WNYC's Brian Lehrer will host a community forum Wednesday, March 20, 2013, about public education, with Nancy Solomon, Managing Editor of New Jersey Public Radio and John Mooney of NJ Spotlight. The forum will begin at 7 p.m. and will take place at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center at One Center Street in Newark.

Special guests include:

• Mayor Cory Booker, Newark
• Cami Anderson, Superintendent, Newark Public Schools
• Mashea Ashton, CEO, Newark Charter School Fund
• Erskine Glover, Principal, Quitman Street School
• Michael Dixon, Teacher, Ivy Hill Elementary School
• Sharon Smith, Parent Activist

Join the national conversation about how to improve urban public schools. This Forum will pose the tough questions facing New Jersey's largest district and search for answers. Are charter schools the best hope for inner cities? Has the infusion of large private donations helped Newark schools? What are the implications of New Jersey's new teacher tenure rules?

The free event is presented by WNYC in partnership with NJPAC. Click here for more information. 

The Newark Trust for Education's Committee of Advocates has scheduled its second annual candidates' forum to take place March 28, 2013 at 6 p.m. The forum is designed to provide a venue for candidates seeking a seat on the Newark Public Schools advisory board.

"A main goal of the Newark Trust for Education is to raise the level of civic discourse around education issues in Newark," said Ross Danis, Trust president and CEO. "We achieved that goal at our 2012 forum and I expect this event to be even more successful."

The Candidates' forum will take place at Smith Lecture Hall at Essex County College in Newark. Newark resident and former board member Richard Cammarieri will return as forum moderator. Last year's event attracted over 300 people and was streamed live on the Trust's Livestream page.

The forum will also have encore broadcasts on Cablevision 77 and 19.

The Newark Trust for Education will highlight the opportunity gap facing young black and Latino men as part of continued series of events designed to foster community dialogue.

The discussion, "Young Male Achievement," will take place Thursday, March 14, 2013 between 5 and 7 p.m. at Eagle Academy for Young Men at 66 Muhammad Ali Avenue.

"As Newark Public Schools works to launch reform initiatives to accelerate district-wide academic achievement, we need to examine some key challenges facing our youth," said Ross Danis, Trust president and CEO.

NET Navigator, the powerful online tool that gives funders, school leaders, parents and programs providers information about external investments in Newark's public district and charter school, is now tracking more than $92 million in funding.

Newark Trust for Education launched NET Navigator, a flagship initiative, in October 2012. At that time, the tool had tracked $66 million in funding. The online database allows users to map investments in a variety of ways, including by funding sources, school types, programs, grades and ward.

"This is a dynamic tool that sheds light on the amount of resources that travel to schools to support students' learning," said Ross Danis, president and CEO of the Newark Trust. "As the database continues to grow, we are quickly reaching the point where we will be able to provide a set of data visualization tools that show the relationships between funder investment and student achievement in Newark."