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| Organizing for Education Justice, Promoting Strong Public Schools

Newark Student Sit-in Lasted Through the Night at District Headquarters

NJ.com - February 18, 2015, by Naomi Nix - New Jersey Communities United organizer and NSU co-founder Thais Marques said the school district is preventing food from coming up to the students during their sit-in; The students have not eaten for 12 hours, Marques said.

But Newark Public Schools spokeswoman Brittany Chord Parmley said the district is not withholding food and that it will be available for them when they come downstairs where there is a bus waiting to take them to school.

"We encourage the kids to go to school," she said.

The youths who staged a sit-in at Newark Public Schools' headquarters Tuesday night in protest of superintendent Cami Anderson's leadership stayed the night.

"We are staying until Cami comes in to her office and faces us or until her resignation," New Jersey Communities United organizer and NSU co-founder Thais Marques said in a phone interview this morning.

The sit-in, organized by the Newark Student Union, started around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday during a Newark Public Schools Advisory Board business meeting when the students ascended to the 8th floor where Anderson's and other administrators' offices are located, said activists and board members.

The students received pizza for dinner and are awaiting donations of breakfast from area organizations, Marques said.

The students plan to hold a press conference later in the day.

Meanwhile, Newark Public Schools spokeswoman Brittany Chord Parmley said the district is trying to work with their parent to get them to attend school.

"We appreciate the passion shown by these students, but the district strongly believes that this passion would be better served in the classroom," she said in a statement.

"NPS has reached out to their parents in an effort to get this group of students to school this morning, and we remain open to engaging in a constructive dialogue that does not compromise valuable learning time."

But Marques said the students' parents support their sit- in, and even attended Tuesday's business meeting in a show of support.

"It's kind of like a futile effort on their part because they have parent support," she said.

The activists contend that Anderson has not engaged with students and parents about the district's controversial reforms.

The union is also opposed to the district's One Newark plan, which they argue is untested and hurts neighborhood schools.

"The One Newark plan is not what we want," Marques said in an interview Tuesday evening.

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