It’s hard to identify a more scrutinized school district than Newark. It was the epicenter of a controversial reform movement called One Newark, hobbled by enrollment obstacles and charges of civil rights violations and universally low test scores and graduation rates. At the end of last term, one state-appointed school superintendent left. A former state education commissioner stepped in to reorganize the system in a way that would work for students and families. NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams recently checked in with Superintendent Chris Cerf.
Williams: PARCC scores are low throughout statewide. Newark’s are below average: 22 percent met expectations in Language Arts, 17 percent in math. Did that surprise you?
Cerf: No, that didn’t surprise us at all, actually. The PARCC scores aligned almost perfectly with what we could have predicted from other indicators: the ACT, the SAT and so on. For years people have been measuring what do you need to get on one of those other tests to have a high probability of being able to handle college level work. The numbers corresponded perfectly. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have very far to travel, but they didn’t surprise us.
Williams: Last week you called the scores a clarion call. What’s the action you’re taking?
Cerf: The purpose of all of public education is to give all kids an equal opportunity at success. For me, that’s measured by outcomes, not how hard you try, not what you do, but whether more and more kids are graduating from high school ready for success, ready for college, ready for a tactical career. We’re not where we need to be. I think the progress that we’re making. I feel good about the work, but we’re not where we need to be. And when I say a clarion call it is we need a level or urgency about this.
Williams: How do you step it up? How do you get teachers and the system to step it up?
Cerf: The first thing you do is you expect a lot from students. You are not satisfied with where we are. The second is there’s been a raging debate about whether poverty is the cause of poor academic performance, or whether poor academic performance is the cause of poverty. I think it’s a false dichotomy. We need to recognize that student outcome depends not only on what happens within the four walls of a school, but also what schools could do to help assist children in bringing the tools they need to be successful. That’s why we’ve just launched a community schools initiative.
Williams: What does that entail?
Cerf: We are choosing a handful of schools, four or five schools, in the south ward. This has been a collaborative effort with the mayor and Newark public schools. We are essentially saying with a feeder group of schools that we are going to go all in with them. We have $10 or $12 million from the Zuckerburg funds and we are investing in social services and wrap around services and also in the schools themselves.
Williams: That sounds a lot like the 2009 global village plan which didn’t really work out, or last. What makes this different?
Cerf: It does have some parallels and I would say that we learned a lot from the global village experience. It did have some successes which are still with us today but there are some parallels. the main difference I would say that I would call out is that I don’t think we should be choosing either or. Either focus on the wrap around services in the community dimension, or focus on rigorous curriculum, effective teachers, sufficient academic tools. We are trying in these schools to really level the playing field, essentially by giving principals and school communities the same power and authority and resources that charter schools have.
Williams: We recently reported on an agreement you made with the federal Department of Education regarding complaints that were filed about One Newark contending that there was discrimination against children of color and children with disabilities. What was the agreement that you struck?
Cerf: First of all we take all allegations seriously. The actual events that were the basis of the complaint occurred five years ago. Essentially the complaint was that the schools that had been the object of the greatest level of intervention, whether being called a renew school or being converted to another kind of school, were disproportionately serving children of color. We worked with all of the parties, we worked with the Office of Civil Rights, we worked with the plaintiffs over the course of the last several years and we basically come up with an agreement that we’re going to keep close track of these students and see how they progress.
Williams: Last month you told us you want to be the last state appointed superintendent for Newark. How close is Newark to regaining control of schools?
Cerf: We’re making real progress. We have just heard from the state that they have scheduled their visit to come back and review us under the metrics that are a necessary condition to satisfy to get local control. We expect that visit to happen in the spring. We expect to hear from them. I believe over the summer, I can’t entirely control this, but I have been assured it will be over the summer to see if we hit the quantitative metrics that are a first step towards transition to local control. It’s moving well.