Newark's Cory Booker.David Skinner's article ("Home Is Where the Heart Is," features, Fall 2006) provides excellent coverage of the challenge facing Cory Booker, the newly elected mayor of Newark, New Jersey, in his effort to revitalize re·vi·tal·ize tr.v. re·vi·tal·ized, re·vi·tal·iz·ing, re·vi·tal·iz·es To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; tried to revitalize a flagging economy. the school district. Newark's school system encompasses nearly every structural impediment A disability or obstruction that prevents an individual from entering into a contract. Infancy, for example, is an impediment in making certain contracts. Impediments to marriage include such factors as consanguinity between the parties or an earlier marriage that is still valid. possible, including a tradition of patronage, mismanagement mis·man·age tr.v. mis·man·aged, mis·man·ag·ing, mis·man·ag·es To manage badly or carelessly. mis·man  age·ment n. of resources, large
numbers of failing schools, and lack of public trust. The situation
clearly calls for direct mayoral involvement. As we've learned from
other urban systems, the key lies in the mayor's willingness to
assume responsibility for the performance of the district.
To turn around Newark schools, Mayor Booker has to take bold actions and willingly be held accountable by the public for the results. Is Mayor Booker willing to spend political capital to leverage broad support and harness community-wide resources for school reform? He will need to broaden the expertise of the school management team, create competition for the traditional public schools, ensure incentives for school personnel to be responsive to their student clients, implement academic standards, and weed weed, common term for any wild plant, particularly an undesired plant, growing in cultivated ground, where it competes with crop plants for soil nutrients and water. out incompetent incompetent adj. 1) referring to a person who is not able to manage his/her affairs due to mental deficiency (lack of I.Q., deterioration, illness or psychosis) or sometimes physical disability. teachers and principals. He will benefit from state legislation that enables him to take over the school district and frees him from regulatory and collective bargaining collective bargaining, in labor relations, procedure whereby an employer or employers agree to discuss the conditions of work by bargaining with representatives of the employees, usually a labor union. constraints during the reform's start-up phase. If Mayor Booker integrates school improvement into his overall strategy to enhance the quality of life in Newark, he will join the handful of mayors who have shown that improving the schools is good electoral politics. Mayoral leadership can reduce the institutional insulation of public schools, sharpen sharp·en tr. & intr.v. sharp·ened, sharp·en·ing, sharp·ens To make or become sharp or sharper. sharp the focus on accountability, and improve the organizational and fiscal conditions to support teaching and learning. When mayors are committed to leading public schools, the entire school system tends to benefit. The children of Newark are waiting for the mayor to take this decisive step forward. KENNETH K. WONG Director Urban Education Policy Program Brown University |
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