State moves to return local control of Paterson's schools

TRENTON — The New Jersey Board of Education voted Wednesday to start the process for ending state control of Paterson's public schools, ushering in a new era for a district that has fought to rebuild trust, improve education and prove strong leadership over nearly three decades under state supervision.

When the measure passed unanimously, cheers erupted in a packed meeting room from Paterson school administrators, advocates and current and former local school board members.

Eileen Shafer, Paterson’s schools superintendent, told the state board that it was a "glorious day."

"Thank you for recognizing that our district, that the city of Paterson is ready for local control," she said. "Our community will embrace it, our administration will continue to move forward for the benefit of our children, and they will be successful."

Wednesday's vote set in motion a process of fully restoring local control that will take about two years, officials said. State and local officials must create a transition plan guiding the handover of school authority, subject to the approval of the state education commissioner.

The acting commissioner, Lamont Repollet, said he had seen growth in a district that "had been in and out of a rut and is now seeing the light of day based on hard work.”

Paterson received $418 million in state aid last year, a figure that represents more than three-quarters of its $550 million budget. Only the districts in Newark and Jersey City received more money from the state. Still, the district has struggled with poor test scores, complaints of inadequate special education services, and financial problems that resulted in the layoffs of more than 500 employees in the past three years

City and state school officials, though, say the district has come a long way from 1991, when the state first took it over amid concerns about fiscal mismanagement and failing schools. Since then, the local school board has served in an advisory capacity, slowly gaining back certain areas of control over the last few years.

The state Board of Education decided to hand over the final pieces — control of governance and instruction — in one resolution Wednesday. A second resolution set in motion a transition plan to gain full local control.

Once the process is completed, the school board in Paterson — the state's third-largest district, with 25,000 students — will reclaim the power to hire and fire its own superintendent and have final say in decision-making.

Parents, school officials celebrate

New Jersey was the first state to take over a school district when it assumed authority of Jersey City's schools in 1989. Paterson, Newark and Camden followed. The state board voted to end intervention in Newark and Jersey City last year.

The school board president, Oshin Castillo, said she couldn't wait "to get back to Paterson and tell the community." She attended the meeting in Trenton with fellow board members Nakima Redmon, Manny Martinez, Emanuel Capers and Vincent Arrington.

"We're going to celebrate, but we're going to continue to focus on this partnership with the state and what's best for our students and that our students continue to grow," she said. "It means a lot of hard work."

Robert Scott, the parent of a sixth-grader at the Young Men's Leadership Academy, welcomed the news of the vote, saying it would bring accountability to the district. In the past, school officials could blame problems on the state, he said.

"With local control, we have a stake," said Scott, who is the PTO leadership president for Paterson schools. "We are seeing what's going on and who's making the decisions. There's a heightened level of responsibility."

Carrie Gonzalez, who has two children in elementary school in Paterson, said she hoped that local control would lead to better spending decisions. She said the district should invest more in repairs, special education teachers and extracurricular programs.

"We have to be more aware of where we spend money and who we spend it with," she said, noting recent problems with school bus contractors.

"I foresee us being a better district tin the future," Gonzalez added. "As of now, we have a lot of work to do. I believe fiscally we have to make better decisions now that the ball is in our court. Children have to be first."

Seeing growth, not just test scores

New Jersey uses a system called Quality Single Accountability Continuum to evaluate public school districts. The latest state evaluation scores put Paterson over the top in the areas of instruction and governance.

But the city nearly didn't get there due to chronically low test scores.

On last year’s state tests, known as PARCC, 91 percent of Paterson’s high school students failed the math section and 83 percent failed English language arts. Among elementary school students, 82 percent failed math and 85 percent failed in language arts.

The Paterson district had to get a state waiver, which changed the benchmarks for the evaluation, so that the city's test scores would be high enough to qualify for local control, officials said. Newark and Jersey City also obtained such waivers, officials said.

Advocates say the district has done a better job of raising its graduation rate and keeping teenagers from dropping out of high school.

Repollet said that, as a former superintendent, he knows test scores are a key indicator in the area of instruction and program, but it "doesn't truly show growth."

"I wanted to look at the programs," he said during the meeting. "I wanted to look at the student growth rate. I wanted to look at what systems they had in place."

The district's problems continued even under state control, and some say having officials in Trenton, many miles from Paterson, making decisions about the district's policies and direction was part of the problem.

"When you look at the history of state control and lack of success that it had — under state control, we went financially belly-up," said Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, D-Paterson, and the recreation coordinator for the city's school district.

"Under state control, we were underfunded," Wimberly said at the close of the meeting. "Under state control, we had to lay off 526 employees. Under state control, we still have 19 buildings over 100 years old. So state control is obviously not the way."

Martinez, of the city school board, said city residents are the ones best suited to make decisions for Paterson's schools. The community, he added, will be able to hold board members accountable for their decisions.

"We’re in the community," he said. "We know the needs of the people. All of us are products of Paterson public schools. We know what the needs are and we have a good board. We really work together."

Rosie Grant, president of the Paterson Education Fund, an advocacy group, said she had been waiting for this day since the start of the takeover.

"It's hard to decide what’s best for our kids when your're miles away," Grant said. "Having the state in control meant they were that much removed from the reality of what was happening in our classrooms and home."

She cautioned, however, that the return of local control "does not solve all the issues Paterson is facing."

"We still have to get kids performing at a higher level," she said. "We still have to work with a smaller-than-adequate budget."

State oversight of construction to continue

The switch from state control will not directly affect the amount of funding the Paterson school district gets from the state budget, officials said. Also, the New Jersey Schools Development Authority will continue to be in charge of school construction projects in Paterson, an arrangement that stems from a court ruling involving about 30 low-income districts in the state, officials said.

During the transition phase, the state will continue to monitor the district and will be able to retake control if problems arise, officials said. As part of the transition, Paterson residents will vote in a referendum asking whether they want an elected school board or one appointed by the mayor, officials said.

Ronald Butcher, the longest serving member of the state board, said he voted for the takeover in 1991. Back then, he said, the state didn't have an exit plan, or a way of getting out.

“Heavens knows I never anticipated it would take this long to return to local control,” Butcher said on Wednesday, describing the period of state oversight as an "up-and-down ride."

"When you go back and look at growth and what is taking place," he said, "it personally is extremely gratifying to see this finally happening today."

Email: adely@northjersey.com