Newark Public Schools elections (2016)

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2017 → ← 2015
Newark Public Schools Elections
General election date:
April 19, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
34,976 students

The Newark Unity slate of candidates swept the election for three seats on the Newark, New Jersey Newark Public Schools Board of Education in the at-large general election held on April 19, 2016. Candidates Leah Owens, Tave Padilla, and Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy won the three largest vote shares in the race. This was the sixth Newark Schools election cycle dominated by a slate of candidates endorsed by Mayor Ras J. Baraka. Following this election, all nine members of the board were Baraka-endorsed candidates and either members of the "Children First Team" or Newark Unity slate. The remaining nine candidates, Jason Dotson, Thomas Ellis, Carole Graves, Tamara Moore, Jody Pittman, Juan Silva, George Tillman, Jimmie White, and former candidate Sheila Montague, were unsuccessful in their election bids.

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The Newark Public Schools school board was taken over by the state of New Jersey in 1995. The school board has only held advisory status, limiting the power of sitting members. Following an agreement made in 2015 by Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, the school district began to transition back to local control after the April 2016 general election. To make this transition as smooth as possible, the two leaders created a nine-person panel charged with creating an overarching district plan. The Newark Board of Education hopes to regain full control within the next several years and a report outlining the full plan was expected in August 2016.

Learn more about issues facing the district in the What was at stake? section.

Elections

Voter and candidate information

The Newark Advisory Board consists of nine members elected at large to three-year terms. There was no primary election, and the general election was April 16, 2016.

Candidates had to file by February 29, 2016, and they had until March 7, 2016, to withdraw from the race. The drawing of ballot positions was held March 9, 2016.

In order to vote in the election, district residents had to register by March 29, 2016.

At-large

Results

Newark Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy	21.92%	5,909
Tave Padilla	21.86%	5,892
Leah Owens	18.62%	5,018
Sheila Montague	9.56%	2,576
Carole Graves	8.09%	2,180
Tamara Moore	6.59%	1,775
Thomas Ellis	3.32%	896
Jody Pittman	2.95%	794
Juan Silva	2.29%	618
George Tillman	1.87%	505
Jimmie White	1.68%	452
Jason Dotson	1.25%	338
Total Votes		26,953
Source: Essex County Clerk, "2016 School Board Election," accessed May 10, 2016

Candidates

Jason Dotson	Thomas Ellis	Carole Graves	Sheila Montague	Tamara Moore	Leah Owens
Co-director of Hispanic Multi-Purpose Youth Center	U.S. Air Force Veteran Founder and President of Enough is Enough	Retired educator	Professor		Organizer for New Jersey Communities United
Tave Padilla	Jody Pittman	Juan Silva	George Tillman	Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy	Jimmie White
Assistant recreation director	Employee of Newark Public Schools	Solar Technology and Urban Farming	Owner of Construction Compliance LLC	Organizer with the Clean Water Action Group of New Jersey	Owner of I.M.P.A.C.T. (Initial Major Progressive Articles Creating Tranquility) LLC

Additional elections on the ballot

There were no additional elections on the Newark Public Schools school board ballot in 2016.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for New Jersey school board elections in 2016:

Deadline	Event
February 29, 2016	Candidate filing deadline
March 29, 2016	Last day for voter registration and transfer
April 19, 2016	Pre-general election campaign finance deadline

District map

Click on the image below to access a larger version of the map.

Endorsements

Jason Dotson and Sheila Montague were endorsed in the race by Transparency Matters.

Carole Graves was endorsed in the race by the Newark Teachers Union.

Leah Owens was endorsed in the race by New Jersey Communities United and Newark Unity Slate.

Tave Padilla and was endorsed in the race by Newark Unity Slate.

Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy was endorsed in the race by Newark Unity Slate and Newark Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins.

Campaign finance

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016

Candidates received a total of $39,833.50 and spent a total of $14,459.87 in the election, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Additionally, Newark Unity Slate reported $37,825.00 in contributions and $25,304.97 in expenditures on a joint candidate committee campaign finance form in the election. The three candidates named on the form were Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy, Leah Owens, and Tave Padilla.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2015 See also: Newark Public Schools elections (2015) Newark Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Crystal Fonseca 21.9% 3,745      Nonpartisan Marques-Aquil Lewis Incumbent 21.8% 3,729      Nonpartisan Dashay Carter 19.4% 3,311      Nonpartisan Charles Love III 11.4% 1,955      Nonpartisan Sheila Montague 10.1% 1,729      Nonpartisan Veronica Branch 9.6% 1,637      Nonpartisan Natasha Alvarado 3.4% 584      Nonpartisan Ronnie Kellam 2% 347      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.4% 63 Total Votes 17,100 Source: Essex County Clerk, "2015 School Board Election," April 27, 2015

What was at stake?

2016

Issues in the election

Local control to return to school board

A 2015 agreement between Gov. Chris Christie (R), city Mayor Ras Baraka, and an appointed board planned to remove the "advisory status" of the Newark Board of Education and started a plan to return full local control to the district for the first time in two decades. A full report on this plan was expected in August 2016. The state originally took over the district in 1995.

The agreement created the Newark Educational Success Board, a nine-member panel appointed jointly by Christie and Baraka. The panel focused on easing the board's transition from state-controlled to fully independent. Newark community members expressed concern that the lack of local control made the school board less responsive to citizen wishes. The panel sketched a future plan aimed at long-term district stability and a timeline for the full transition of power.

Consequently, stakes were higher than ever for the April 19, 2016, election. The candidates who won joined the first board in 20 years to potentially have full control of the district. Additionally, incumbents Ariagna Perello, Rashon Hasan, and Khalil Sabu Rashidi did not file for re-election, guaranteeing three new voices on the board.

Newark Unity slate

Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka endorsed three candidates, Leah Owens, Tave Padilla, and Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy, in the race for the district's board. This coalition was called the Newark Unity slate of candidates. The slate aimed to reduce the disagreements often seen in local political races and was supported by numerous political actors, including charter school advocates. In 2016, Baraka clashed with education reformers over his desire to halt charter school expansion pending the full funding of state public schools.

In response to questions regarding this unity, Baraka stated that, "at this time we need to overcome our differences, to work together, to unite to ensure that all of our children get the very best education. We must move beyond the fighting, ideological wars and turmoil." Each of the three candidates ran on his or her own platform and did not espouse a cohesive view of issues or politics in Newark Public Schools.

Issues in the district

Gov. Christie proposes “Fairness Formula” plan

See also: Education reform: State funding battles and local responses (2016)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) unveiled a new education funding plan for the state on June 21, 2016. He proposed a "Fairness Formula" that would equalize per-pupil funding statewide. Rather than continue funding districts at different levels, Christie called for a flat rate of $6,599 per pupil per school year to fix a system he called "broken." If the proposal were approved, Christie said 75 percent of towns would receive more state aid and see their property taxes decrease.

The rate of $6,599 per pupil was calculated by dividing the $9.1 billion the state spent on education funding in 2016 by the number of students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Christie said a disproportionate amount of funding had gone to underperforming schools in the state, beginning in the 1980s.

Gov. Chris Christie (R) proposes a new education funding formula.

“	No child in this state is worth more state aid than another. No family in this state should have to disproportionately pay — you’ve got a bigger house, you’re going to pay more in property taxes, you’ve got more land, you’re going to pay more in property taxes — that’s not what I’m talking about...We’re talking about 546 districts having to divide $88 billion over the last 30 years and 31 districts dividing $97 billion. Where did the money go? And what did you get in return for it? But an even more important question than what did you get in return for it — what did those children and their families get in return for it?	”
—Gov. Chris Christie (June 21, 2016)

The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) called Christie's funding proposal “despicable” and said it would "set the state’s progress in education back decades," according to the Newark Patch. NJEA President Wendell Steinhauer also called the plan a distraction from Christie's record on education policy. “Having never once funded the state’s existing formula, he has no basis for assessing its effectiveness," said Steinhauer.

The proposal entailed up to a 1,714 percent increase in state aid, in the case of North Caldwell Public Schools, or as much as a 78 percent decrease, in the case of the Camden City School District, according to a study by NJ.com.

Jersey City Public Schools, New Jersey

In 2016, Jersey City Public Schools received approximately three-quarters of its funding from the state and had a per-pupil funding rate of $15,235. Christie's proposal entailed that the funding rate for the district would drop by roughly $8,600 per student—an almost 57 percent decrease from the 2016 funding levels. The Jersey City Schools Board of Education had three seats up for general election in November 2016. All of the candidates expressed disdain for Christie's funding plan, though Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop (D) and district superintendent Marcia Lyles declined to comment on either proposal.

“By sending equal dollar amounts per pupil to each district, regardless of need, his plan would subsidize those who have the most at the expense of those who have the least. That is the opposite of fair; it’s despicable,” said Steinhauer. Christie's administration said that money was not the solution to education. “More money does not guarantee better academic performance, and the Christie Administration is determined to forge a new path that provides equal funding for the education of each student,” said a spokesman for the governor's office.

Lead found in district's water supply

Environmental Protection Agency logo

Elevated lead levels were detected in almost half the schools in the Newark district, authorities announced on March 10, 2016. Water fountains at 30 schools were shut off and other water sources were brought in for use. Out of approximately 300 samples taken at 30 school buildings, 59 had levels of lead above the federal government’s standard which requires further action, testing included.

On March 17, 2016, the district began voluntary blood tests to check students for the presence of lead. According to NBC New York, up to 17,000 children were set to be tested for lead poisoning, and the district planned to test every tap at each school in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D)

On March 23, 2016, U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D) and Donald Payne, Jr. (D) introduced a legislative proposal to "create a $100 million grant program for schools and childcare centers that want to test their water."

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D)

The federal legislation was written to require that funding be made available to states for school districts and charter schools to test their water for lead. Any schools participating would then be required to test their water either once or twice yearly, depending on the age of the building. This push for federal funding came at the same time as Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), Sen. Ron Rice (D-Essex), and Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) called for the drinking water in every New Jersey school to be tested. The senators introduced a bill in mid-March to require testing at every school and "remediation treatment, if necessary." The bill was written to allow $3 million to be used in order to perform these tests.

Newark Public Schools changes employee prescription benefit plan

Newark Public Schools planned to change the prescription benefits provided to its employees for the first time in 20 years. In light of the district's "large projected budget gap," workers with the Newark Teachers Union (NTU) began to be transitioned to the new benefits provider, Benecard, on April 1, 2016. All other district employees had already switched to Benecard in February. According to school administrators, the change was estimated to save the district at least $1.1 million a year.

The NTU had "questioned the district’s authority to change benefits plans for employees without the approval of a joint entity - the Supplemental Fringe Benefits Fund - that was established more than 30 years ago." But the New Jersey Superior Court ruled that the district could move all NTU employees to the new benefits provider on March 16, 2016. "The district has our employees’ best interest in mind, and I am committed to working with the Newark Teachers Union and our employees to ensure this new benefits program works for everyone," said Newark Public Schools Superintendent Christopher Cerf. "I hope that the Superior Court’s ruling brings the Newark Teachers Union to the negotiating table, rather than the courtroom." The NTU posted the following response on their website:

“	After serving as the prescription benefits provider for the Supplemental Fringe Benefits Fund for over 20 years, General Prescriptions Program has terminated its contract with the SFB. As a result of GPP’s termination, BeneCard, will be installed in its place effective April 1. Notwithstanding GPP’s termination, we are continuing with our pending legal and grievance actions against the Newark Public Schools for their unilateral and improper selection of BeneCard and will keep you posted.	”
—Newark Teachers Union

2015

From 2011 to 2014, Newark's Advisory Board elections garnered an average of 2.92 candidates per seat up for election. With eight candidates running for the three seats up for election, 2015's ballot was slightly below that average at 2.67 candidates per seat up for election.

Issues in the election

Children First Team majority to stay

2014-2015 Newark Advisory Board & Children First Team candidacy
Member	Term Ends	CFT ?
Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson	2017	Yes
Marques-Aquil Lewis	2015	Yes
Rashon K. Hasan	2016	Yes
Donald G. Jackson Jr.	2017	No
DeNiqua Matias	2015	Yes
Rashied McCreary	2015	No
Ariagna Perello	2016	Yes
Khalil Sabu Rashidi	2016	Yes
Philip Seelinger	2017	Yes

Mayor Ras Baraka helped form a seven-member majority on the Advisory Board through his Children First Team slate in the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 elections.

Over the four election cycles leading up to the 2015 election, the Children First Team (CFT) accumulated a seven-member majority on the nine-member Advisory Board. The team, organized by Ras J. Baraka, 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 won at least two seats in each election.

With eight candidates seeking the three seats up for election in 2015, 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 2011, Alturrick Kenney and Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson were the first CFT candidates to join the board. Two more seats were secured by the Baraka-backed group in 2012, when Marques-Aquil Lewis and DeNiqua Matia won in that general election. In 2013, the entire CFT slate, Khalil Sabu Rashidi, Ariagna Perello, and Rashon K. Hasan, won election to the board. Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson retained her seat and Philip Seelinger secured another for the CFT team in the 2014 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.

Spring New Jersey school board elections increasingly rare

Only 18 New Jersey school districts, including Newark Public Schools, held school board and budget approval elections in April instead of November in 2015. In 2012, Gov. Chris Christie (R) signed a law removing the voter approval requirement for school districts' proposed budgets unless they exceeded a mandatory 2 percent property tax cap. Additionally, the law allowed school districts to move their elections from the spring election date to the fall general election date.

A significant number of districts signed on to the changes in order to avoid the costs of holding additional elections; as of the April 2012 elections, 87 percent of districts had chosen to adopt the changes. Nevertheless, some districts chose to wait due to a requirement that those who moved their election to November had to stick with that choice for at least four years before changing back. Other districts stated they would keep budget approval voting to respect their residents' role in the decision-making process. Due to Newark's district being state operated, no budget election was held in 2015.

Issues in the district

State control & superintendent controversies continue

Over two decades of state control of the district and tensions with state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson continued to foster resistance from community members and local politicians leading up to the 2015 election. The February 2015 announcement that the state would be renewing Anderson's contract highlighted anew the ongoing turmoil in the district.

Background: State control and One Newark

Gov. Chris Christie (R)

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten

Since 1995, the state government has controlled Newark Public Schools. In 2013, the Newark Students Union led two mass boycotts against state control of the district in April and November, with the April walkout reportedly drawing about 1,000 students. Superintendent Cami Anderson, who was nominated by Gov. Chris Christie (R) and appointed by the State Board of Education in 2011, had put forward a controversial district reform plan labeled One Newark that included school closures, teacher layoffs, Teach for America hirings and changes to the district's enrollment system for both traditional and charter schools.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten sent a letter to Gov. Christie criticizing Anderson's plan to use teacher performance evaluations instead of seniority in deciding which teachers to lay off. She concluded the letter by arguing that the state should relinquish control of the school district. Community protests of the plan were held in Trenton, as well as student protests that included walkouts from school.

Legislative critiques
Anderson moved forward with One Newark despite the resistance, and faced a steady stream of criticism into 2015 regarding the plan and its effectiveness. In January 2015, Anderson appeared before the Joint Committee on Public Schools to explain the intentions and progress of the program since it was first discussed. Members of the committee were highly critical of Anderson and the program, emphasizing the alienation residents of the district have felt and a lack of transparency in the plan's implemenation.

Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (D-29)

Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (D-29), a former Newark Advisory Board member, questioned Anderson's school board meeting attendance record. Anderson stated that she could not remember when she last attended a meeting and that it had been "quite some time," but added, "I listen to people who disagree with me. It’s part of my job.” Pintor Marin responded, “It is part of your job to attend board meetings. That’s the main problem. There is no sell factor for the Newark Public Schools [about the One Newark plan] when you don’t attend.”

Not long after this heated hearing, Gov. Christie announced the renewal of Anderson's contract for another year, which Anderson accepted, 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." The contract set Anderson's compensation at $255,000, which included a 1.6 percent cost-of-living raise.

On March 10, 2015, a second joint committee hearing was held to hear testimony from New Jersey Education Association President Wendell Steinhauer, City Association of School Administrators (CASA) Executive Director Leonard Pugliese, and Mark Weber, a public teacher and doctoral student in education theory, organization and policy at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education. Steinhauser called the renewal of Anderson's contract an "insult to every parent, students and teacher in Newark who has seen the destruction she’s caused." Weber, who had previously presented his research on the plan to the legislature in 2014, stated at this hearing that it had, "not only failed to improve student achievement in Newark; they have had a racially disparate impact on the [Newark Public Schools" [sic] certificated teaching and support staff."

Pugliese's testimony drew particular interest as he pointed out that the New Jersey School Performance Reports done by the state Department of Education showed most Newark schools as having 100 percent attendance rates. He questioned the accuracy of these reports, as the same schools had been shown as having 30 to 40 percent absentee rates before the state assumed control of the district. Attendance rates are part of the state's measurement of whether or not One Newark is succeeding in preparing students for college and careers. Reducing absentee rates is also part of Anderson's contractual performance goals. Pugliese said of the dramatic decrease reported in the performance scores, "This is outrageous–and impossible. What’s equally outrageous is that the state department of education would post this document. Someone had to compile this data. Someone had to produce this graph." These accusations led some committee members to suggest that the legislature should subpoena state documents to verify the validity of the reports.

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey

One candidate out of the total twelve candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Leah Owens.

Top priorities

When asked what she hoped to achieve if elected, Owens stated:

“	If elected to school board, I hope to galvanize the community to regain local control and secure full funding for the Newark Public Schools District.	”
—Leah Owens

Ranking the issues

The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. The following are the candidates' rankings:

• 1=Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
  
• 2=Improving education for special needs students
  
• 3=Expanding arts education
  
• 4=Improving post-secondary readiness
  
• 5=Improving relations with teachers
  
• 6=Closing the achievement gap
  
• 7=Expanding school choice options

Candidate survey

Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey.
Click here to view or fill out the survey.

About the district

See also: Newark Public Schools, New Jersey

Newark Public Schools is located in Essex County, N.J.

Newark Public Schools is located in Essex County in northeastern New Jersey. The county seat is Newark. Essex County was home to approximately 795,723 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 34,976 students.

Demographics

Essex County underperformed in comparison to New Jersey as a whole in terms of higher education achievement, median household income, and poverty rate in 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 32.3 percent of Essex County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 36.4 percent for New Jersey as a whole. The median household income in the county was $54,499, compared to $72,062 statewide. The poverty rate in Essex County was 16.7 percent, compared to 11.1 percent for the entire state.

Racial Demographics, 2014
Race	Essex County (%)	New Jersey (%)
White	49.7	73.0
Black or African American	41.9	14.8
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.7	0.6
Asian	5.3	9.4
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1
Two or More Races	2.1	2.3
Hispanic or Latino	22.1	19.3

Presidential Voting Pattern, Essex County
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	236,618	64,406
2008	240,306	74,063
2004	203,681	83,374
2000	185,505	66,842

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Newark Public Schools' 'New Jersey'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Newark Public Schools elections (2016) - Google News

See also

Newark Public Schools	New Jersey	School Boards
Newark Public Schools elections (2015) List of school districts in New Jersey	New Jersey school board elections, 2016 Public education in New Jersey Local ballot measures, New Jersey	School board elections, 2016 School board elections, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2016 School board election data analysis, 2015

External links

• Newark Public Schools