New Column at The 74 on Newark's April Surprise and the Rise of Charter School Parent Power

It starts here:
New Jersey may be the Garden State, but don’t think you’ll find any country bumpkins in Newark, the state’s largest city with a school district that enrolls 44,000 children. Every Newarkian knows that mayors, city councilmen, and ward operators control municipal elections, including the three seats up this year for the nine-member School Advisory Board (SAB). Consequently, voter-turnout rates on school board candidate election days typically hover at a sparse 7 percent; residents know it’s not their vote that truly matters. 
But the April 19th school board election three weeks ago was different because “an army of charter parents” found their voice — and started speaking as one.
Read the rest here.