“I’m shocked, shocked, to find that gambling is going on in here.” 

That’s the famous line from the film “Casablanca,” spoken by Captain Louis Renault, who not only knows gambling takes place in Rick’s Cafe but partakes of the sport. 

This appears to be the New Jersey Education Department’s reaction in a “scathing report” detailing how the Lakewood Board of Education is actually run by attorney Michael Inzelbuch, who makes close to a million dollars a year in taxpayer funds, leads public meeting, and serves, it would appear, as district superintendent, school board, negotiator, and strategist. 

The report itself, written by former State Education Commissioner Kimberly Markus, finds a “culture of low expectations,” “unresponsiveness” to the public, “ill-informed” school board members, a lack of any discussion on important policy matters, a lack of any strategic plan, and “no urgency or accountability for the district’s financial situation by leadership…Staff reported not feeling respected and fear retaliation from the administration if they speak out in a critical way. Instances of unresponsiveness or unclear communication from the district contribute to a perception of inadequate support.”

Regarding Inzelbuch, she writes,

“The Lakewood Board of Education attorney plays a far more active role than the typical board attorney in district business. The Board Attorney stated that his role is not only board attorney, but he also provides the district a service like a communications director. Lakewood’s legal expenses per pupil are significantly higher than comparison districts.”

Why is this surprising? Anyone with even a limited awareness of this district knows this sort of abnegation of responsibility by duly elected officials has been going on for years, at least since the Lakewood school board re-hired Inzelbuch as its attorney after he reaped buckets of money suing them on behalf of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) children with special needs.

Whatever the reason for the board’s decision, Inzelbuch appears to act as a one-person board. In fact, his list of demands before he signed his contract included ultimatums that the board rehire its superintendent; re-open the teachers contract to make life harder for the union president; replace all staff who oversee yeshiva students with “consultants”; stop payment for a consultant who had already completed a report; separate administrators at public meetings; and pay for four lawyers to assist Inzelbuch. 

I can’t think of any school board that cedes this level of power to a lawyer. Let’s look at the citywide impact on students, teachers, and parents.

Students: While Lakewood has far less money to educate its 6,000 in-district students than, say, Asbury Park or Newark (the state funding formula doesn’t work for a district with 50,000 private school students that it needs to transport in gender-specific buses to 140 yeshivas every day), student achievement is nothing to write home about, with a high school graduation rate of 82%. Yet COVID learning loss is not nearly as steep compared to other NJ districts because schools there opened earlier than many others. (This new report validated Lakewood’s decision.)

Staff: How does Inzelbuch’s oversight work for teachers? Well, they don’t stick around very long, which accounts for the discrepancy in average salaries: the average salary for a New Jersey teacher is $79,460 but in Lakewood it’s $56,934. (Due to rigid step-and-ladder salary guides, the longer you stay, the higher your salary. 

Parents: It’s hard to tell because much of the non-Haredi community is Hispanic; 77% of students’ primary language at home is Spanish. But all board meetings are conducted in English and the district website doesn’t appear to offer a Spanish version. When the district reconfigured grades, changing where children attended school, Markus says there was “little notice or explanation” given to students, parents, and staff  “as to why the decision was made. There was no discussion at board meetings or opportunity to provide public input.”

Now, let’s be fair. Lakewood is a tough district to oversee properly and it does need more state aid. And yet what if the school board actually oversaw the district rather than Inzelbuch, who is actually an employee of the board? What if, instead of seven Haredi members and two Hispanic board members, the ratios were reversed to reflect the fact that 85% of in-district students are Hispanic? (Five percent are Black; 8% are white.) 

I know, I know. The community doesn’t select the board; the ultra-Orthodox leaders do. Should we really act so shocked that there is gambling going on here?