NJ Spotlight published the following article on January 30, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
BILL WOULD RESTORE SOME CONTROL TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS RUN BY STATE
JOHN MOONEY | JANUARY 30, 2014
As tensions mount over the state’s control of its largest school systems, a bill gaining attention in Trenton would return at least some local say to major decisions in those districts.
Testimony on a bill that would require local approval over individual school closures, including in districts run by the state will be heard today by the Senate Education Committee
The expedited hearing on the bill, S-966, comes as protests have mounted in Newark over state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson’s plans to close or consolidate more than a dozen schools.
A raucous local advisory board meeting on Tuesday ended with Anderson walking off the stage amid a flurry of protests and insults.
Controversy has not been confined to Newark. Critics are also starting to organize in Camden, the latest city to have its schools taken over by the state.
New state-appointed Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard, has presented a strategic plan for the Camden district that doesn’t specifically include school closures, but does call for at least three public schools to be turned over to charter school operators. About 50 people turned out Tuesday night to protest that plan.
The chairman of the Senate committee said yesterday that she hoped the bill would spur discussion of the broader questions surrounding the state’s control of the urban districts and address questions about local input and control of a community’s schools.