Christie’s ed reform scandal: Principals suspended after questioning charter scheme
"Narcissism," "dictatorial" and "totalitarian" tactics by Christie appointee, Newark councilman charges to Salon
JOSH EIDELSON
Five days before the now-notorious lane closures in Fort Lee, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie offered a characteristically acerbic answer to reporters wondering if hed reappoint Newarks lightning rod superintendent, Cami Anderson: Yes we do, and were going to renew [her contract] because shes done a great job, and I dont care about the community criticism. We run the school district in Newark, not them.
Newarks school district has been under state control for two decades, and has recently emerged as a top battleground in Americas education reform wars. A $100 million donation from Mark Zuckerberg helped secure the Newark Teachers Unions
assent to a contract that pays teachers based in part on their students test scores after which the union president was
nearly ousted last year. Citing an alleged lack of transparency and consultation, the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board voted unanimously in April to re-name itself the Newark Board of Education and to declare no confidence in Superintendent Anderson. Demanding greater funding and local control, Newark students staged an Election Day school boycott and marched to Christies office and Andersons house.
Last month, four Newark principals were suspended after attending a forum, organized by Anderson critic and mayoral candidate Ras Baraka, about Andersons One Newark reform plan. One Newark would bring changes to over a third of the citys schools, including bringing charter schools into district-owned facilities and designating renew schools where principals could replace existing staff. While the four principals have been reinstated, one has been reassigned; those four and a fifth suspended principal are now mounting a federal lawsuit against Anderson and the school district, alleging violations of their First and 14th Amendment rights. (A Christie spokesperson referred Salons inquiry to the superintendents office, which did not respond to a Friday inquiry.)
Interviewed late last week, Baraka a council member and school principal whose critiques of Andersons ed reforms have fueled his mayoral bid denounced the Christie appointees approach as dictatorial, totalitarian and narcissism. A condensed version of our conversation follows.
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http://www.salon.com/2014/02/18/christies_ed_reform_scandal_principals_suspended_after_questioning_charter_scheme/