Nearly 25 years after New Jersey first took control of a troubled school district, a proposed state takeover of the Camden public schools sheds a critical spotlight on that state's long--and still mostly unsuccessful--record of trying to right struggling districts through such intervention. The state began running the public schools in Jersey City in 1989; in Paterson in 1991; and in Newark, the state's largest district, in 1995. Though the situation is different in each district, it is widely agreed that the academic performance in the state-run districts has not improved notably after years of state control. The department says its plans for Camden and its approach to running the state-controlled districts in general will be more effective than those of past administrations. "It's not just about who is in charge--it's about what you do with that power," says, Justin Barra, the chief policy and external-affairs officer at the state education department.