One Newark Education Coalition (ONEC)
569 Martin Luther King Blvd
2nd Floor
Newark, New Jersey 07102
(973) 242-3555
President:
Mary McDonald
Staff:
Endelea Meadows, Lead Organizer
meadows_onec@hotmail.com
Accomplishments
*The Special Needs Committee successfully campaigned against the practice of busing special needs students far from their homes to in-district schools with special services. The rides were sometimes up to several hours a day and significantly cut into students' class time, after-school program time, homework time, and play time. The committee set out to get children returned to their home sub-districts – schools closer to their home – while keeping their educational programs intact.
As a result of their organizing, the majorty of the students were returned to schools closer to home while maintaining their educational programs intact, with only a minority of students requiring such specialized instruction that the sub-district could not provide it.
*When parents in the School Safety Committee got fed up that thirty required crossing guard posts at dangerous street corners across the city had remained empty for too long, with four school-children hit by a car at one corner alone, they campaigned to get the posts filled. As a result of their work so far, they have gotten the district to fill twenty of those posts, budget for 34 additional crossing guards, and make several improvements in the school safety system to make it more efficient and include more parent involvement.
The School Safety Committee also helped the district get a major grant to update safety features around the outside of 10 Newark Public Schools, and the committee will continue to monitor how the district and city spend this and other money allotted for school safety. Their long-term campaign involves looking too at issues related to safety inside the schools, including the district use of security guards and the need to identify promising conflict resolution programs.
*ONEC recently started a Healthy Food Committee in response to common complaints about the quality of food served in the schools. The parent who spear-headed this effort didn’t believe her daughter’s complaints until her daughter showed her the wrapper from a slim-jim-with-cheese-stick she was fed on “sausage-and-cheese breakfast” day. Other complaints revolve around overly processed foods, food that’s inadequately cooked, and other nutrition and food safety concerns. The ONEC committee’s campaign revolves around making sure that each school’s required “nutrition committee” provides space for parents’ voices and is effective at improving nutrition. Participants have reported already seeing changes in the quality of food served in some schools
