Elizabeth Superintendent
Participates in Education Forum 

Pablo Muñoz, Superintendent of the Elizabeth Public Schools, participated in an education forum on April 7, 2009 in Washington D.C.   The forum was based on a new book by Gordon MacInnes, In Plain Sight: Simple, Difficult Lessons from New Jersey’s Expensive Effort to Close the Achievement Gap.

MacInnes, former Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Abbott Implementation in New Jersey, discusses the introduction of early literacy practices by many of New Jersey’s poorest school districts which impacted student achievement on state tests.  It offers a comprehensive examination of those districts where poor, minority students demonstrated continued academic improvement. 

The forum, cosponsored by The Century Foundation and the Center for American Progress, explored the issues in the book and focused on how these lessons might apply to any American city school district that has concentrations of poor, minority children. Participants in the forum included MacInnes, Muñoz, Greg Anrig, Vice President for Policy at The Century Foundation, Sara Mead, Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation and Robin Chait, Associate Director for Teacher Quality at American Progress.

Muñoz contributed to the forum by sharing the successes of Elizabeth Public Schools’ early education initiatives and how it was affected by the resources made available through the Abbott v. Burke decision.  The Abbott decision ruled that funding in the poorest New Jersey districts should reflect the specific challenges those districts face.

“The alliance of policy with practice in the State of New Jersey has greatly improved our students’ lives.  The Abbott v. Burke decision has enabled our district to provide early childhood education and intensive early literacy programs resulting in significant growth in student achievement.  This unique collaboration between state and district is a model for what can be achieved when everyone works together to improve our student’s educational experiences,” said Muñoz.