The Star-Ledger Editorial Board first published this piece at nj.com.

At least 19 school officials from Newark, led by the superintendent, have been hobnobbing at a luxury waterfront hotel in San Diego with a poolside bar that faces the bay, $20 cocktails, tuna niçoise and Wagyu beef.

Why, you might wonder, do they have to take such a big group of people to a beautiful, sunny place across the country for a five-day conference, while only 19% of third graders in Newark can read? Why send 19 people to hold sessions on how to teach math or literacy, when Newark’s own kids are failing?

This is becoming a habit.Last year, this district sent staffers and board members to numerous sunny places like Palm Springs, Orlando, Puerto Rico, Last Vegas, New Orleans and Hawaii for conferences – including at least ten people to both San Diego and Miami. When asked how all this pertained to advancing education for Newark’s children, the board and superintendent refused to explain it.

“How are students benefiting from school officials taking luxurious trips around the country? Rather than taking expensive trips, the Paterson and Newark school boards should be focused on helping students recover from learning loss,” as Sen. Declan O’Scanlon said just last month.

Let’s not forget, when the state took over the district of Newark in the mid-1990s, it was because school officials were traveling to conferences at tropical resorts in places like Hawaii and expensing extravagant meals to the district while buildings were in shambles and test scores were in the tank.

This time, district spokeswoman Nancy Deering told us the conference from Oct. 25 to 29th in San Diego was held by an advocacy group for urban schools, the Council of the Great City Schools, of which Newark Superintendent Roger León just became chair; he was also recently appointed to its executive board and leadership, governance, management and finance task force, she said.

Newark school officials were presenting on a host of topics, she added, including improving bilingual instruction; early childhood education strategy; “building academic success in K-3″ by developing curriculum that aligns to standards and incorporates African American history; using teacher coaches to improve instruction in math and literacy; “enrichment opportunities” for students and saving millions with self-insurance and automation.

This may have some value, but why send 19 people? The total cost of this trip for the 11 staffers, 7 school board members and superintendent remains unclear; as of last month, 50k had been approved by the board. And what are they doing teaching a panel on K-3 academic success when more than 80% of their third graders can’t read at grade level?

“I would give them an F in all of those categories,” said John Abeigon, head of the Newark Teachers Union. “Look at the results. Just look at their test results, their post-high school college graduation rates. Dismal. I have no idea what anyone could possibly learn from them.”

The district’s failures are truly alarming: Only 15% of Newark students can do math on grade level and just 29% are reading at grade level, according to state tests last Spring. Overall, reading scores moved up only two points in the last year, and the third grade reading scores haven’t budged since 2022; they haven’t improved. In fact, about 46% of third graders ranked in level 1, the lowest of 5 possible reading levels on the state test last Spring.

So what exactly does Newark have to teach others about literacy?

Now imagine an overwhelmed teacher in this district struggling with burnout, seeing all these administrative staffers and the superintendent jet off for five days to sunny San Diego. “Every single one of them should be here calling principals and teachers every morning, saying, what do you need and how soon can I get it to you,” Abeigon said. “That’s it: What do you need, and how soon can I get it to you.”

This is the same superintendent, you may recall, who won a new 5-year contract in secrecy, without public input, and planned to pour more than $4 million of district operating funds into the side project of building a museum, without saying whether the project ever went out to bid as required by law.

That’s money intended for educating children, which is the real mission here, lest we forget – not building a museum, or going to luxury hotels and speaking on panels while kids back home can’t read or do math.