In 2020 Newark Superintendent Roger Leon unveiled a ten-year strategic plan for Newark Public Schools, propounding, “our vision is that in ten years our schools will be equal in quality to the best anywhere and all our students will achieve to their fullest potential.”

Now in year 5, halfway through the plan, Newark Public Schools has received some deflating news: Based on student proficiency scores from last spring’s standardized tests, the district will remain under the control of the Essex County Executive Superintendent because NPS is failing to meet the goals on its Corrective Action Plan.

Chalkbeat first reported the story, explaining that 2024 state standardized test results “showed little change, once again, with the overwhelming majority of Newark students still performing below grade-level proficiency in reading, math, and science.”

When districts don’t meet the metrics on the New Jersey Department of Education’s accountability rubric (called QSAC) they are required to submit Corrective Action Plans that are reviewed every six months by the Executive Superintendent. If they meet the goals in the plan they regain full control; if they fail, they don’t. NPS’s Plan projected rates in reading would go up by three points and math by eight points.

Chalkbeat:

“State test results released in December showed an overwhelming majority of students in the district are still struggling to perform on grade level in key subjects. Nearly 70% of students in grades 3-9 are falling short of meeting literacy benchmarks, around 82% aren’t meeting math standards, and 93% of fifth graders are below grade-level in science.”

This is despite $6.8 million spent on tutoring services and a $1.5 billion annual budget. (Chronic absenteeism rate was the only category to meet the goal of improving by half a point, moving from from 12.7% to 12.1%.) NPS will remain under the eye of Joseph Zarra, Essex County Executive County Superintendent.

In a 2020 press release about the launch of the Strategic Plan, Leon says, “in the future, when our descendants look back on this document, it will be part of the record of this historic turning point for the public schools of the city of Newark” and explains that the baseline for tor gauging success will be “ state and college readiness assessment data.”

He writes that 2025 is particularly important:

“While every year of any strategic plan is important, the fifth year of this strategic plan is poised to be the point at which we can observe systemic and sustainable shifts in the district’s trajectory. By Year 5, we will have laid the groundwork for progress for all of our priorities, and we will see the image, direction, and formation of a unified school system in the City of Newark.”

Newark Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.