later joined the U.S. Air Force, according to her biography on the district’s website. After the Air Force, Haynes went to Lincoln Technical Institute, where she earned her certification as an electronic systems technician.

A translation for this story was provided by New Jersey Hispano, in partnership with Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media and is supported financially by the NJ Civic Information Consortium. The story was originally written in English by Chalkbeat Newark and is republished under a special content-sharing agreement through NJ News Commons’ Spanish Translation News Service.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey’s Literacy Framework requires schools to implement screenings, interventions this fall

2025-05-16T09:45:00+00:00

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New Jersey’s new, first-of-its-kind literacy plan aims to boost early reading skills among young learners, but advocates worry schools won’t be ready to roll it out this fall.

The statewide effort, launched under four bills signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in August 2024, aims to refine foundational literacy practices in schools based on research in reading and learning.

The bills created the New Jersey Literacy Framework and called on school districts to implement literacy screenings for students in K-3, create reading intervention plans, and start new training on reading instruction for pre-K-6 staff starting this upcoming school year. The set of bills also established the Office of Learning Equity and Academic Recovery, or LEAR, in the state’s Education Department, which will oversee the new literacy initiatives.

But advocates like JerseyCAN, who have been sounding the alarm about low reading scores, say they fear school districts may not have the bandwidth to review, compare, and select literacy screeners or implement new professional development on day one next school year.

“We have to make sure that these [school districts] have what they need, because they are implementers. They’re on the front lines,” said Paula White, executive director of JerseyCAN.

Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz, who represents Essex County, introduced the legislation last year after literacy rates dwindled following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In New Jersey, only 44% of third graders reached proficiency levels in English language arts in the spring 2024 statewide assessment, compared with 50% before the pandemic hit. In Newark, the third grade English language arts proficiency rate remained the lowest of any grade for a third year in a row last spring, but higher than the 2023 rate of 19%.

Third grade is a critical time for reading in a child’s development, experts say, and reading proficiency at that grade level can predict what a student’s reading levels will be in eighth grade and beyond.

The new Literacy Framework “represents a systemic shift in literacy instruction,” and its impact will “take time to measure,” according to Laura Fredrick, communications director at the New Jersey Department of Education, in an emailed statement Friday evening. The goal is that, over time, state efforts will lead to “measurable improvements in equitable literacy outcomes for all students,” Fredrick added.

“While state test scores and student proficiency levels may serve as long-term indicators of success, the immediate focus will be on using screening data to inform instructional practices and ensure all students receive effective, evidence-based literacy instruction,” Frederick said.

What is the New Jersey Literacy Framework?

The momentum to revamp literacy instruction has grown steadily in the past few years. New Jersey is among the last states to enact such policies, according to the Shaker Institute’s 2023 survey of state reading legislation in the U.S. New Jersey, Hawaii, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and New York were the only states that did not pass reading legislation between 2019 and 2022, according to the survey.

In the 2025-26 school year, traditional public school districts and charter school networks, which are privately run but publicly funded schools, will be mandated to conduct two literacy screenings annually for all K-3 students, including students with disabilities and multilingual learners, at the beginning and the middle of the school year. School districts can also consider a third screening for students during the school year. Schools must notify parents of the results within 30 days and create reading intervention plans.

School district leadership teams, which include administrators, directors of curriculum, instructional coaches, reading specialists, and teachers, should oversee screenings and analyze data to identify a student’s reading need and create interventions, according to state guidance released earlier this month.

The literacy screener will measure literacy skills on letter naming, phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, oral reading fluency, and comprehension. The state’s framework sets criteria in choosing a universal literacy screener but does not provide a list of screeners for school districts to choose from.

White, the executive director of JerseyCAN, said she worries about the ability of educators and the state’s 590 school districts to learn and implement the new mandates after summer break.

“Even if you have 300 districts that say, ‘got it, I don’t need your help, I can figure this out, I can find a literacy screener,’ you’re going to have another 150 that are going to be scrambling, and then you’re going to have another 100 that are completely lost,” White said.

The state’s framework has six goals to improve literacy outcomes among students: analyze data, coordinate resources, research best practices, provide district support, develop resources to support teachers and learning, and establish a working group on student literacy, which provided the state with recommendations on implementing the new initiatives in February.

Earlier this month, the state released the “New Jersey Literacy Framework: A Guide to Evidence-Based Literacy Practices & Universal Screeners,” an 81-page guide designed to support school districts in implementing the new initiatives and literacy instruction in grades K-3. The Education Department will release a second guide in the coming months, focusing on defining instructional materials and providing guidance to districts on selecting, adopting, and implementing the materials.

The framework also calls for professional development for pre-K-6 teachers, including educators who support students with disabilities and multilingual learners, library media specialists, reading and early literacy specialists, and speech-language specialists.

Teacher Ana Enriquez-Kozlow reads a book out loud in a pre-K autism class at Branch Brook School in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

Before the state’s new literacy initiative, Newark leaders enacted plans to boost reading rates locally. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced a 10-point action plan in 2023 to promote reading among city children. Also in 2023, Newark Public Schools adopted a structured approach to teaching phonics called SIPPS, or Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words, implemented explicit writing strategies, and provided teachers with professional development rooted in the science of reading.

This month, the state Education Department also announced two grant opportunities totaling $5,250,000 to support school districts in implementing the new mandates.

The first is the FOCUS Grant, or Funding for Optimal Comprehensive Universal Screeners, to support high-quality literacy screening assessments and professional development and student support. All New Jersey school districts serving grades K-3 will be eligible for funding. The second is the BRIDGE Grant, or Building Responsive Instruction through Data-Guided Evaluation, a competitive grant supporting the use of screening data to implement evidence-based literacy instruction in K-3 classrooms.

Advocates say families, teachers are a crucial part of the plan

Despite her concerns, White, the executive director of JerseyCAN, praised the state’s new initiatives, but also emphasized the need to engage parents and provide educators with clear instructions.

In April, JerseyCAN released a report that details the state’s literacy crisis and outlines a series of specific proposals to address the issue statewide. The report also served as a call to action to turn the state’s literacy legislation into classroom results.

The report provided state leaders with four recommendations: provide ongoing, job-embedded literacy coaching for teachers; eliminate the “three-cueing” reading strategy, a practice of word-guessing from visual cues; require the development and implementation of customized reading plans for students with a reading deficiency; and require districts to provide families with read-at-home plans to support students identified with a reading deficiency.

“So being able to say, okay, yes, your child has a reading deficiency, but we’re gonna do something about it, and here’s what we’re doing, that’s important,” White added.

The need to engage parents in school districts like Newark, where youth literacy rates are low and many families may not speak English at home, is crucial, White added. In Newark Public Schools, the largest public school district in New Jersey, only 31% of students in grades 3-9 passed their state English language arts test in spring 2024.

White also highlighted the importance of job-embedded literacy coaching for teachers, which is considered “the gold standard” of professional development, she said. JerseyCAN recommends a multimillion-dollar state budget allocation to fund at least 10 literacy coaches statewide and provide annual allocations to fund more as the framework is implemented. The state legislature is in the process of approving the final budget, which must be signed by the governor by June 30.

It’s important to have a “common understanding” about the new requirements among all school districts, White said, adding that, statewide literacy coaches could help disseminate clear communication among “district leaders, curriculum coordinators” who “can actually turn to them to support their educators.”

A translation for this story was provided by The Latino Spirit, in association with the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and is financially supported by the NJ Civic Information Consortium. The story was republished under a special content sharing agreement through the NJ News Commons Spanish Translation News Service.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark rallied teens to vote in historic school board election. Only 73 did.

2025-05-09T09:00:00+00:00

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Only 73 teen voters – out of 1,851 who had registered – turned out for Newark’s historic school board election despite weeks of targeted efforts to get the city’s 16- and 17-year-olds out to the polls.

The April 15 election was the first since the city lowered the voting age for school board elections to 16 – and Newark leaders had hoped a new wave of teen voters would boost turnout.

But, overall, only 3.47% of Newark voters participated in the election, slightly below the 3.94% turnout rate among the city’s youth voters – and about average for school board elections, in which 3% to 4% of voters typically participate.

At the beginning of February, local organizations and school leaders launched campaigns, hosted voter education events, and promoted registration drives to mobilize young voters who gained their right to vote in Newark school board elections in 2024. The efforts also drew Gov. Phil Murphy, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and other elected officials, who visited a Newark high school to reinforce their support for the teen vote in school board elections statewide.

This year’s youth voters also faced challenges in getting to the polls, registering to vote, and understanding who to vote for.

Turnout in local elections can be half or even less than that of presidential elections, according to Nonprofit VOTE. In Newark, turnout for school board elections may be dampened because they are held in April.

The Newark Board of Education has the authority to move the election to November, when voter turnout is typically higher due to the general elections. Such a move could also save money because the cost of November elections are typically covered by the county.

Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, and Hasani Council, the school board’s president, did not respond to questions about this year’s turnout, the idea of moving the election to November, or whether they discussed other options to boost participation.

Despite the low turnout, Assatta Mann, senior community organizer for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, said this year’s election laid the foundation for future 16- and 17-year-old voters. The learning curve for youth and the short time frame to register teens, coupled with existing voter challenges, impacted the teen vote this year, Mann said.

“I do think that going forward in future elections we will see the turnout rise, and hopefully, in part because some changes will be made to make voting easier and accessible, especially for this group of voters,” Mann added.

Newark’s youth faced voter hurdles in this election

Newark became the first city in New Jersey last year to lower the voting age to 16 for school board elections. But the youth vote was delayed until the 2025 election due to voter registration issues, city officials had said.

The decision to lower the voting age posed challenges for advocates who began registering voters on Feb. 1 and ahead of the March 25 deadline. They also faced challenges in ensuring teens were educated on the candidates to cast an informed vote on April 15.

Some teen voters faced the same problems adults faced when they showed up to vote on election day, Mann said. Some found out they weren’t registered to vote, while others found it difficult to get to the polls due to transportation issues, jobs, and after-school activities, Mann added. Additionally, Newark Public Schools students were not allowed to leave class during the school day to vote unless their school was their designated polling place.

Newark’s teens had also said they were eager to participate in the school board election, but had basic questions about the functions of a city school board and what board members do. Organizations such as The Gem Project hosted civic training sessions to educate Newark’s teens, and the NAACP Newark held a candidate forum along with city teens. The district had launched a Vote 15+ voter registration campaign where they held registration drives in high schools, but local organizations were not part of the effort.

“In spite of all these challenges, we still saw youth come out at 4%, which was higher than the adult vote,” Mann added. “Long term, it’s a good sign for civic engagement. And the possibilities for democracy, youth power building.”

Under state law, school districts are required to provide eligible voters with registration forms, a summary of voter registration eligibility requirements, materials describing the role of a citizen, and information that highlights the importance of voting, but they are not required to provide information about local elections.

What can help boost voter turnout in school board elections?

Advocates like Mann said local leaders could adopt new measures to boost turnout and increase access to the polls. New initiatives such as same-day voter registration and early voting for school board elections could help increase participation, Mann said.

Students being able to vote during lunch, civic education in schools, and allowing residents to vote at any polling place could also help, Mann added.

“I think going forward, more school-wide events, assemblies, initiatives like that, that promote this opportunity for young people to participate in our democracy will go a long way towards making sure that they do,” Mann said.

Despite their importance, local elections are often held at odd times of the year and usually receive less attention, but switching the school board election to November’s general election could help.

“All of the towns that still have school board elections in April usually have lower turnout rates than those in November,” Mann added.

Before 2012, all school board elections in New Jersey were held in April when residents voted for board candidates and the district’s budget. But in January 2012, former Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation that allowed districts to move their elections to November. Roughly 527 school districts have since moved their board elections to November, according to an estimate from the New Jersey School Boards Association. Across the state, 14 districts still hold April elections.

One of the reasons for keeping these elections in the spring was to continue to allow residents to vote on the district’s annual budgets. But in 2024, Murphy signed legislation that eliminated the requirement for certain school districts to hold a vote on their budgets in April unless their proposed budgets are above the 2% tax levy cap. The legislation also allows districts that hold November elections to ask voters to approve additional funds or to issue school bonds in an April election.

It’s unclear why Newark continues to hold elections in the spring, which come at a cost for the district.

The county covers the costs of elections held in November, according to an official at the Essex County Clerk’s Office. That could be a financial incentive to move elections since the cost of holding a school board election in April could be upwards of $30,000, according to Marc Zitomer, a partner at the Schenck, Price, Smith and King law firm.

There’s still a long way to go to boost turnout in the school board election and encourage teens to participate, Mann said. But she also believes there was a missed opportunity to create partnerships between local organizations and schools to create greater efforts to reach teens and all voters.

“I would encourage the district and the charter schools to look at some of the local organizations as partners,” Mann added. “I think we’re all working with the same goal to support young people and make sure they have the opportunity to vote.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark students learn the basics of AI as they weigh its use in their future careers

2025-05-06T10:00:01+00:00

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On a recent Thursday morning, Michael Taubman asked his class of seniors at North Star Academy’s Washington Park High School: “What do you think AI’s role should be in your future career?”

“In school, like how we use AI as a tool and we don’t use it to cheat on our work … that’s how it should be, like an assistant,” said Amirah Falana, a 17-year-old interested in a career in real estate law.

Fernando Infante, an aspiring software developer, agreed that AI should be a tool to “provide suggestions” and inform the work.

“It’s like having AI as a partner rather than it doing the work,” said Infante during class.

Falana and Infante are students in Taubman’s class called The Summit, a yearlong program offered to 93 seniors this year and expanding to juniors next year that also includes a 10-week AI course developed by Taubman and Stanford University.

As part of the course, students use artificial intelligence tools – often viewed in a negative light due to privacy and other technical concerns – to explore their career interests and better understand how technology could shape the workforce. The class is also timely, as 92% of companies plan to invest in more AI over the next three years, according to a report by global consulting firm McKinsey and Company.

The lessons provide students with hands-on exercises to better understand how AI works and how they can use it in their daily lives. They are also designed so teachers across subject areas can include them as part of their courses and help high school students earn a Google Career Certificate for AI Essentials, which introduces AI and teaches the basics of using AI tools.

Students like Infante have used the AI and coding skills they learned in class to create their own apps while others have used them to create school surveys and spark new thoughts about their future careers. Taubman says the goal is to also give students agency over AI so they can embrace technological changes and remain competitive in the workfield.

“One of the key things for young people right now is to make sure they understand that this technology is not inevitable,” Taubman told Chalkbeat last month. “People made this, people are making decisions about it, and there are pros and cons like with everything people make and we should be talking about this.”

Stanford Digital Education fellow Michael Taubman helped create a program to teach high school students how AI works and how it could shape their futures.

Students need to know the basics of AI, experts say

As Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, graduate high school and enter a workforce where AI is new, many are wondering how the technology will be used and to what extent.

Nearly half of Gen Z students polled by The Walton Family Foundation and Gallup said they use AI weekly, according to the newly released survey exploring how youth view AI. (The Walton Family Foundation is a supporter of Chalkbeat. See our funders list here.) The same poll found that over 4 in 10 Gen Z students believe they will need to know AI in their future careers, and over half believe schools should be required to teach them how to use it.

This school year, Newark Public Schools students began using Khan Academy’s AI chatbot tutor called Khanmigo, which the district launched as a pilot program last year. Some Newark teachers reported that the tutoring tool was helpful in the classroom, but the district has not released data on whether it helped raise student performance and test scores. The district in 2024 also launched its multimillion project to install AI cameras across school buildings in an attempt to keep students safe.

But more than just using AI in school, students want to feel prepared to use it after graduating high school. Nearly 3 in 4 college students said their colleges or universities should be preparing them for AI in the workplace, according to a survey from Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse’s Student Voice series.

Many of the challenges of using AI in education center on the type of learning approach used, accuracy, and building trust with the technology, said Nhon Ma, CEO of Numerade – an online learning assistant that uses AI and educators to help students learn STEM concepts. But that’s why it’s important to immerse students in AI to help them understand the ways it could be used and when to spot issues, Ma added.

“We want to prepare our youth for this competitive world stage, especially on the technological front so they can build their own competence and confidence in their future paths. That could potentially lead towards higher earnings for them too,” Ma said.

For Infante, the senior in Taubman’s class, AI has helped spark a love for computer science and deepened his understanding of coding. He used it to create an app that tracks personal milestones and goals and awards users with badges once they reach them. As an aspiring software developer, he feels he has an advantage over other students because he’s learning about AI in high school.

Taubman also says it’s especially important for students to understand how quickly the technology is advancing, especially for students like Infante looking towards a career in technology.

“I think it’s really important to help young people grapple with how this is new, but unlike other big new things, the pace is very fast, and the implications for career are almost immediate in a lot of cases,” Taubman added.

Washington Park High School seniors Amirah Falana, right, and Daniel Akinyele use an AI tool to explore how the technology could play a role in their future careers.

Students learn that human emotions are important as AI grows

It’s also important to remember the limitations of AI, Taubman said, noting that students need the basic understanding of how AI works in order to question it, identify any mistakes, and use it accordingly in their careers.

“I don’t want students to lose out on an internship or job because someone else knows how to use AI better than they do, but what I really want is for students to get the internship or the job because they’re skillful with AI,” Taubman said.

Through Taubman’s class, students are also identifying how AI increases the demand for skills that require human emotion, such as empathy and ethics.

Daniel Akinyele, a 17-year-old senior, said he was interested in a career in industrial and organizational psychology, which focuses on human behavior in the workplace.

During Taubman’s class, he used a custom AI tool on his laptop to explore different scenarios where he could use AI in his career. Many involved talking to someone about their feelings or listening to vocal cues that might indicate a person is sad or angry. Ultimately, psychology is a career about human connection and “that’s where I come into play,” Akinyele said.

“I’m human, so I would understand how people are feeling, like the emotion that AI doesn’t see in people’s faces, I would see it and understand it,” Akinyele added.

Falana, the aspiring real estate attorney, also used the custom AI tool to consider how much she should rely on AI when writing legal documents. Similar to writing essays in schools, Falana said professionals should use their original writing in their work but AI could serve as a launching pad.

“I feel like the legal field should definitely put regulations on AI use, like we shouldn’t be able to, draw up our entire case using AI,” Falana said.

During Taubman’s class, students also discussed fake images and videos created by AI. Infante, who wants to be a software developer, added that he plans to use AI regularly on the job but believes it should also be regulated to limit disinformation online.

Taubman says it’s important for students to have a healthy level of skepticism when it comes to new technologies. He encourages students to think about how AI generates images, the larger questions around copyright infringement, and their training processes.

“We really want them to feel like they have agency in this world, both their capacity to use these systems,” Taubman said, “but also to ask these broader questions about how they were designed.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Changes to federal Education Department could harm NJ students with disabilities, advocates warn

2025-04-28T10:00:00+00:00

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Thousands of students with disabilities in New Jersey could face significant setbacks as proposed federal cuts to special education funding, staff reductions, and changes in oversight could worsen existing challenges, particularly in low-income districts like Newark, advocates say.

As the Trump administration moves forward with changes at the federal Education Department, school districts like Newark that serve a larger population of vulnerable students face even greater risks since they rely on federal and state funding to provide special education services.

“I think that families are scared. I was going to say nervous, but honestly, I think it’s more than just being nervous. They’re afraid, and rightfully so based on what’s happening,” said Carolyn Hayer, executive director for the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network.

Hayer and Nina Peckman, an attorney at Advocates for Children of New Jersey, spoke about the potential impacts of shifting special education oversight, federal funding cuts, and staffing reductions at a virtual panel last week hosted by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University and moderated by Chalkbeat Newark’s Jessie Gomez.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 20 directing the closure of the U.S. Department of Education – a move that could significantly impact special education funding and programs. The next day, he announced the transfer and oversight of special education to the Department of Health and Human Services, though he offered no specifics about the plan.

The federal Education Department has been the sole agency providing resources, funding, and staff to ensure students with disabilities receive a fair education in public schools. The department also issues federal guidance on policies to help ensure students’ rights and existing special education laws, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a law that predates the federal Education Department and ensures students receive a free, appropriate public education tailored to their individual needs.

Hayer recalled what it was like before the creation of the federal Education Department and how children with disabilities were often excluded from public schools. One of her biggest concerns is “if we go backwards to that, what will that mean for our children?”

“Primarily, it will make it much more difficult for families to ensure that their children have access to the services that they need and are entitled to,” Hayer added.

School districts that rely on federal funding are at greater risk

Approximately 7.5 million students with disabilities across the country rely on special education services. In New Jersey, roughly 240,000 students receive special education support in schools under IDEA. Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed budget for 2026 anticipates $420 million in extraordinary special education aid, according to the state’s school board association.

That money is allocated to schools to fund therapists, transportation, aides, and other support services for students with disabilities, and if cut, would be “terrible for children and families,” especially from low-income backgrounds, Peckman said during last week’s virtual conversation.

“We can see the increased numbers of parents calling for assistance, increased numbers of children not having the right services, the right placements, delays in evaluations, delays in classifications. The lack of access to school-based services because they’re just, you know, nonexistent,” Peckman said.

School districts, such as Newark, that rely on federal Title I funding that supports schools in low-income areas, and special education aid, will be hit hardest by funding cuts, Hayer said. But she says parents need to have a seat at the table so districts can understand where the needs lie.

“I think that is the critical part that we’re not having, not involving [parents] in those conversations and then making decisions without the input of family. So finding ways to engage families, I think, is very, very important,” Hayer said.

Of its 40,000 students, Newark Public Schools enrolled roughly 7,000 students with disabilities this school year, but families this school year have reported delays in receiving services, class assignments, and classroom aides for their students. The district’s students with disabilities receive therapy, in-classroom, and other support services, but face greater learning challenges as they have been among the hardest hit by the fallout from the pandemic, with some requiring makeup services from learning disruptions.

Parents may also be unaware that they can submit complaints to the state when disputes arise over school services for students with disabilities, Peckman said. But families are experiencing delays in special education hearings that may be exacerbated by a reduction in federal staffing and more responsibilities to state education departments, Peckman added.

“Families should continue advocating for services,” Hayer said but added that schools need to help families understand their rights and “intentionally engage families in decision-making as resources become constrained.”

In addition, Hayer said, schools are seeing “a tremendous turnover in school staffing,” specifically in special education teachers and paraprofessionals who help students go to the bathroom, eat, and complete assignments, among other duties during the school day.

“Teachers are stressed, maxed-out. But a lot of it is just that they’re burned out, emotionally, financially, and kind of at their wits’ end,” Hayer said.

Senators question plans to shift special education oversight

Earlier this month, 23 Democratic senators, including New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim, sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon demanding answers to a series of questions about students with disabilities, including whether the IDEA would be implemented and overseen as required by federal law and how layoffs at the department will affect kids and schools. The letter to McMahon also stressed that the Education Department is “the best positioned” to do the job of enforcing special education law.

“Transferring these authorities to the Department of Health and Human Services will not only overburden an agency already confronting massive workforce cuts orchestrated by this administration, but it will also stretch HHS beyond its expertise as medical, rather than educational, professionals,” the letter to McMahon read.

The letter also highlighted a backlog of 12,000 investigations at the federal Office for Civil Rights, with about half of those cases involving students with disabilities. The Trump administration reduced staffing across 12 regional divisions of the Office for Civil Rights last month.

“While all disabled students are harmed when supports are taken away and barriers left unchecked, disabled students of color are harmed disproportionately relative to disabled white students and nondisabled students of color,” the letter read.

At the virtual panel, Peckman and Hayer agreed that the federal Education Department’s role in special education enforcement is needed, and the transfer of those services could widen the gaps in academic recovery and chronic absenteeism rates among special education students.

“I think one of the most important things that the U.S. Department of Education has done, and why the potential to fully eliminate it is so scary, is they’re responsible for oversight and guidance,” Hayer added.

They also added that the Trump administration’s cuts to research, specifically the Institute for Educational Sciences, which analyzes data around student performance, would also hit students with disabilities the hardest, since it would be hard to determine how federal changes will impact academic performance.

Despite the changing federal landscape, the advocates emphasized that federal and state special education laws have not changed and parents should continue to “advocate and push schools” to get special education services.

“We have to keep in mind that nothing has changed specifically within the law,” Hayer said, “but we do know that as dollars and resources get pulled, services will change.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Meet Newark’s first Gen Z school board member who aims to bridge the gap between generations

2025-04-24T19:11:28+00:00

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At just 23, David Daughety is the first Generation Z member — and among the youngest people — elected to the Newark Board of Education, but he is no stranger to the work it takes to support city youth.

Daughety, a 2020 Arts High School graduate, has been a youth program coordinator, commissioner on the city’s civilian complaint review board, and Rutgers University student, who has experience revising Newark Public Schools policies and working with city organizations to develop youth programming.

In his first few months as a board member, Daughety plans to visit schools, gain district knowledge, and listen before he tackles any issues, he told Chalkbeat last week.

“I want to talk to the staff, the principals. I want to actually go and not just introduce myself, but actually put my ear to the ground,” Daughety said. “I know about the work that [board members] do, but I want to be able to actually see what’s going on for myself.”

Daughety ran on the Moving Newark Schools Forward slate, a ticket backed by Mayor Ras Baraka and other powerful Democratic lawmakers, alongside his running mates, incumbent Kanileah Anderson and city firefighter Louis Maisonave. Daughety’s winning team is part of a slate that has won every school board election since 2016 and, traditionally, makes few attempts to push back on Superintendent Roger León’s policies and ideas during board meetings.

The new member and his running mates secured the lead on April 15, earning them three-year terms on the nine-member school board. They take their oaths of office at a reorganization meeting on May 1.

David Daughety, a former Arts High School student who now attends Rutgers University, advocated for students to be included in policy decisions while attending Newark Public Schools.

On social media, former board members and city leaders praised Daughety for his win and pointed to his work with youth and education, which stems back to his time as a student at Arts High School. Daughety joins the ranks of other young board members – including former board members Marques Aquil-Lewis, first elected in 2009 when he was 21, and A’Dorian Murray-Thomas, who was elected in 2019 at 23.

New generation of leaders enters state, local politics

Gen Z — defined as the generation born between 1997 and 2012 — grew up amid the rise of smartphones, social media, and a global pandemic, but now is running for elected offices at the local, state, and national levels. The rate of young people ages 18 to 25 who seek elected seats has increased in the past 10 years, and more than 20% of youth say they would consider running for office, according to a 2022 study from Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

Among the best-known Gen Z elected officials are U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), the first Gen Z in the U.S. Congress, Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County), and vice chair of the Democratic National Committee David Hogg, a Parkland High School shooting survivor aiming to unseat longtime lawmakers in upcoming primaries.

In New Jersey, a new fundraising political action committee known as Gen Z for New Jersey was launched with a mission to uplift and empower young leaders across the state to run for office and fund their campaigns.

In Newark, Daughety’s election marks the start of a new generation becoming civically engaged, said Murray-Thomas, the youngest woman elected to the Newark Board of Education. She said Daughety is a prime example of the power of Gen Z because he is “someone who is willing to speak truth to power at a time when it is needed.”

“Our young people, their families, and our communities are under attack at every angle,” Murray-Thomas said. “Now more than ever, we need leaders, we need truth-telling leaders on the board of education, and David is that type of person.”

As board members, the candidates elected this month will be tasked with holding Leòn accountable, reviewing district finances in light of looming federal cuts, and addressing recent criticism from the community over transparency in addressing racism in schools.

The Newark school board has rarely challenged León’s policies.

Recently, León and the board tried to unseat a six-year board member after her daughter filed a legal claim against the district, alleging that she experienced racial harassment during her time as a student. Both the board member and her daughter had been vocal about the racial discrimination that students and teachers said they faced at the Newark School of Global Studies. León has also said the district will not cover the attorneys fees of two former board members at the center of ethics complaints initiated by a Newark principal.

Gen Z board member plans to center youth in policies

Daughety said he understands there is information that’s public and “privy to the board itself” and wants to understand legalities and statutes around board members’ roles before carving a path forward.

“I know a lot of information will be accessible to me as a board member and I’ll be able to actually say, okay I know this, and I know the public knows this much, how can we bridge that gap of information and transparency and come together to put a solution forward, for accountability to be held, but also for healing to take place,” Daughety added.

During his time as a student in Newark Public Schools, Daughety attended First Avenue Elementary School and then Arts High School, where he served as student body president for three years, senior class president, National Honors Society vice president, debate captain, student representative to the Board of Education, and co-chair of the Newark Students Union. In 2021, Daughety wrote a policy amendment that established the district’s first Student Governance Committee.

At a school board candidate forum last month, Daughety said his two main priorities are protecting essential student support services and expanding public-private partnerships, a goal based on his community-oriented mindset. He added that mental health services, especially after-school programs and special education support “must remain priorities.”

Daughety believes it’s important to create partnerships with local businesses, universities, and community organizations to support funding for career training so students who do not want to go to college are prepared.

“I believe coming from the perspective of knowing we operate locally will allow me to be able to influence the rest of the board, or at least attempt to have conversations with them about how we fully step into our authority as a fully authorized locally controlled board,” Daughety said.

Elected to the board at 23, Murray-Thomas also said her unique perspective is a superpower that she shares with Daughety. But young elected officials also have to “build on what’s been done before us” and set an example for generations to come, Murray-Thomas added.

The role “is such a unique privilege and responsibility because when the young people, the students, see you, they really see what is possible for them,” Murray-Thomas said. “It is rare for young people, especially young Black people, young Latinos, folks of color in general, to see enough reflections of themselves reflected in positive ways.”

Daughety’s win on April 15 came as Newark’s 16- and 17-year-olds voted for the first time in a school board election. Nearly 1,800 teens registered to vote and advocates and organizers spent weeks getting students registered and vote ready. City leaders also hoped youth voters would impact the school board election, which historically has drawn around 3% to 4% of registered voters, but overall turnout in this year’s election hovered around 3% while turnout among the registered 16- and 17-year-olds was just under 4% according to unofficial results.

Daughety said voter turnout could increase if the school board elections were moved to November’s general election. He also wants to expand the youth vote next year and civic engagement efforts across the district.

“You can’t have high expectations for young people if the adults themselves aren’t living up to theirs in the election,” Daughety said. “Because to me, that’s the most important election in the city of Newark, local elections, the school board election.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public eetucation in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.