The National Urban League held its 97th conference this month. Described as "the nation's oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African-Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream," they heard from a number of presidential candidates including Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama.
They also heard from Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, who spoke on education issues. (See TT - LINK)
It was decidedly odd having Bloomberg and others address education issues in a city where the state recently took over the schools. ( See TT - LINK ) St. Louis isn't the only school district in the country where the state has replaced elected school boards.
In New Jersey, there are a number of districts currently under state control or being closely watched. Jersey City has been run by the state since 1989. Newark has been under state control since 1995. Paterson was taken over by the state in 1991. Salem is classified as a Level II district. The Level II districts were subject to an external review from the Montclair State University School of Education. Six other districts are being closely monitored.
And then there is Camden. Camden has been controlled since 2002.
About a dozen teachers at a troubled Newark elementary school were removed, and the district's longtime union boss, Joseph Del Grosso, supported their ouster.It's not coincidence that the same districts also suffer from political corruption in local government.
That's the kind of teacher and union support Camden needs to turn around its struggling schools. A good education starts with teachers. If teachers don't commit to improving the education Camden students receive, nothing will change.
The former mayor of Newark (mayor from 1986-2006) Sharpe James has pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges. He retains his Senate seat while awaiting trial.
Paterson mayor Martin G. Barnes (mayor from 1997 - 2002) pleaded guilty in 2002 to mail fraud, and tax evasion, admitting that he took free trips, home improvements, a swimming pool and more from city vendors or prospective vendors. He was sentenced to 37 months. Two Paterson officials were indicted last month for taking bribes.
Former Jersey City mayor Gerald McCann wants taxpayers to pick up the tab for his legal difficulties associated with his narrow election to the school board. Jersey city has a long history of political corruption.
A Camden councilman, Ali Sloan El, was sentenced to 20 months for bribery. Former Camden fixture Sen. Wayne Bryant, a member of the education committee, is also being investigated for corruption.
Annette Knox, the controversial school board superintendent, is now gone amid a test-score scandal and at least two investigations in the district. Board president Philip E. Freeman stepped down after a change in state ethics laws barred him from holding public offices while in his current job as assistant director of the New Jersey Office of Civil Rights.A self-serving comment considering the rate of politicians elected in N.J. that are union-backed. A recent report on Camden schools cited more than 500 district personnel with questionable certification.
Another education figure no longer in the forefront is Paul Mehne, the popular and much-admired dean of the Camden campus of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Mehne stepped down because of a federal probe into financial irregularities and abuses.
States don't take over schools because of low academic standards. They take them over because rampant corruption in state and local politics allow incompetence, bribery and political patronage to thrive in schools. They are, after all, cash cows.
Children are the VERY last concern in the political swamps of New Jersey or St. Louis.
