Dive Summary:

• Newark Public Schools laid off 129 administrators responsible for departments including mathematics, world language and athletics.
• District spokeswoman Renee Harper said the positions would have been redundant once the 40,000-student district shifts to a small school model.
• The cuts will save the district around $16 million and take effect July 1, though some of the administrators will be rehired in different roles.

From the article:

... “When department chairs were first introduced in Newark, they oversaw operations at huge schools,” Harper said. “Now that we’re moving to smaller school models—which are safer and produce better student achievement results— department chairs will no longer be needed.” ...