Takeover
battle comes full circle for schools
chief
Monday, July 04, 2005
• The Star-Ledger
It's difficult to know
whether to smile over the predicament faced by Richard
Kaplan, the superintendent of New Brunswick's
schools.
Anyone who knew him nearly
20 years ago knew Kaplan -- or "Kap," as he's often called
-- was one of the most feared men in public education. He
was the guy who got the dirt on school districts that
ultimately would face a state takeover.
Now, just shy of a year in
the job in New Brunswick, Kaplan himself faces the prospect
-- granted, less likely than when he was with the state --
of a takeover.
"It will take a while," he
says of his district, "but we'll succeed."
Sure, there has to be some
humor in the state breathing down the neck of a guy known
for his own hot exhalations, but smiles freeze at the
thought that, nearly 40 years after urban education was
formally considered a major failure in New Jersey, it still
is.
"Yes, I'm disappointed,"
says Kaplan about state takeovers. "I thought it would have
turned out better. But we all knew it would take some time.
A long time."
A good time to begin
counting is April 25, 1968, when, in the aftermath of civil
disorders, then-Gov. Richard J. Hughes asked a joint session
of the Legislature for a "Moral Recommitment" to the state's
cities -- including a law putting the Newark schools under
state control.
A few weeks earlier, a
state commission appointed by Hughes identified failing
schools as a primary cause of the riot that killed 27 people
in 1967.
Twenty years passed before
such legislation was enacted with the strong support of
former Gov. Tom Kean who, as a young Republican assemblyman
in 1968, supported many of the Democratic governor's urban
initiatives. A different time, politically.
Kaplan, trained as a
special education teacher and administrator, was hired by
Kean's education commissioner, Saul Cooperman, as a special
assistant. As Kean and Cooperman moved toward supporting
state takeover, Kaplan became what amounted to chief
investigator of failing districts.
Despite an affably
self-deprecating personality, Kaplan clashed with local
officials -- especially in Jersey City, the first target.
Twice, they tried to file criminal charges against him, once
for allegedly breaking into a desk of a no-show
administrator and again for supposedly threatening to throw
an administrator out a window.
To meet him, you wouldn't
believe it.
"Me? Little Richie Kaplan?"
he asks with mock innocence.
In the 1980s, state
education officials had to deal with two sources of
frustration. Rapidly increasing spending and a developing
record of failing scores on statewide tests.
The state began limited
school testing in 1973 -- the same year the state Supreme
Court struck down New Jersey's school funding formula. Three
years later, under withering pressure from the court,
legislators passed both an income tax to fund a new aid
formula -- and a comprehensive minimum basic skills test to
measure school success.
Year after year, taxpayers
spent more on city schools -- and, year after year, scores
suggested the money didn't accomplish much. Political
resistance to state takeovers -- New Jersey had a strong
legacy of home rule -- finally collapsed in 1988.
The first was Jersey City,
in 1989. Paterson, in 1993. Finally, the last, Newark, in
1995. Since then, the state has shown an aversion to adding
to the list.
The results have been
mixed. School buildings are in better shape and many more
schools are under construction. Outright corruption and
mismanagement, while not completely gone, seem less obvious.
No reports recently of entire school boards taking junkets
to Hawaii, or giving themselves expensive new
cars.
The gap in test scores
between rich and poor districts, however, remains
depressingly wide. In Newark, for example, according to most
recent state test scores, fewer than half of high school
students are proficient in language arts -- and one in four
is considered proficient in mathematics. In some schools,
barely 10 percent are up to standards in math.
"Over the years, the state
has not been consistent," says Kaplan, who has been a local
superintendent since 1990. "It changes the
rules."
Kaplan's local experience,
until he came to New Brunswick, was in suburban districts.
He believes the state "cannot decide which role it should
play" in cities -- providing expert assistance or
investigating and revealing problems.
The state tries to do both,
of course, but there's a conflict, especially in takeover
districts where, in effect, it is judging its own efficacy,
never a good idea.
He is
optimistic.
At 55, he says, he comes to
an urban district "with a lot of on-the-job training." Both
in knowing how urban districts fail -- and how suburban
districts (he led Eatontown and Boonton) succeed.
"Expectations," he says.
"It's a matter of expectations. I don't say our children can
succeed. I say they will succeed."
Kaplan has plans. He has
enthusiasm. He has experience. He has savvy. And he truly
does have high expectations.
It's difficult to know
whether or not to smile, especially for someone who listened
to similar sentiments a score of years ago.
Bob Braun's columns appear Monday and Thursday. He may be
reached at (973) 392-4281 or at rjbraun@webspan.net.
Copyright 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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