New Jersey was the first state to takeover of a school district. FACT OR FICTION? 

FACT!

In 1989, New Jersey became the first state in the country to take over a district, beginning with Jersey City.

On July 5, 1995, the State took control of Newark's local board of education. Ten years later, as part of the process of returning local control, the legislature enacted the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC)- An evaluation system that uses 5 key components to measure school district effectiveness: (1) Instruction and Program (2) Personnel; (3) Fiscal Management; (4) Operations; and (5) Governance.

In 2007, the State returned the Operations component to local control and more recently, in June 2014, the Fiscal Management component was also returned.

Learn more about the Board's new fiscal powers under the Financial Transition Plan at:http://assets.njspotlight.com/assets/14/0924/2137

SOURCES:

State Takeovers of School District: Race and the Equal Protection Clause: https://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/ilr/pdf/vol42p343.pdf

Transition Plan for the Return of the Fiscal Management Component of the Newark Public Schools: http://assets.njspotlight.com/assets/14/0924/2137