By WINNIE HU
NEWARK — For a generation of Newark students, every education decision, including choices on curriculum, spending and superintendent, has been made by state officials in Trenton.
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Aaron Houston for The New York Times
That level of state involvement has made the 39,000-student district an attractive laboratory for Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican seen as a national leader on education reform, and for prominent donors, including Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, who have pledged $148 million to remake this city’s failing schools.
But the influx of money, and the attendant national spotlight, has galvanized a growing movement of parents, educators and elected officials who want the schools returned to local control 16 years after they were taken over amid low test scores, crumbling buildings and charges of mismanagement.
These critics say that the state has unilaterally imposed a controversial agenda — replacing principals, opening new schools, placing charter schools inside district buildings — dreamed up by outsiders and consultants who do not understand the needs of their children, and that there is not enough opportunity for input by parents and community-based advocates.
“It just seems like a hostile takeover because our voices are not being heard,” said Leah Owens, 29, the founder of Teachers as Leaders in Newark, which has helped collect hundreds of signatures in support of local control. “There are so many new things happening, it’s like the idea is just throw it all against a wall and see what sticks.”
Newark’s school board, which is elected but serves an advisory role, petitioned a state appellate court in August to give it the reins of most day-to-day operations, and a coalition of community organizations and residents represented by the Education Law Center, an advocacy group, followed with a similar lawsuit. This fall, the coalition has lobbied for local control at community meetings, started petition drives at schools, unleashed e-mail campaigns on state officials, and staged a rally that united even political adversaries.
“What we have in Newark is taxation without representation,” said State Senator Ronald L. Rice, one of nearly 300 people who attended the rally last month.
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