ELC CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF EXCLUSION OF STUDENTS FROM NEWARK CHARTER SCHOOL
Education Law Center has filed an official complaint with the NJ Department of Education (NJDOE) regarding the recent exclusion of students from Marion P. Thomas Charter School (MPTCS) in Newark. As depicted in videos and news articles, MPTCS excluded dozens of students at the opening of school for non-compliance with the school’s uniform policy. The school also did not notify parents that their children could not attend school, resulting in students congregating in a neighborhood park without supervision.
The ELC complaint explains that MPTCS’s exclusion of students for minor infractions of the school’s uniform policy raises legal violations requiring NJDOE investigation. The complaint is based on reports from parents, including allegations that MPTCS falsely accused one parent of failing to submit residency documentation after her son was featured in one of the videos of the incident. Other parents reported having to expend time and money to buy new shoes conforming to the MPTCS uniform to prevent their children from losing more time in school, even though they were excluded for wearing the exact same shoes deemed appropriate attire the year before.
The complaint asks the NJDOE to investigate the incident and take corrective action, including a thorough review of the school’s uniform policy and whether MPTCS enforcement of the policy is fair and legal. The complaint also asks the NJDOE to conduct training of MPTCS staff to prevent future recurrences and for disciplinary action, if necessary, to be taken against the school and school staff responsible for any violations of student and parental rights. Finally, the complaint asks for recourse for the families, including reimbursement for double expenditures and any necessary corrections to student records.
“It is obvious that these students believed they were in compliance with the school’s uniform policy, because they wore similar or even the exact same shoes last year,” said ELC Legal Fellow Richard Frost. “Excluding these students without notifying parents was an extreme, poorly reasoned, and unlawful punishment for what should never have become a discipline issue in the first place.”
Education Law Center Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Policy and Outreach Director
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 24
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The same Newark charter that turned away students who weren’t in uniform also removed students from its rolls who didn’t turn in residency paperwork — without holding hearings or giving them a chance to appeal: https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/newark/2018/09/13/kicked-out-newark-charter-purges-students-in-possible-violation-of-state-rules/
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I hope people WAKE UP re: Charter Schools and vouchers. They both suck and fashion our kids to serve without questioning the oligarchs.
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Parents asked to sign paperwork they have no chance of understanding.
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Two years ago (2016), the same CEO of the same Newark charter (Marion P. Thomas Charter School — MPTCS), that fired a full half of its teachers at the end of the 2015 – 2016 school year.
Mind you, this is far worse than the recent turnover at the Success Academy high school. In the Success Academy situation, half of the school’s teachers left for varying reasons (including getting fired, though not all were; some were just fed up).
In the case in Newark, those teachers all got canned. According the article BELOW, they were fired for no good reason. Some claim it was a cost-saving measure.
However, as with the Success Academy situation, there was an outcry among parents and students, but at the end of the day, the teachers still all lost their jobs, even though technically, those teachers had a union. (READ THE STORY BELOW)
Again, this is the same genius CEO that let “more than half” of the student body loose in a dangerous crime-ridden neighborhood during school hours… because those students were not following the dress code to the letter.
SEE ARTICLE BELOW:
https://www.bobbraunsledger.com/newark-charter-school-fires-half-of-its-teachers/
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BOB BRAUN:
May 24, 2016
Newark charter school fires half of its teachers
Marion P. Thomas Charter School—out with the old.
Newark’s Marion P. Thomas charter school has terminated the jobs of half of its teaching staff–just months after it raised salaries in a move supposedly designed to retain its best instructors.
“They said they wanted to keep their best teachers but what they really wanted to do is use the raises as a way of recruiting new teachers to replace those they are laying off,” said Maria Parelis, the president of the union representing instructional staff at the school.*
Marion P. Thomas is one of the few charter schools where a union, an affiliate of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), represents teachers.
According to Edward Stevens, an NJEA representative, Marion P. Thomas administrators sent termination letters to 37 of the schools 79 teaching staff members.
That represented 20 non-tenured teachers whose contracts were not renewed and 17 pre-K teachers whose jobs were eliminated whether or not they had tenure.
“This is churning,” said Stevens. “They are getting rid of people before they achieve tenure.”
Under the state’s new tenure law, charter school teachers do not receive tenure until they work more than five years at the same school. As a consequence, many charter schools keep their staff members or five years and then let them go.
“It is not unusual for charter schools to do this,” said Stevens. “But this is an extraordinarily high number.”
Stevens said administrators approached union representatives to ask that cotract talks be reopened so that the school could raise teacher salaries.
“That was unusual,” he said, “but it certainly wasn’t something we could turn down.”
Parelis said she believed the school was “determined to get rid of its high cost teachers–no matter what the cost to the instructional program.”
She said the school would reopen in the fall with new teachers who would have to be trained in the programs the school uses.
“Who is going to be there to help these new teachers?” she asked.
An email sent to the school from this site was not answered.
The school enrolls some 700 students, according to its website.
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“Under the state’s new tenure law, charter school teachers do not receive tenure until they work more than five years at the same school. As a consequence, many charter schools keep their staff members or five years and then let them go.”
Boy, no one could have possibly seen that coming.
They’re gaming the new tenure rules so no one ever receives tenure. Expect no teacher to ever again last longer than 5 years in any one charter school.
This is very “empowering”, I’m sure.
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When compliance and subservience become goals, education takes a back seat. That ain’t right. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, your academic learning does not depend on the color of your clothes.
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Given all the info provided above, it’s clear this school is interpreting the jot & tittle of NJ charter law to ensure they have the lowest-paid-possible teachers, & students who are most likely to adhere to even the most trivial of behavioral rules.
Presumably, this charter school assumes that is the way to stay in biz: low overhead [poorly-pd teachers] plus highest possible student test scores [discourage all but most rule-following (presumably zeroed in on test-prep) kids].
And why not? That’s the way charter law rolls.
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To Chiara & Bethree5:
Thanks for putting “2” and “2” together.
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Oh, and LeftCosttTeacher, too.
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It’s about treating both teachers and students like sh#%, (and that includes stuff like low pay for teachers, and godawful, expensive uniforms for students — Do the charter operators get a taste or kickback from the uniform manufacturers / stores / providers?).
Meanwhile, those same charter operators make out like bandits — i.e. the Basis douche in Arizona, and Eva, where the latest tax returns show her making a combined income of almost $1 million.
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