The Prize (36 page)

Quitman Street Community School,
181–82

Race to the Top initiative,
9
,
107

Raczek, Garrett,
144

Rappaport, Sharon,
47
,
48
,
52–53
,
133

Ravitch, Diane,
9

Renew schools program: initial presentation of,
175–78
,
179
,
182
; results of,
203
; strengths of,
187–88
; troubled students and,
185–87

Rhee, Michelle,
56
,
58
,
71
,
153
,
211

Rice, Ron, Jr.,
93
,
96
,
179–80

Rice, Ron, Sr.,
13

Robertson, Julian,
14
,
153
,
160
,
162
.
See also
Robertson Foundation

Robertson Foundation,
68
,
153
,
158
,
159

Robeson Center, Rutgers University,
176–78

Robinson, Jared,
108
,
110

Robinson, Keisha,
146

Robinson, Sampson Douglass,
108
,
110

Roth, Philip,
14–15

Rudie, Evelyn,
116

Sah'Jaidah (Avon student),
37–38

Salaam, Muraad Abdus,
189

Sandberg, Michelle,
23

Sandberg, Sheryl,
23
,
28
,
30
,
33–34
,
98
,
100–102

Schnur, Jon,
107

school budgets: charter schools and,
137–38
,
236
; cuts in,
190–91
; social support and,
188
,
216–17
; spending patterns and,
135–37
; state comparisons,
135

school closings: community resistance to,
90
,
104
; excess teachers and,
124
; impact of charters and,
118–19
; No Child Left Behind law and,
91
,
132
; reform plans and,
5
,
72
,
95
,
104–5
,
119
,
131–33
,
175–78

Science Park High School,
109

Scott, Bernadette,
165

selection bias,
46
,
139

seniority protections: teacher quality and,
121–22
,
124
,
155
; teachers' contract and,
153–54
,
155
.
See also
excess teachers; teachers' contract in Newark; tenure reform

Shabazz High School,
44–45
,
59

Sharpton, Al,
88–89

Sherrer, Louis and Ella Mae,
16–17

Sherrod, Regina,
47

Silicon Valley Community Foundation,
212

SKDKnickerbocker (firm),
58–59

Smith, Kim,
8–9

Snell, Da'Veer,
142–44
,
147

Snell, Kevin,
143

Soros, George,
66

Souder, Calvin,
62

Southern Education Foundation,
232

South Ward Children's Alliance,
224–25

South Ward of Newark,
81
,
131
,
134
,
143
,
177
,
202
.
See also
Avon Avenue School;
BRICK
program; Carver Elementary school; Peshine Avenue School;
SPARK
Academy

SPARK
Academy,
130–32
,
137–44
,
215
,
216
.
See also
Belcher, Joanna; Fils Aime, Princess

Speedway Elementary School,
163–64

Spencer School,
103

Startup: Education Foundation,
35
,
64
,
212–13

STEP
literacy program: Avon Academy and,
39
,
46
,
134–35
,
147
,
SPARK
Academy and,
143
,
144
,
147

Street Fight
(documentary),
13

student support: absenteeism and,
134
,
143–44
; breakdowns of,
213–15
; Chan's school model and,
213
; charter schools and,
137–44
,
203
,
216
; community influence and,
61–64
; individualized learning,
212–15
; motivation and,
91–92
; Renew schools program and,
185–90
; spending on,
137–38
,
224–25
; student self-confidence and,
146
,
149

summer school system,
214

Sun Valley Resort event (2010),
22–25

superintendent of Newark schools: racial identity and,
112
; search for,
29–30
,
97–111
.
See also
Anderson, Cami; Brizard, Jean-Claude

support services.
See
student support

Talent Match staffing system,
121–22

Taylor, Greg,
66
,
163

teacher effectiveness: behavior of students and,
51
,
BRICK
Avon plan and,
44–48
,
133–35
,
136
; charter vs. district schools and,
188
; evaluation of,
154–55
,
235
,
236
; graduate degrees and,
156
; One Newark and,
204–5
; role of principals and,
121–22
; selection criteria and,
47
,
184–85
; student behavior and,
51–53
; student comments on,
147–48
; support for teachers and,
46
,
136
,
193–94
; teacher qualities and,
42
; teachers' pay in Newark and,
28–29
,
153
,
162
; test-based accountability and,
57–58
,
154–55
,
235
,
236
.
See also
Carlson, Kathleen; merit pay for teachers; seniority protections

Teacher Innovation Fund,
224

teachers' contract in Newark,
175
; accountability provisions in,
155–56
,
162
; behind-the-scenes struggles and,
151–64
; cost of,
156–57
,
162–63
,
223
; goal of,
151

Teach for America (TFA),
68
,
71
,
150
; Newark teachers and,
36–37
,
45
,
131
,
134
,
224
.
See also
Anderson, Cami; Haygood, Charity; Lee, Dominique

TEAM
schools,
46
,
103
,
158

tenure reform: Baraka and,
93
,
94
; Booker's plan and,
5
,
21
,
63
,
69
,
71
,
122
; New Jersey legislation and,
154
,
204–5
.
See also
excess teachers; seniority protections

Terrell, Deborah,
73–74

test scores.
See
literacy skills; proficiency scores

Think Progress,
13

Thirteenth Avenue School,
179–81

Tilson, Whitney,
195

Time
magazine,
89
,
150

top-down approach,
69
,
176–78
,
202–3
,
207
.
See also
consultants; education reform movement; local backlash; outsiders, community hostility to

“transformation” rhetoric,
68–69
,
71
,
76
; teachers' contract and,
151
,
158–59

troubled students:
BRICK
Avon and,
133–35
,
141
; Princess Williams class and,
39–42
; Renew schools program and,
185–87
,
SPARK
Academy and,
140–42
.
See also
gang violence; poverty; student support

Tuna, Cari,
131

Tusk, Bradley,
58–59
,
63

Twitter,
87–88

Uncommon Schools (charter network),
14
,
103
.
See also
North Star Academy

unions: Christie's politics and,
14
; education reform and,
5
,
13
,
162–63
,
235
; Newark school board and,
20
; Renew schools program and,
178–79
,
192–94
; school closings and,
178–79
; support for Baraka,
206–7
.
See also
teachers' contract in Newark

venture philanthropy.
See
philanthropy in education

voucher movement,
11–12

Waiting for Superman
(movie),
31–32
,
55
,
56
,
93
,
97

Walton Family Foundation,
8
,
153
,
158
,
159

Washington, D.C., school reform,
56–58
,
59
,
153
,
197
,
199
,
211

weak teachers: buyouts for,
156
,
162
,
223
; weak schools and,
131
,
177
,
180
.
See also
excess teachers; seniority protections; teacher effectiveness; tenure reform

Weequahic High School,
14
,
17
,
169

Weidman, Melinda,
50–51
,
166
,
167
,
168
,
170
,
171
,
172
,
173
,
215

Weingarten, Randi,
151–53
,
156
,
163

West Side High School,
41–42
,
214
,
215

Williams, Crystal,
103
,
185

Williams, Junius,
20
,
108

Williams, Princess.
See
Fils Aime (née Williams), Princess

Wilson, Valerie,
128

Wilson Reading System,
166–68

Wright, De'Shawn,
28
,
65
,
233

Young, Dante,
60

YouthBuild initiative,
105–6

Youth Leadership and Development,
225

Zuckerberg, Mark: charters and,
158
; goals of,
25
,
27–29
,
105–6
,
235
; influences on,
25–27
; lessons of Newark for,
25
,
212–13
; political concerns and,
30–31
; superintendent search and,
97–98
,
99
,
100–101
,
102
,
107
; teachers' contract and,
153–54
,
155
,
157–62

Zuckerberg $100 million gift: donation of,
22–35
; matching funds and,
33
,
64–66
,
157–62
,
188
, “national model” rhetoric and,
27–29
,
30
,
33–34
; spending of,
223–25
; timing of announcement of,
31–35
,
55

D
ALE
R
USSAKOFF
spent twenty-eight years as a reporter for the
Washington Post
, covering politics, education, social policy, and other topics.
The Prize
, serialized in
The New Yorker
, is her first book. She lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

* The principals' union had refused, through January 2015, to negotiate with Superintendent Cami Anderson, so the Foundation for Newark's Future allowed Anderson to spend some of the $13.7 million committed to the teacher contract on rewards to individual principals.

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† Anderson wasn't able to buy out only unwanted teachers because of restrictions in federal benefits legislation. This money will probably be redirected.

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