State Keeps Control of Newark Schools, Court Rules

An appeals court Monday has ruled that governance of the Newark Public Schools must remain in state hands, upholding a controversial decision by education commissioner Christopher Cerf two years ago.

"We are very disappointed with this outcome," said Clifford Stewart, the attorney for the plaintiffs, which include a group of parents and the Newark Schools Advisory Board. "This decision gives the commissioner almost complete discretion over whether to return local control in any QSAC [Quality Single Accountability Continuum] area, even when a district clearly demonstrates satisfaction of the QSAC performance indicators."

The Newark Public Schools have been run by the state since 1995. Local officials and elected representatives, however, have long sought to have authority over New Jersey’s largest school district returned to the school board, which currently has an advisory capacity over many matters, including personnel. The superintendent, Cami Anderson, is a state employee who can veto much of what the board does.

Local officials were hopeful, however, when in 2011 the state assessed the district’s management and gave Newark high scores in areas covered under the so-called QSAC law. Under the 2007 law, if a district under state control achieves a score of at least 80 in a given area, then control of that area must be returned to the local district.

Newark had already regained control in some QSAC areas, including, most recently, fiscal matters, which the state agreed to hand over last month.  

But Newark officials still did not have authority in the most important area of all, governance. With this authority, the locally elected school board would once again have the power to hire and fire the superintendent, who would no longer be a state employee unanswerable to the school board. In virtually every other New Jersey school district, the superintendent serves at the pleasure of the school board.

The lawsuit was filed when Cerf  refused to hand over governance authority to Newark even though the district achieved a QSAC score of 89 in this area. At the time, Cerf cited the poor academic performance of many of the city’s schools for keeping governance in state hands. 

In reaching its decision Monday, the court found that despite the requirements under the QSAC law, Cerf acted appropriately because he still retains”broad discretion” over any QSAC area. The court also noted that Newark’s QSAC scores have fluctuated in recent years, sometimes falling below the benchmark score of 80.

"The Appellate Court's decision is disappointing but not discouraging.  The Newark school  board and community's joint lawsuit forced Commissioner Cerf to make a very public move towards local control by agreeing to return local control in the area of finance,” said Antoinette Baskerville Richardson, president of the schools advisory board.

It’s unclear what’s next for the plaintiffs, although David Sciarra, of the Newark-based Education Law Center, called on lawmakers in Trenton to take action.  

"We strongly encourage the Newark Advisory Board to continue to push for full restoration of local control," said Sciarra, whose organization joined in the suit against Cerf. "The decision also points out the need for the Legislature to amend the QSAC statute to put in place clear, unequivocal standards for when the state must withdraw from local control."