As its name suggests, CDEE, the Center for Diversity and Equality in Education, is committed to carrying out high quality and independent research, policy analysis and advocacy to promote the twin values of diversity and equality in the public schools of New Jersey and the rest of the nation. Its goal is to participate actively and directly in changing the lived reality for students, not just to provide research and policy analysis to enable others to do so.
Although CDEE is a new non-profit entity established by Professor Paul Tractenberg in January 2016, it builds upon a long history and a rich legacy. Its most direct antecedent is the Institute on Education Law and Policy at Rutgers-Newark (IELP) established by Professor Tractenberg in September 2000, and directed or co-directed by him until December 31, 2015 when he retired from full-time teaching at Rutgers Law School in Newark and became a professor emeritus. Indeed, CDEE’s signature project, the one focused on the Morris School District, was launched under the auspices of IELP and still has some Rutgers connections.
Of course, the roots of CDEE are much deeper than that. Ever since he joined the Rutgers Law School faculty in July 1970, Professor Tractenberg’s professional life has been focused on using high quality research, policy analysis and advocacy to improve the educational opportunities of New Jersey’s and the nation’s at-risk students, especially those living in poor urban school districts. His two primary focal points have been equalizing the funding of those urban school districts and desegregating the schools in whatever ways could feasibly work, including district consolidation.
Connect:
NCSD Contact: Paul Tractenberg, tractnbg@law.rutgers.edu
Website: http://www.centerfordiversityandequalityineducation.com