Abrupt Departure for Trenton Superintendent Francisco Duran

Superintendent Duran, who has held the top post at Trenton Public Schools since July 2012, announced that he was leaving immediately to take over as chief academic officer at Fairfax County Schools in Virginia, a huge district with 188,545 students across 196 schools. 

The Star Ledger reports that Duran's departure came as "a surprise to many," although he's been looking for other employment. (He narrowly missed being appointed last year as head of Anne Arundel schools in Maryland.) Also, Duran's contract expired with the Trenton School Board last June and the two parties had yet to come to terms.

L.A. Parker at the Trentonian, no Duran fan, describes the news as "unexpected, but welcomed," which may "offer new headaches for Trenton school board members and Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson" but "may serve as the city’s big break. Scratch that. Make that huge break." He continues,

While Trenton enjoys redevelopment the future of this city tethers to education. Durán leaving should allow Jackson to build a platform for revitalization of a Trenton school system, one of several state urban areas that bottom feeds on graduation lists and classroom success. 

A Department of Education Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending report showed that Trenton spends $23,181 per student, almost $4,000 more than the state average. Trenton ranked 333rd in one student performance report, just six spots away from being the worst. 

If taxpayers receive such minimal bang for their bucks then an education revolution sounds perfect. If a ninth grade student receives $100,000 worth of learning before graduation, one should expect that he/she could spell, read and write like Charles Dickens. 

Trenton public schools need an education summit and game plan for the next decade. Instead, public education leaders scream foul play as charter schools continually outperform public school. 

Seriously, if a charter school such as Foundation Academies achieves success that includes all high school graduates heading off to college, then public school educators should be forced to drink whatever magical lemonade is being distributed to faculty and student body members.