Buono Supports Ending State Control of Newark Schools

State Sen Barbara Buono continued her campaign for governor in Newark Wednesday, stopping at a Halsey Street restaurant for a meet-and-greet with diners while taking shots at the record of incumbent Chris Christie.

“I didn’t think the Republicans could find a Republican more out of touch with the middle class than Mitt Romney. But they did,” the Middlesex County Democrat said during her stop at Je’s Restaurant.

Buono said Christie, who enjoys high approval ratings, presides over a state where 400,000 are still unemployed and where the “middle class has actually shrunk.”

Buono is the likely favorite to win the Democratic primary next month, leading a field of candidates little-known statewide. She would face Christie, who is seeking a second term, in November. 

Buono positioned herself as a champion of programs meant to help the poor and disadvantaged, recounting her own youth as a struggling student in the 1970s, when she qualified for “zero interest loans” from the government.

“If I were born in the same circumstances today, I wouldn’t be standing here running for governor,” said Buono, who lived in the city as a young adult.

Supporters Wednesday, including Newark Councilwoman-at-Large Mildred Crump, who helped organize the event, said Buono was an inspiration to women aiming to enter politics.

“I was thinking of what motivated me the most, and it has to be Shirley Chisholm,” Buono said, referring to the nation’s first female African-American member of Congress. “I saw her in college and I thought she was special …. she cared about the little guy, the disenfranchised. She was a voice for the voiceless.”   

Speaking outside the restaurant following her visit, Bouno also said she supports an effort by the Newark School Advisory Board to end the state’s control of Newark’s public school system. Newark’s public schools have been run from Trenton since 1995, but recent state assessments show the district scoring high enough to merit a return  to local control.

“I think Newark has satisfied all the conditions under the law,” she said.

This is Buono’s second visit to Newark since beginning her gubernatorial campaign. In March, Mayor Cory Booker escorted her on a tour of several Ironbound businesses .