The Newark Charter School Fund (NCSF) today announced the hirings of four new staff members whose experience and expertise will contribute to the Fund’s mission of developing and supporting high quality charter schools in Newark. The new staff members are Rana Khan, vice president of policy and new schools; Lisa Keise Miller, vice president of quality schools; Aileen Philbrick, chief of staff; and Akua Hill, program associate for new schools and policy.

“Rana, Lisa, Aileen and Akua all bring unique perspectives and experiences that will strengthen the Newark Charter School Fund family,” said Mashea Ashton, CEO of NCSF. “Their contributions will help us meet our goal that all Newark kids should have access to high-quality schools, regardless of economic status.”

Rana Khan is the former chief of staff to the executive director of office of space planning at the New York City Department of Education, where she managed special citywide initiatives and projects as they related to space planning within both instructional and administration sites. She currently serves as a founding board member of Great Oaks Charter schools in Newark, which is currently in co-located district space.

Lisa Keise Miller brings more than 10 years of experience in education reform and private mission-driven enterprises, most recently as the New York/New Jersey regional vice president for Revolution Foods, a national provider of nutritious meals for schools through the National School Lunch Program. She is a former New Jersey public high school science teacher.

Aileen Philbrick joins NCSF after 14 years at EdisonLearning Inc., a leading international educational solutions provider, where she served in various capacities and leadership roles, most recently as vice president of business systems. She was part of the EdisonLearning team behind launching the diverse provider model in the School District of Philadelphia in 2002.

Akua Hill has a background in youth and community engagement, including serving on the Child and Youth Master Plan Task Force to organize key community members and non-profit executives in creating a comprehensive plan for Nashville, Tenn. Her international experience, including service in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, will bring a fresh perspective to NCSFs efforts to attain strategic goals with a focus on research and due diligence. Hill will report to Vice President of Policy and New Schools Rana Khan.

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Newark officials broke ground on Teachers Village, a mixed-use development in downtown Newark that will create three new charter schools, a daycare center, more than 200 moderately-priced rental apartments for Newark teachers, and more than 20 on-street retail establishments which will include restaurants, medical offices and local and national stores.

NEWARK, NJ – October 24, 2011 – Thirteen Newark charter schools have signed a groundbreaking agreement to ensure they are upholding the highest principles of transparency and public accountability, serving an unmet need in Newark, striving for educational excellence, and fulfilling their missions to educate all students in the most equitable manner possible.

The Newark Charter School Compact was developed by the Newark Charter School Fund, a three-year- old organization committed to increasing the number of high-quality schools in Newark by improving charter schools, expanding successful schools, and developing promising new schools. Newark currently has 18 charter schools serving about 7,600 students.

Read this story as it originally appeared on localtalknews.com | nj.com

The Newark Education Trust, a permanent local education fund serving Newark public schools, has announced the appointment of a new vice chair and two additional members of the Board of Directors who will be instrumental in the roll-out of programs and initiatives to improve education outcomes for the city’s school children.

Ross Danis, executive director of the Trust,  said  Shané Harris, vice president, Community Resources at Prudential and vice president of The Prudential Foundation, has been appointed vice chair of the Board.

This article originally ran in a special four-page section produced by the Newark Charter School Fund in Local Talk News.

Education leaders nationwide are eyeing what happens in Newark, which is becoming a haven for innovation. And it’s not just the $100 million from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that has others paying attention. However, some question all this “outside” interest in Newark.

The reason for this attention is simple and complex.  Whether outside or inside- we all agree that something has to be done before we allow another generation of students to not reach their full potential.  The complexity is that we don’t all agree on how to get there. Charter schools, co-location, new small schools- these are not the silver bullets, but they are part of the solution.

NEWARK, NJ – June 13, 2011 – Mashea Ashton, the CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, released the following statement about a revised proposal from Newark Public Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson to share underutilized district schools with public charter schools.

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Newark Public Schools today announced its final shared campus plan for the 2011-12 school year, with fourteen district and public charter schools sharing space in seven buildings across the district, creating space for some 1,800 students.

The plan calls for four new district high schools and seven public charter schools to open next fall in underutilized district schools. The district estimates it will save $4.1 million in facility operating costs next year, while earning about $800,000 in rent.

“Our goal with shared space is simple: to create more high quality school options for Newark families while reducing operational costs and freeing up resources that can be redirected,” said Superintendent Cami Anderson, who announced the plan at a press conference this afternoon, her first official day as superintendent.

Read this article as it originally appeared on Patch.com

Newark's new schools superintendent announced details Monday of a plan that would allow charter schools to share space inside Newark's public school buildings.

Cami Anderson, on her first day of the job, said the shared campus plan would create four new high schools and allow room for seven charter schools in city school buildings. Anderson also said no schools will close this fall, but five will be consolidated.

She will present the plan Tuesday night to the city's school advisory board. Anderson said the moves are expected to save the school district $4.1 million in operating costs and generate $800,000 in revenue from lease agreements with various charter schools.

NEWARK, NJ – May 4, 2011 – The selection of Cami Anderson as the next superintendent of the Newark Public Schools is receiving the strong support of the Newark Charter School Fund (www.ncsfund.org). But, fund officials caution, Newarkers must recognize that one person can’t be relied upon to change the culture of the entire school district.

This article originall appeared in The Star-Ledger.

A showdown brewing in Newark over the "co-location" of charter schools and district schools is expected to come to a head tonight as hundreds of parents, students, teachers and city officials debate the merits of a proposal to meld almost a dozen charter and district schools next year.

After a plan to introduce 11 charter schools into "underutilized" district schools was made public last month, many in the city's education community have coalesced into two camps supporting and opposing the move.

WABC 7 coverage of the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board meeting on March 22, 2011. Mashea Ashton, the CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, comments on the plan to co-locate charter schools with public schools.

News 12 coverage of the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board meeting on March 22, 2011. Mashea Ashton, the CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, comments on the plan to co-locate charter schools with public schools.

This story original appeared in LocalTalkNews.com

Newark’s University Heights Charter School is one of just 18 charter schools from across the country, and only two in the tri-state area, to be honored by the New Leaders for New Schools’ Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) program for accomplishing breakthrough student achievement gains.

Educators at the school will receive individual financial rewards in exchange for working with New Leaders for New Schools to document and share the practices that led to their successes.

NEWARK, NJ – December 20, 2010 – Mashea Ashton, the CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, released the following statement on Gov. Chris Christie’s nomination of Christopher Cerf as commissioner of the state Department of Education:

"Chris Cerf is an excellent choice to serve as New Jersey's next Commissioner of Education. We at the Newark Charter School Fund look forward to working with him.

NEWARK, NJ – Nov. 10, 2010 – Mashea Ashton, the CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, released the following statement regarding the release of the Advocates for Children of New Jersey 2010 Newark Kids Count Report:

“We share ACNJ's recommendation that we need to identify what's working in both successful charter and traditional schools and replicate those strategies.  However, we also note that ACNJ reports that at the 8th grade level, nearly all Newark charter schools are outperforming the district in both math and language arts. This is critical because it demonstrates that charters are playing a key role in preparing Newark students for high school and college.