Home Is Where The Heart Is: Can Cory Booker Save Newark's Schools?
In a recent interview with Education Next, Cory Booker offered one of the most complete accounts of his views on education. The newly elected mayor of Newark sits on the Boards of Trustees at Teachers College Columbia University.
Booker said he wanted to improve relations between the mayor's office and the state-appointed superintendent when he became the city's chief executive, but that his first priority would be to make the schools safe--an uncontroversial but essential promise. Citing a newspaper article that described children being afraid to stay for afterschool programs, Booker says, "We're going to come in immediately and secure all of our school zones and put in whatever necessary personnel in and around our schools to protect [children as they travel] to and from school."
He also hopes to expand tutoring and afterschool programs and create more "linkages" between students and potential future employers. Health, well-being, nutrition, and early child development are other areas where he sees possibilities for mayoral leadership. "We want to make sure that every child, by the time they're six years old, arrives in school healthy and ready to learn."
The full version of this article, written by David Skinner, will appear in the Fall 2006 publication of Education Week.
Published Monday, Aug. 7, 2006