The Problem With School Takeovers

Governing: Since February, the school board in Newark, N.J., has been meeting to set policy. That may sound like the most mundane occurrence imaginable, but it’s a big novelty in Newark. The schools there are now being run locally for the first time since a state takeover in 1995.

New Jersey was the first state back in 1989 to pass a law allowing takeovers of local school districts. Since then, states across the nation have appropriated more than 100 districts, including those in major cities such as Baltimore, Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans and Philadelphia.

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