Newark Students Walk Out Of School, Protest City's Education Policy
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Newark students walked out of school Friday and crowded city streets, to protest the public school administration.
As 1010 WINS' Rebecca Granet reported, students from across Newark demonstrated outside City Hall, after an announcement by the Newark Students Union that thousands of students at all the city's schools were to walk out starting at noon.
The vice president of the union said the students' demands include full local control of their education system, and a halt of the turnaround schools.
Newark Students Walk Out Of School, Protest City's Education Policy
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement the students were exercising their First Amendment and that they understood they're not getting the education they deserve.
Baraka said the district is in chaos.
But the Newark Public Schools did not similarly come to the students' defense.
"While the District supports our students' right to express their opinions and concerns, we cannot support these actions when they disrupt the regular instructional day," spokeswoman Brittany Chord Parmley said in a statement. "The District remains committed to broadening opportunities for Newark's students through expanded learning time and through creating additional professional development opportunities for teachers."
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie appointed Cami Anderson superintendent in 2011. Since then parents students have criticized her One Newark plan, which includes a universal enrollment scheme.
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