Judge Clears Way for New Jersey to Take Over Newark School District

The state can and should disband the Newark school board and take control of the state’s largest school district, a state judge ruled Thursday.

Administrative Law Judge Stephen G. Weiss said the state’s evidence of poor academic performance in the district was substantial enough to show that the takeover effort “was neither arbitrary, unreasonable nor capricious.”

Newark school lawyer Raymond M. Brown had challenged the takeover, asking for a series of court hearings to review the accusations about academic troubles. Such hearings could have delayed the takeover for as long as two years, but Weiss dismissed the lawsuit.

Weiss’ ruling is not binding. Education Commissioner Leo Klagholz has final say on whether to take over the district.

Board of Education spokesman Peter Peretzman said it was not immediately clear whether Klagholz and the board would act in time to take over the schools by the start of the next academic year in September.

He said Klagholz could not comment because of his legal role in handling the case.

The state is already running the school systems in Jersey City and Paterson, and has an auditor monitoring expenditures in Newark. The Education Department, which has been sharply critical of the district, announced last July it wanted a full takeover of Newark, which has an enrollment of 48,000.