This article originall appeared in The Star-Ledger.

A showdown brewing in Newark over the "co-location" of charter schools and district schools is expected to come to a head tonight as hundreds of parents, students, teachers and city officials debate the merits of a proposal to meld almost a dozen charter and district schools next year.

After a plan to introduce 11 charter schools into "underutilized" district schools was made public last month, many in the city's education community have coalesced into two camps supporting and opposing the move.

NEWARK, NJ – December 20, 2010 – Mashea Ashton, the CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, released the following statement on Gov. Chris Christie’s nomination of Christopher Cerf as commissioner of the state Department of Education:

"Chris Cerf is an excellent choice to serve as New Jersey's next Commissioner of Education. We at the Newark Charter School Fund look forward to working with him.