Read the Jeffries Plan for Education

• Shavar does not support the closing of any public schools this year, and maintains that this should only be done as a last resort option.
  
  
• Shavar wholeheartedly supports parental choice; he believes that parents, not politicians, should decide where their children attend school, whether it's traditional public or public charter.

• Shavar’s vision of Newark is one where each child in Newark receives an education comparable to that of the most affluent and competitive districts in our great state. It is a vision in which each K-12 classroom has a competent, committed teacher at its helm; each principal has the resources at his or her disposal to serve the children who walk through the school’s doors each day; and each school makes provisions for the education of every child regardless of their ward, family background, ethnic heritage, or language status. 

• Emphasizing a strong foundation for our youngest residents, and relevant training for our adult population, a Jeffries administration will champion the cause of the #1 factor of social change and sustained progress: Education.

• Shavar has done more in support of Newark Public Schools than any other mayoral candidate in this race; through his litigation that returned more than $30 million dollars to the NPS budget and other work during his service as Advisory Board President, he has championed education in Newark. Shavar filed a lawsuit against the state that produced millions of dollars in new services and compensatory education for special-needs children, allowing the district to provide our children with much needed programs and resources.

• Drawing from his experiences as the founding chairperson of a public charter school board, and the former chair of the advisory board of Newark Public Schools, Shavar advocates a multi-faceted approach to educating our children:

1. improving and supporting the teaching workforce;
2. expanding learning time for children;
3. ensuring that there are community resources to attend to the socio-emotional aspects of a child’s life that impede learning
4. appropriately funding all worthwhile initiatives so that they can be fully enacted

• Shavar supports the continuing fight to regain local control of the Newark Public Schools, in a responsible way. During Shavar’s tenure of service as President of the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board, Newark scored above 80% in four of the five state monitored categories. Shavar will encourage key state legislators to enact legislation to clearly specify steps for return of local control.