The Newark school board regained full control of the school district in early 2018, after a 22-year state takeover. Marc Pfeiffer of the Bloustein Local Government Research Center analyzed and evaluated the documentation provided by the district and produced the just-released ‘Transition Plan for the Return of Local Control to Newark Public Schools’ progress report that was submitted to the New Jersey Board of Education on December 4. The progress report tracks whether the district is carrying out the activities in the transition plan, such as choosing and evaluating a new superintendent, ensuring that school board members attend training sessions and submit a balanced budget. This is the second report; a final report is due out in early 2020.
The scorecard and report may be found at http://go.rutgers.edu/46g4vdyr
The Center is also working with the Paterson and Jersey City school districts on their first annual reports, set for release in January. Jersey City’s transition began in 2017 and Paterson’s transition began in May 2018.
Additional information about the presentation of the report to the NJ State Board of Education may be found at https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/newark/2019/12/06/state-newark-is-on-track-to-regain-full-control-of-its-schools-in-2020/