As a lifelong member of the Newark community, I was pleased to read a recent Star-Ledger editorial that stated the facts about the plight of our children and confirmed what I have said over and over again. Superintendent Roger Leon and his enablers are harming our children's education and prospects for future success.
When New Jersey's largest media outlets say things like Newark's “sluggish recovery is one of the worst in the state” (even for a city with a high percentage of low-income students), Vivian Cox Fraser, head of the Urban League of Essex County, Said: It's “alarming and a crisis” that Newark students are not benefiting after a massive influx of state and federal funding. When the school board decided the best use of the money was to spend it on museums instead of helping students study. We need it, you know we're in trouble.
Meanwhile, Leon travels to Las Vegas to stay at a posh beach hotel with 18 local friends, claiming Newark is “really doing a great job.” of course. Only 19% of third-graders are reading at grade level, and the academic gap is so deep that they made no gains last year. Either Leon's denial is so deep that he doesn't even realize it exists, or he's the world's most cunning liar and champion cheater.
Or maybe he doesn't care, as he earns over $300,000 a year.
“Numbers don’t lie,” says the Star-Ledger Editorial Board. “Newark is tragically lacking, and with the Trumpian mentality of the superintendent and the indifference of the governor, is there any reason to believe anything will change for these kids?”
Considering all of this, the near-silence of the state Department of Education, state legislative leaders, city councils, and even those who aspire to higher office make me wonder what the residents of Newark are doing – our parents, our community members, our people – who care about us. The kids want to solve this mess. What's next? How can we advocate for our children in a “tragically underserved” school district?
We know the facts. This isn't an 'inside baseball' story, this is something we talk about when picking up our kids from school or chatting with our neighbors at the grocery store. What can we do about cleaning up our public schools other than talking until we're blue in the face?
This is a difficult question with no easy answer. If the state and superintendent of education cannot rescue our children, we must step forward and rescue them ourselves. We cannot allow Leon and the school board to indulge in lies and happy talk. We need to point out the real work we do to ensure our children have a fighting chance to learn what they need to succeed as adults. We need to do this now.