A lawsuit filed by the Newark Teachers Union is seeking to force the district to release a report analyzing the racial and cultural dynamics at the Newark School of Global Studies. Catherine McQueen / Getty Images Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system. The Newark Teachers Union is asking a judge to order the release of a report on the racial and cultural dynamics at Newark’s School of Global Studies that Superintendent Roger León said would remain internal.  The union filed a lawsuit seeking the report after the district denied ..read more

Thomas Luna, a two-time school board candidate and charter school teacher, will fill the empty seat on the Newark Board of Education. Courtesy of Thomas Luna Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system. Board of education leaders in New Jersey’s largest school district voted in a new member, weeks after the former president stepped down and a new one took her place. Thomas Luna won a unanimous vote at a school board meeting Monday to be the new member of the Newark Board of Education following a vacancy left by former president, Asia Nort ..read more

Mark Comesañas, David Allen, Christian Martinez, and Yvette Jordan were among the panelists who shared their experiences with school segregation on Thursday’s panel, moderated by Chalkbeat’s Jessie Gomez. Courtesy of Joe Amditis of Center for Cooperative Media Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system. Chalkbeat Newark, alongside WNYC and NJ Spotlight News, welcomed community members and students to a panel discussion Thursday on school segregation in New Jersey, an issue spotlighted by a recent state Superior Court opinion in the Latin ..read more

Children at Clinton Hill Early Learning Center have access to state-of-the-art facilities in Newark’s South Ward. Courtesy of Megan Maloy Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.  At Clinton Hill Early Learning Center in the South Ward, everything is designed with the city’s youngest children in mind:  Many of the wall decorations are just 2 feet off the ground — the perfect view for infants and toddlers. The lobby overflows with plants and sunlight, the classrooms are filled with color, and the courtyard has climbing struct ..read more

The Schools Development Authority is financially obligated to fund school construction projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts. The Nelson Mandela Elementary School is the most recent project fulfilled by the SDA in Newark. Erica Seryhm Lee for Chalkbeat Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system. During the first week of school, temperatures soared into the 90s causing sweltering heat in some of Newark’s oldest buildings with no air conditioners and faulty water fountains.   Parents packed frozen water ..read more

The Newark community and families from across the state are invited to attend a discussion on Oct. 26 about the pervasiveness of segregation in New Jersey’s schools and what can be done to tackle the problem. Erica Seryhm Lee for Chalkbeat Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system. Join us on Thursday, Oct. 26 at the Newark Public Library main branch for “The State of Segregation,” a discussion about the pervasiveness of segregation in New Jersey’s schools and what can be done to tackle the problem. This event is open to the N ..read more

Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy said in his Friday opinion that while the state is responsible for addressing school segregation, desegregation activists failed to prove that the entire school system is segregated. Stephen Obisanya for Chalkbeat Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system. In the five-year legal battle to desegregate New Jersey public schools, on Friday a Superior Court judge denied the state’s defense that it should not be held responsible for the “unlawful, persistent, and pervasive” segregation in its educational sys ..read more

Newark Public Schools students took the New Jersey Learning Assessment in spring 2023, the second time since the pandemic shut down schools in March 2020. Erica Lee for Chalkbeat Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system. Newark Public Schools’ state test scores went up 2 percentage points in both math and English language arts this year, according to data released by the district. On average, 15% of Newark students in grades 3 to 9 passed math assessments while about 29% passed English language arts tests, spring 2023 New Jer ..read more

In November 2022, Newark School of Global Studies students spoke publicly about their experiences of racial harassment during their time at the high school. Google Maps Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system. Newark Public Schools must assess the effects of “anti-Blackness” on the school system and foster conversations about racial issues, an unreleased report examining harassment at the city’s School of Global Studies recommends. The report also calls on the district to build school staff capacity to identify cultural gaps and creat ..read more

Board member Hasani Council won a unanimous vote at a September 2023 meeting to be the new president of the Newark Board of Education. David Handschuh for Chalkbeat Board members in New Jersey’s largest school district voted in a new board president to succeed Asia Norton, who stepped down last week.  Hasani Council won a unanimous vote at a meeting Tuesday to be the new leader of the Newark Board of Education, as Norton leaves for a new role with the Superior Court of New Jersey.  “We are here for one purpose, and that is to serve and make sure we keep students at the center of ..read more