Newark students, parents complain about conditions at citys largest high school

NEWARK (WABC) -- Parents and students are speaking out about problems at a high school in New Jersey.

Those who attend Newark's largest high school, Barringer High School, claim there are overcrowded classes, text book shortages and staff members misbehaving.

Now, Mayor Ras Baraka is stepping in and talking with parents.

The concerns came to light with a YouTube video featuring testimony from students about classroom conditions.

The students complained about confusion with class schedules, overly-crowded classrooms with up to 40 students and a lack of desks that forced some kids to sit on the floor.

The school's principal was hired in August, just before the start of school year, and there are as many as 15 substitute teachers for subjects like math and science.

Mayor Baraka toured the school and while praising the school administration, he does acknowledge there are lingering problems that should have been resolved.

"There's a lot of work that needs to be done at Barringer," he said. "Do I think that it is where it's supposed to be? Absolutely not. But I do see that the administration here is working hard to get it into that direction, and I think they're doing a yeoman's job given the tools that they have to work with. But I don't think that they have all of the support that they need from the district."

The superintendent also admits there are problems, but says the overcrowding problem has been exaggerated and that they are dealing with the problem of hiring permanent teachers for important subjects.