Newark Schools May Regain Local Control By 2017

NEWARK, NJ — If all goes according to plan, Newark may regain full control of its public school district after 21 years of state oversight during the 2017-18 school year.

On Monday, the Newark Education Success Board (NESB) released a report titled "Pathway to Local Control” that stated the district may recover its ability to self-govern by the end of the 2017-2018 school year if its institutions “sustain their progress and demonstrate that adequate programs, policies and personnel are in place.”

Newark’s schools have been under various degrees of state control since 1994, when New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) declared that widespread mismanagement and instructional inadequacies in the district were a “result of the Newark Board of Education’s failure to meet its governance responsibilities and the executive superintendent’s failure to lead and manage effectively.”

• See related article: Hundreds Rally for Local Control of Newark Public Schools

However, the district has been clawing its way back to local control, regaining power over three of the five areas required via the Quality Single Accountability System (QSAC), the NJDOE’s monitoring and evaluation system for public school districts.

• See related article: Newark School Officials Regain Personnel Control From State DOE

According to the NESB report, Newark school officials have earned local control of instruction/program, personnel and fiscal management. In addition, the city has been awarded an equivalency waiver in the area of instruction and program.

“At the end of the 2016-2017 school year, a QSAC review will determine the status of the two remaining areas of governance and instruction/program,” the NESB report states. “If that QSAC review determines that the district has maintained its progress in those two areas, and if the state evaluates that adequate programs, policies and personnel are in place, it is expected that governance will be returned for the 2017-18 school year.”

The NESB report also mentions 130 recommendations to ensure the process goes smoothly, including:

• Assure close partnership between the school board and superintendent
• Increase transparency and accountability
• Assure meaningful parent involvement
• Maintain a culture of achievement and high expectations
• Rebuild trust with those persons who are critical of past efforts
• Attract a world-class leadership team
• Foster Community Schools
• Collaborate with charter schools on best practices, resources, equity polices and success indicators
• Ensure that children of all races, cultural backgrounds and learning needs have an equal opportunity to learn, grow, and achieve their full potential
• Conduct an audit of district practices preceding transfer to local control
• Develop a financial improvement plan

Photo: Newark City Press Office

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