Khaliah Fitchett on Going From Handcuffs to Running for Congress

One afternoon in March 2010, Khaliah Fitchette, a 16-year-old student at Newark’s University High School, was riding home on a NJ Transit bus with her…

I Spit Out My Coffee When I Read Cory Booker’s Op-Ed: Nine Theories That Explain His Change of Heart.

I gasped as I opened the op-ed section of the New York Times and read Senator Cory Booker’s column repudiating his regressive stance on public charter schools.…

Newark Students Deserve Education Champions Who Keep Their Promises

It’s no secret that education in the city of Newark has had a tumultuous history. It’s a history with a complex narrative—going from a distinguished…

Coffee Break: De’Shawn Wright on Being Destined for Public Service and Finding Purpose in Education

De’Shawn Wright has spent more than 15 years serving in senior leadership posts in government and the nonprofit sector and is a part of the…

When We Look Closer at the Results in Newark, the Arrow Is Unquestionably Pointed Up

Neerav Kingsland, in my estimation, is one of the premier thinkers (and doers) in the field. His notion of “relinquishment” as an organizing strategy for…

Thought Charter and District Schools Couldn’t Work Together? Newark Has Found a Way

It’s often noted that the original vision for charter schools, championed by legendary teachers’ union leader Al Shanker and others, was that they’d be “laboratories…

It’s Going to Be a Lot Harder to Shade Newark Public Schools With These Graduation Rates

It’s easy to be skeptical about improvements to Newark Public Schools (NPS), given its sordid history of corruption, desultory oversight, and—most critically—poor student outcomes. But…

Even Critics Have to Acknowledge When Charter Schools Are Working

I am typically a fierce critic of Professor Bruce Baker but recently I found myself in the delightful position of praising his scholarship. Not all…

The Key to Charter School Success Is Collaboration With District Schools

The dominant theme of Richard Whitmire’s book The Founders is that the top quintile of public charter school operators are remarkably open to collaboration with…

In Newark, They’re Not So Quick to Knock Zuckerberg’s Gift

On Tuesday, Checker Finn, president emeritus at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and self-described “aging education reformer,” penned an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg and…