Teaching in Newark

Public schools in Newark, New Jersey serve approximately 45,000 students.  Of those, approximately 8% are served by charter schools and that number has been growing rapidly over the past decade.

Newark Public Schools (NPS) serves almost 42,000 students and is the largest school district in New Jersey. 59% of the students in NPS are African-American, 32% are Latino/Hispanic, 8% Caucasian, and 1% Asian-American. The district is comprised of 75 schools with 74% of the students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

The problem:

In a report at the end of the 2005-2006 school year, the US Department of Education noted:

In the country's second poorest city, only 26% of graduating seniors planned to go to college, with only 6% actually going, and a mere 2% making it all the way through

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It’s clear that the achievement of Newark schools still has a long way to go to serve all of its students:

• In math, only 57% of fourth graders and 45% of high school students passed state standardized assessments in 2006.
• Only 39% of fifth graders performed at the proficient level or higher in Language Arts in recent assessments

Be a part of the Solution:

The right changes are starting to take place in Newark. Education has been a major focus for Cory Booker since he became Mayor in 2006. Dr. Clifford Janey was appointed superintendent in 2008. Under his leadership, NPS is making bold and significant changes to help close the achievement gap, and improve the academic attainment of all students:

• Across every grade level, test scores have increased dramatically every year since 2002, with some gains as high as 24 points.
• Ten years ago, only 46% of entering high school freshman graduated four years later. In 2007, that graduation rate has risen to 79.8%, well exceeding the national average for urban school districts.

Now is the time for you to lend your energy and talent to increasing this momentum. By teaching the Newark students who need you most, you will be working in the most important way towards closing this achievement gap.

To learn more about Newark Public Schools, please visit their website.

Charter Schools

Under the leadership of Mayor Cory Booker, Newark’s effort to improve the educational opportunities for all students have included an aggressive plan to encourage the growth and success of charter schools... Mayor Booker believes we are obligated to provide a "portfolio of excellent options to best meet the needs of kids" including charters, magnets and traditional public schools.

In 2008, The Newark Charter School Fund, was created to support and strengthen Newark’s charter school movement. Among the larger and more well-known charter school networks are the KIPP Schools and New Community Corporation.

To learn more about charter schools in New Jersey, please visit the New Jersey Department of Education’s website and the Newark Charter School Fund.