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BY SHARON McCLOSKEY and JOE TYRRELL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

SPECIAL REPORT: THIRD OF THREE PARTS

Newark schools have captured the nation's imagination.

After years of indifference, a buzz began locally in 2008, when wealthy foundations announced they had put up more than $20 million for the Newark Charter School Fund, backing public schools that are privately run.

Now, Newark schools have an even larger commitment, $100 million from billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. But the gift comes with strings.

As part of a deal negotiated among Zuckerberg, Mayor Cory Booker and Gov. Chris Christie, partial control of the city's school district will be handed to Booker, who convinced Zuckerberg to open his checkbook and is working to raise matching money.

Christie had already paved the way for the handover by announcing that he would not reappoint Superintendent Clifford Janey, who had just begun his third year on the job.

Zuckerberg's generosity has been widely applauded, creating a sense of momentum even before the effects can be felt.

Richard Barth, president of the highly touted Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), said it aims to double the number of children it serves in Newark, where it already has four charter schools.

SPECIAL REPORT:

New Jersey's charter school experiment: Inside Newark's Lady Liberty Academy

New Jersey's charter school experiment: Glen Pinder shakes up Lady Liberty Academy

"This partnership will create a team that knows that with will, hard work, and innovative ideas, we can do better," added Ted Mitchell, president of California's state board of education and president of the NewSchools Venture Fund, a strong backer of the "education entrepreneur" movement.

But not everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. Long-time Newark reformers like the Education Law Center's David Sciarra are leery of Booker control. For starters, Sciarra said, Gov. Christie had no authority to grant it.

At least in his public statements, Booker has acknowledged that cooperation and shared commitments will be as important as money and educational theories.

And money, no matter what the amount, does not guarantee success. If there is consensus among education gurus and entrepreneurs on any one point, it is this: the turnaround of problem schools is hard.

The experience Newark's Lady Liberty Academy Charter School, the beneficent of grant money from the Newark Charter School Fund, provides a cautionary tale about the problems faced by those working to improve Newark schools, and the danger of centralizing too many decisions among too few people.

New Beginnings

The winds of change blew open the doors of Lady Liberty last fall. With money provided by the Newark Charter School fund, Booker had lured a high-profile principal from New York's Harlem Children's Zone, Glen Pinder.

Over the preceding summer, with Fund partner De'Shawn Wright filling one of the nine-member board's many vacancies, Pinder installed a new administrative team, colleagues from New York. Wright and a handful of others set out to remake the school, hiring contractors to rewire and refit the building and enlisting new vendors for curriculum changes and testing preparation.

When parents walked through the school's doors in September, change was evident. But it would not be until November that they got their audience with the new executive director. Standing before them in a packed classroom, Pinder portrayed the school as failing.

True, Lady Liberty needed help, as student proficiency rates had dropped on state tests in 2008-2009. No matter that scores had gone up the previous year, or that Pinder overstated the decline. He was unafraid of setting a bold target, one tied to federal funding requirements.

"My main goal," he said, is to get to 80 percent proficiency by 2012," Pinder said.

He mentioned some of the consultants the school had brought in, noting they were needed the school ready for a charter renewal visit from state officials, then slated for December.

"The state's going to want to talk to parents," Pinder told them, "so we'll be reaching out to you for help."

As the new administrative team tried to transform the school, holdover staffers began to suspect that the makeover resembled more of a Potemkin Village. Some complained that the school was being staged for the visit from state education officials, with parents, teachers and students being selected and scripted to play roles in the process.

Some chafed at the administration's regimented approach. Others questioned Pinder's commitment to improvement beyond test scores.

"I'd correct students who misused words and grammar, after all that's part of our jobs," said Susan Gamba, a veteran teacher who had worked at several other districts.

"Of course, some of these kids complain that you're a racist, and Pinder would back them up," she said. "He'd say, 'Don't correct them, let them speak the way they do. You have to be sensitive to their culture.'"

The new year arrived with renewed internecine struggles at the school. They started in January with Pinder's continued effort to fire kindergarten teacher Kim Kurus, whose problems began following a union organizing discussion among some staffers.

Upstairs in the Dance Room, the few remaining members of the school board gathered for another early morning meeting, milling around the room and making small talk while they awaited the arrival of board President Ray Codey.

Then Kurus, whose status had been in limbo since December's meeting, walked in, clenching her folders to her chest, and the lightness disappeared.

"Shall we begin?" Codey asked, as he swept into the room, removed his overcoat and took his seat at the center of the tables.

To his right sat Glen Pinder, already wiping his brow with a folded handkerchief, and Kaylin Dines, once again reviewing her meeting folder. To his left, K. Anthony Thomas, dressed for court, De'Shawn Wright, checking his Blackberry, and Business Administrator Gil Barrios.

The group quickly moved through the agenda, approving policy manuals, teacher certifications, payroll, mentor fees, substitute coverage -- until only one item remained.

"The next issue up is the termination of Kim Kurus," Codey said. "Mr. Pinder?"

Pinder turned away from Codey, looked out towards the audience, cocked his head and began.

Prosecuting the Case

"I renew my recommendation that Ms. Kurus be terminated," Pinder replied. "I've done additional informal observation, and I see no significant improvement," he added.

"Ms. Kurus?" asked Codey, turning to the now visibly shaking teacher.

But before the teacher could speak, Thomas, the public defender on the school board, jumped in, wanting to frame the evidence in legalese.

"Exhibit A is a memorandum from Ms. Samson to you dated October 12, 2009," he began, listing the papers before him, and continuing on to Exhibit J, the report of Pinder's most recent informal observation. "Ms. Kurus, have you seen all these papers?" he asked.

"No," answered Kurus, "I've only seen three."

Thomas looked quizzically to his left at De'Shawn Wright, then to his right at Codey and Pinder. "Shouldn't she have all this?" he asked.

"No," snapped Pinder, "those are my notes to the file. Teachers don't see these."

Thomas said nothing, but shook his head slowly. He then listed Kurus's exhibits and asked if she had anything further to add.

Kurus spoke first about the most recent observation, saying that things had gone well in the class and that her students were all on task.

Pinder shot back, "You don't understand that it is up to me to make that assessment, not you."

And so it went, Pinder to Kurus to Pinder.

"What made you think that lesson was appropriate?"

"I got that lesson from Ms. Samson," Kurus said, referring to Beatrice Samson, the headmistress of curriculum imported for the Pinder team.

"Well, it was poorly executed."

"But that's not what you told me afterwards."

"The real problem is that you are not willing to accept supervision," Pinder said.

But Kurus had also been working with Gwen Stephens, a consultant brought by the Newark Charter School Fund in to coach the teachers before the renewal visit by state officials.

The teacher said she had relied on Samson's lesson plan and Stephens' advice because she did not have a curriculum from Samson. (That came later that day, five months into the school year).

Kaylin Dines, sitting to the far left of the tables, had had enough.

"Ms. Kurus," she began, "how are your students performing?"

"All but two are above grade average," Kurus replied.

Dines stopped for a minute, furrowing her brow.

"Because what I really want to know, the reason I joined this board in the first place, is what is happening to the children while this is all dragging on?" she asked. "From what I'm hearing, none of this is about curriculum or teaching, and this is a conversation that has to end."

No one at the table had an answer, but Wright took that as an invitation to end the debate and move on. He made the motion to approve termination, seconded by Thomas. Both men then quickly voted yes, in favor.

But not Ray Codey, the board president.

"I'm voting no," he said. "Though I am 100 percent behind the administration, I think four months is too short a time to make the fair assessment needed to terminate a teacher," he said, adding that there should be more time for Kurus to show improvement.

Dines agreed, voting no, but with worry. "You have an uphill battle," she said, adding that she, too, hoped that Kurus would return to her kindergarten classroom with marked improvement by June so the board could renew the teacher's contract.

And so it Kurus survived on a split vote, although legally speaking, with only four of nine seats filled, the board was in no position to take any action on her job.

Thomas extended an olive branch to the teacher, reiterating Dines' remarks that hopefully, come June, they'd be able to renew her contract. "And I mean that," he added.

Kurus nodded, bit her lip and left the room, fighting back tears.

The board had spoken. But not for long.

Last Man Standing

After the Lady Liberty board deadlocked on the question of whether to fire Kim Kurus, it went into closed session.

The board would not disclose discussions held or determinations made at that session, even after actions were taken that made the secrecy moot under the state Sunshine Law.

But the results of this one were obvious. Ray Codey, who had been involved with the school since its inception, stormed out of the meeting room and left the premises.

Glen Pinder wasted no time. He called Kurus into his office and told her that, contrary to the decision the board had just made, she would not return to her kindergarten classroom.

Instead, she became a permanent substitute, thus eliminating any chance for the improvement the board sought.

Codey resigned. Days later, Kaylin Dines also resigned. That left the nine-member board with only two positions filled, one by the NCSF's De'Shawn Wright and one by K. Anthony Thomas.

"At no other school where I've worked have I heard these kinds of complaints, the things that some people are saying about me here."
- Glen Pinder Wright quickly rounded up new board members to fill some of the seats in advance of the state renewal visit, which happened seamlessly in February. The department of education renewed the charter without conditions.

By then, however, the school's parents, tired of being excluded from the sweeping changes enveloping the school, had found their voice. At the February board meeting, Jeanine Reed, the school secretary and the group's president, read from a petition circulating among parents.

"Mr. Pinder was chosen last term by members of this board without parental participation, thought or concern," she said.

Reed recalled a time when parents and teachers worked together with the board, noting that the recent turnover in school administration and teaching staff had affected student education.

She argued the turmoil at the school was not so much about Pinder, but rather "about all of us engaged in democratic decision-making and collaboration from the ground up rather than from the top down."

But brush wars kept flaring up in the school. Samson was a sore point for some teachers, who complained she was conducting their evaluations although she had not yet been certified in New Jersey. Another teacher called the process unprofessional compared to other schools in the state, complaining Pinder arrived late to observe classes and left early.

Kim Kurus took it personally when Pinder criticized her for dressing "too professionally," complaining that "you teachers love those long skirts." Another female teacher said the principal told some women staffers to wear shorter skirts and others not to, "based on what he likes."

Pinder, although limited by legal concerns from discussing personnel, defended himself.

"At no other school where I've worked have I heard these kinds of complaints, the things that some people are saying about me here," Pinder said, sounding wounded.

Morton Goldfein, Lady Liberty's attorney, agreed.

"This man is a real brother, someone who truly believes in a vision of everybody working together," he said.

The school became further enmeshed in disputes arising from its refusal to provide documents in response to requests under the state Open Public Records Act. These included routine documents such as Pinder's contract, withheld for a year.

The school's intransigence led to intervention by the American Civil Liberties Union. After a protracted behind-the-scenes minuet, the board agreed to adopt "best practices" for record-keeping and improved its handling of OPRA requests.

As the school year neared its conclusion, videos of the school's dean of culture, Teaneck native Christopher Finn, began appearing on YouTube. Finn had worked with Pinder in Harlem, where his love of hip-hop culture and his co-ownership of a production company was no secret.

Though not especially racy for the genre -- with lyrics about guns, weed and alcohol -- the videos were not censored for an audience of elementary school students. One even featured Finn touting his job at Lady Liberty.

Susan Gamba, who knew she was on her way out, told WWOR news about the videos. She even appeared on-air in shadow on the subsequent report by Brenda Flanagan, but the station neglected to alter her voice, leaving her easily recognizable.

Since it was unclear who had posted the videos, Lady Liberty officials likely could have gotten by with an expression of disapproval and a mild reprimand of Finn.

Instead, they chose to duck on-air questions. Pinder sent a defensive statement to parents, not denying the undeniably accurate report, but saying that people were out to discredit Finn.

Bad News

After a year of new leaders and new strategies, of dollars spent on new consultants and new programs, the results from the state's standardized elementary grade tests arrived.

Pinder was frank in his disappointment.

"We did not see the sort of progress we hoped," he said.

Overall, the proficiency percentages were down markedly from 2007-2008, and even down slightly from the 2008-2009 results, which Pinder had previously described to parents as a failure. Some grades that had scored well in past years did not maintain those achievements as they moved on at Lady Liberty.

"We did see some improvement among individual students," Pinder said. "Not enough to be proficient, but some gains."

He pointed to new initiatives like a summer program, a low-stress way to help students prepare for the fall. And a curriculum this year that is ready, a sore spot among teachers last year.

With a full year at Lady Liberty under his belt, Pinder turned reflective, saying "it takes time to turn the ocean liner around."

"A lot of times, teachers don't understand what children in the inner city deal with, at home, in their lives," Pinder said. The idea is to "find them where they are and try to meet their needs," he said.

In fact, Pinder seemed to have second thoughts about his whole Joe Clark, carry-a-big-stick reputation. Beginning a new school year, he was at pains to describe discipline as only one piece of his educational strategy, not his major focus.

Instead, the goal is to "allow children to make the mistakes they're going to make," Pinder said. "They're going to develop over time."

He sounded remarkably like Kim Kurus.