Baraka-backed "Children First Team" dominates Newark's school election
April 22, 2015
Any lingering doubts about Mayor Ras Baraka's influence on the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board were swept away on Tuesday night as his slate of preferred candidates, the Children First Team (CFT), won one of the last two seats not already held by slate members. Returning candidate Crystal Fonseca and newcomer Dashay Carter won election to the board for the first time while incumbent Marques-Aquil Lewis won his third consecutive term on the board—his second as part of Baraka's CFT.
The CFT candidates faced five other challengers in the election. With eight candidates seeking the three seats up for election, 2015's election was slightly below the district's average of 2.92 candidates filing per seat up for election from 2011 to 2014.
Meanwhile, Passaic Public Schools, the only other district among New Jersey's largest to hold its election in April instead of November in 2015, saw three incumbents retain their seats by defeating a sole returning challenger. Additionally, Passaic voters chose to maintain the current tax levy of $16.8 million, which had been in place for six years.[1]
Incumbents Byron Bustos, Salim Patel and Ronald Van Rensalier won their third consecutive slate campaign together, but they faced a seasoned candidate who had previously challenged all three of them. Rene L. Griggs ran for the board in five prior elections, most recently on April 23, 2014. She faced Bustos, Patel and Van Rensalier in her 2009 campaign, when she placed sixth out of the eight candidates running for the three at-large positions in that election.[1]
Griggs' supporters stated on Tuesday night they may challenge this year's results due to "a late surge in vote totaling that proved decisive" in her defeat. As of the unofficial numbers reported on election night, Griggs was separated from the third-highest vote recipient, Bustos, by more than 400 votes.[1]
Spotlight district: Newark Public Schools
Children First Team cements power
Over the last four election cycles, the CFT had accumulated a seven-member majority on the nine-member Advisory Board. The team, organized by Baraka each year, first became a part of the Advisory Board elections in 2011. Baraka was then the South Ward representative on the Newark City Council. He served on the council from 2010 until 2014, when he was elected Mayor of Newark. Baraka backed three candidates for the Advisory Board each year. From 2011 to 2014, the CFT has won at least two seats in each election.
With 10 candidates seeking the three seats up for election this year, the CFT could have increased or decreased in its majority power. Even if all three seats had been won by non-CFT candidates, the group was guaranteed at least a six-member majority following the 2015 election.
In 2015, two seats held by CFT members were up for election. While Marques-Aquil Lewis sought re-election on the slate, the other CFT member, DeNiqua Matias, did not run. The other incumbent up for re-election, Rashied McCreary, did not file to run for re-election. He was one of just two non-CFT members on the board prior to the 2015 election.
One Newark & two decades of state control
The CFT board members and candidates have been part of Baraka's ongoing vocal opposition to the state control of Newark Public Schools. Since 1995, the elected school board of the district has served in a solely advisory capacity, but opposition has grown more outspoken in recent years. Protests by students, teachers, community members and local politicians have been joined by legislative criticism of the state's role in the district.[2]
Calls for the resignation of Superintendent Cami Anderson in early 2015 were juxtaposed with Gov. Chris Christie's (R) announcement that her contract would be renewed for another year. Anderson accepted the renewal, saying, "I am proud of the progress that my administration has made over the past three years in increasing graduation rates, teacher and administrator quality and school choice, but know that there is more work to be done on behalf of our students in the year ahead."[3]
First nominated by Christie and appointed by the State Board of Education in 2011, Anderson has faced criticisms of her One Newark reform plan for the district, which included school closures, teacher layoffs, Teach for America hirings and changes to the district's enrollment system for both traditional and charter schools.[4]
Not on the ballot: Arcadia USD
Arcadia Unified School District, the 173rd-largest school district in California in 2012-2013, was also scheduled to hold an election on Tuesday for three at-large seats on its board. Due to a lack of opposition to the three incumbents seeking re-election, Kay Kinsler, Cung T. Nguyen and Lori Allison Phillipi, the election was canceled. Elections for the district were canceled in the previous two election cycles, as well, due to unopposed races.
An effort to remove all three of these incumbents was launched in 2013, but it never went to the ballot. Supporters of the recall did not agree with the firing of Arcadia High School cross-country coach Jim O'Brien. Though the board looked into the issue at the time, they did not take any action.[5][6][7] Despite these tensions, no challengers sought to unseat Kinsler, Nguyen or Phillipi, who will serve for another four years each.
Candidates
New JerseyNewark Public Schools Passaic Public Schools |
CaliforniaArcadia Unified School District |
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Record, "North Jersey school elections results: 9 of 10 districts OK proposals," April 21, 2015
- ↑ Politicker NJ, "Anderson, One Newark plan grilled by state committee on public schools," January 6, 2015
- ↑ NJ.com, "State renews contract of embattled Newark schools superintendent Cami Anderson," February 27, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Gov. Christie’s new crisis: Protests grow over state control of Newark schools," February 27, 2014
- ↑ Arcadia Weekly, "Arcadia Residents hope to Recall 3 School Board Members," August 7, 2013
- ↑ The Pasadena Star-News, "Arcadia Recall proponents: Letter from school board members motivates recall," August 12, 2013
- ↑ Arcadia Patch, "School Board Recall Effort Sparked by Coach O'Brien's Firing," August 7, 2013
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