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GSCS: The Garden State Coalition welcomes the appointment of Christopher Cerf as New Jersey Commissioner of Education. He will take office in the New Year, and we look forward to working with the Commissioner in a new era that signals hope and opportunity for quality education for all of New Jersey's schoolchildren. While change and reform will occur, early indications are that thought and dedication to what all students needs are will be the first consideration.
Philadelphia Inquirer ‘N.J. education chief nominee Cerf: Help the have-nots’
Gannett News ‘Cerf’s up at DOE, Christie picks new commissioner’
The Record ‘Education chief nominee calls 2011 year of reform’
Star Ledger ‘N.J. education chief nominee Christopher Cerf calls for reform of state's worst schools’
Star Ledger ‘Gov. Christie's pick for N.J. schools chief hopes to bridge education gap in some communities’ "...New Jersey has one of the best education systems in the country, which can only mean it’s being led by a dedicated group of educators," Cerf said Saturday at his Montclair home. "At the same time, there are certain communities in this state where we should all be ashamed about the gap between children who are rich and poor and black and white…"
Philadelphia Inquirer ‘N.J. education chief nominee Cerf: Help the have-nots’
Gannett News ‘Cerf’s up at DOE, Christie picks new commissioner’
Star Ledger ‘N.J. education chief nominee Christopher Cerf calls for reform of state's worst schools’
Philadelphia Inquirer ‘N.J. education chief nominee Cerf: Help the have-nots’
TRENTON - Gov. Christie's choice to lead the state's Education Department vowed Monday to close the "shameful achievement gap" between students born in New Jersey's wealthy and poor areas, and reached out to teachers, calling them "spiritual guides" who make a difference in children's lives.
Christopher Cerf, 56, of Montclair, a former New York City deputy schools chancellor and a former top executive at the country's largest for-profit operator of public schools, was formally introduced Monday as the governor's nominee for education commissioner.
"We live in a state that should be very, very proud of its educational system," Cerf said at a statehouse news conference, "but we also live in a state where the gap between those who were born to economic circumstances that are positive and those who are born to poverty simply do not have equal opportunity for success in our system.
"That, in my judgment, is a shameful situation that all of us should be throwing ourselves at with everything we have to correct."
Christie said he and Cerf have an "interesting and challenging year in terms of reforming an education system in New Jersey that in my view is desperately in need of reform."
The governor thanked acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks, who has led the department since Christie fired Bret Schundler in August in the aftermath of the state's failure to win $400 million in federal education grant money.
Cerf, a Democrat, is chief executive officer of Sangari Global Education, which provides science-education materials. He is known as a supporter of charter schools, teacher and administrator accountability for student achievement, and differentiated pay for teachers.
Among the chief tasks before Cerf, assuming he is confirmed by the Senate, may be to smooth relations with the New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union and a frequent target of Christie's criticism.
The governor, a supporter of merit pay, school vouchers, and charter schools, often argues that the NJEA stands in the way of "real reform." He has criticized the tenure system as guaranteeing teachers a job for life, for example, and frequently, including on Monday, says the NJEA has spent millions of dollars on what Christie called "attack ads" targeting him.
On Monday, Christie reiterated that it was the teachers union that called any attempt on his part to balance the state budget with cuts in education aid "the greatest assault on public education in the history of New Jersey." Christie's first budget cut $820 million in state aid to schools.
"I will not be a punching bag for protectors of the status quo, because the status quo has failed," Christie said. "It fails hundreds of thousands of kids in this state every day."
Cerf, who worked as a high school history teacher for four years in Ohio before going to law school at Columbia University, gave teachers a nod Monday.
"I do understand and deeply appreciate what it means to be a good teacher," Cerf said. "They are the absolute essential component in student learning. They are the spiritual guides; they're the ones who really make a difference."
While working for New York City School Chancellor Joel Klein, Cerf worked with the teachers union to come up with a compromise on merit pay involving bonuses to high-achieving schools instead of individual teachers.
Steve Wollmer, an NJEA spokesman, said the union was encouraged that Cerf had a good relationship with the teachers union in New York. He said the school-based bonus program Cerf had worked on was similar to the compromise on the federal Race to the Top grant application agreed to by the NJEA and Schundler that Christie later rejected.
"We're taking the point of view that it's time to seek common ground," Wollmer said. "The public has had enough of this fighting with the governor. It might be entertaining, but it's not productive."
Randi Weingarten, who was president of the teachers union in New York while Cerf was deputy chancellor, said that although she and Cerf approached problems from very different vantage points, they had a "very constructive relationship."
"Chris is a good listener and tries to solve problems, so he's no pushover," Weingarten said. "This guy focuses very much on kids and schools, but he knows that you can't do it without teachers and their unions."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Cerf "played a crucial role in our work to turn around a once-broken school system that had failed generations of students. His creativity and leadership, and his willingness to tackle the toughest issues head-on by putting the interests of children ahead of the special interests, helped our administration achieve record gains in achievement levels and graduation rates."
Cerf sketched broad outlines of his approach to education Monday but delved into few details.
Finding the best teachers and school leaders is "the last frontier of school reform," he said, and accountability for student learning is critical.
Cerf said that parents should be allowed to choose which public school their child attends and that schools should be empowered to make decisions, which he called the flip side of accountability.
Asked whether he supported school vouchers, Cerf said he was for "anything that works."
"We live in a country where zip code is destiny," he said.
While the evidence on whether school vouchers works is evolving, he said, he favors "continuing to develop that evidence."
Regarding tenure, Cerf said a system that guarantees job security for life, regardless of what is best for the students, "puts the interests of adults ahead of the interests of children."
Christie said Monday that he has known Cerf since his time at Edison Schools, the private operator of public schools, and that the two shared a belief that New Jersey's education system is broken.
Cerf served for eight years as president and chief operating officer of Edison, which was hired to operate failing city schools in Philadelphia, a model that the School District has largely abandoned.
As a deputy chancellor in New York, Cerf came under criticism in 2007 after he gave up his equity stake in Edison the day before he was expected to appear before a parents' group to answer questions about Edison. At the meeting, Cerf told parents that he had no financial interest in the company but failed to disclose until a telephone interview hours later that he had divested himself only the day before, according to the New York Times.
Cerf left the deputy chancellor position to work on Bloomberg's reelection campaign.
Cerf, a graduate of Amherst College, also worked previously as an associate counsel under President Bill Clinton and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Contact staff writer Adrienne Lu at 609-989-8990 or alu@phillynews.com
Gannett News ‘Cerf’s up at DOE, Christie picks new commissioner’
Posted By Michael Symons On December 20, 2010 @ 11:39 am
As expected, Gov. Chris Christie today announced he’s nominating Christopher Cerf as the next commissioner of the state Department of Education.
At a news conference at Christie’s Statehouse office, Cerf said the Christie administration has a clear mission and said he’ll focus on accountability, competition and empowerment. A former history teacher for four years at Cincinnati County Day School in Ohio, Cerf today praised teachers as the single greatest determinant of a child’s future.
Six minutes later, Christie criticized the teachers’ union again for not cooperating in his efforts to overhaul state education policies and said he looks forward to a time when the NJEA wants to be a part of reforms. “I will not be a punching bag for the status quo,” he said.
Cerf later said the state should revamp the way it pays teachers, saying a system that relies on longevity and advanced degrees doesn’t work very well.
Cerf, 56, lives in Montclair and is a registered Democrat who has given campaign donations and education-policy advice to Newark Mayor Cory Booker. He was an associate counsel to President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1996.
The Department of Education has been without a permanent commissioner since Christie booted Bret Schundler nearly four months ago in the fallout
Rochelle Hendricks, who has been serving as the acting education commissioner, stood to Christie’s right at the Statehouse news conference today and was praised for her “extraordinary professionalism” in what the governor called a difficult situation. She’ll be staying on at the DOE, Christie said.
The Record ‘Education chief nominee calls 2011 year of reform’
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
BY JOHN REITMEYER
The Record
STATE HOUSE BUREAU
Governor Christie's new schools chief is looking at 2011 as "the year for education reform in New Jersey."
The governor introduced Christopher Cerf, a former New York City deputy schools chancellor, during a State House news conference Monday morning. His nomination goes to the state Senate for consideration.
Cerf, a 56-year-old Montclair resident, said New Jersey is a state "that should be very, very proud of its educational system."
He also said, however, that the gap between student achievement in some of the state's cities and many of its suburbs is a "shameful problem that all of us should be throwing ourselves at with everything we have to correct."
"Governor Christie has made it clear that 2011 is the year for education reform in New Jersey," he said.
Christie, a Republican, spent much of his first year in office challenging the New Jersey Education Association, the labor union that represents most teachers in the state. He urged teachers to accept a pay freeze, cut education funding and has responded forcefully to negative advertisements and other attacks the union has been behind.
He's also been pushing an education reform agenda that includes changing tenure rules for teachers and using merit pay to reward teacher performance. And he's advocated for charter schools and school vouchers to improve student performance in urban areas.
The governor said he wants a New Jersey school system that serves students as well in cities such as Paterson and Passaic as in the suburbs.
"What's happening now isn't working," Christie said. "There is rampant failure."
"I will no longer endorse a system that is full of failure," he said.
Cerf, a Democrat, is a former teacher and law school graduate who worked in the White House counsel's office under President Bill Clinton and as a clerk for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
More recently, he served as an officer for Edison Schools, a for-profit company that runs public schools and as New York City's deputy schools chancellor. He also served as an education adviser to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's recent reelection bid.
"I thank him for his willingness to come forward to serve the students and the citizens of the state of New Jersey at this point in his career," Christie said.
Despite their political differences, Cerf said he has admired Christie's ability to speak up for widespread education reform and call for closing the gap between student performance in the cities and suburbs.
"I'm very honored to be a part of that," Cerf said.
If confirmed by the Senate, Cerf would take over a state Education Department that has had no permanent chief since the summer. Christie fired the previous commissioner, Bret Schundler, in August after the state's application for $400 million in federal education funding came up short.
The governor said Schundler, a former GOP candidate for governor in 2001, misled him about the details of a grant application interview, a charge Schundler adamantly denied.
The state Department of Education has also been strained by serial departures, with six out of seven assistant commissioner spots now vacant.
E-mail:reitmeyer@northjersey.com
Star Ledger ‘N.J. education chief nominee Christopher Cerf calls for reform of state's worst schools’
Published: Monday, December 20, 2010, 9:50 PM Updated: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 6:07 AM
By Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-Ledger
Governor Chris Christie announced Cerf, as his nominee for New Jersey Education Commissioner.
TRENTON — Vowing to focus on "issues that have long been neglected" in public education, Gov. Chris Christie Monday introduced former deputy New York City schools chancellor Christopher D. Cerf as the state’s next education commissioner.
At a press conference in the Statehouse, Christie called Cerf, 56, of Montclair, someone whose "record of reform and innovation...is well known" and whose "philosophical approach in many areas of education is in line with mine."
Cerf, who now is CEO of Sangari Education, a global math and science technology company, called for the need to reform the state’s worst schools, closing the "shameful" achievement gap between "those born to economic circumstances that are positive and those born to poverty."
He praised Christie for drawing "clear lines" to address it, and offered a prescription that includes finding the best teachers and school leaders; increasing accountability in schools; allowing parents to choose their child’s school; giving schools more opportunity to make decisions for themselves; and more use of technology and other innovation.
News of Cerf’s nomination was first reported last week by The Star-Ledger and Wall Street Journal. His nomination now moves to the Senate Judiciary Committee for a confirmation hearing on the $141,000 a year cabinet post.
A former high school history teacher, and a member of the board of TEAM Academy, a Newark charter school, Cerf Monday also spoke of targeting issues that have long been sacred to teachers. He said he supports "differentiated pay" for teachers, with "rewards and consequences" based on how well children are learning, instead of the current system where salary is based on years of service and a teachers’ degree of education.
Cerf also called tenure, the job protection that teachers earn after three years and one day on the job, something that was once "a guard against arbitrariness" but that has "massively mutated ... into essentially lifetime protection."
Both he and Christie called for making decisions on school reform based on what is good for children, not adults.
But Cerf also praised teachers, calling them "an essential component in student learning" and the "spiritual guides" who can lead a child to success in the classroom.
"The effectiveness of a teacher is far and away the single greatest determinant in closing the shameful achievement gap," Cerf said. "I have the highest regard and deepest appreciation for teachers in the state. I look forward to working with them."
In Cerf, Christie, a Republican, crossed the aisle to nominate a Democrat. Cerf is an attorney who worked in the Clinton White House. He was also former president of Edison Schools Inc., which at the time was the nation’s largest private sector manager of public schools.
Christie, who has waged a nearly year-long battle with the New Jersey Education Association over teacher pay and tenure, showed no sign of easing up, however. He said the tone of his administration going forward will be "determined by the partner we have on the other side."
He alluded to teachers as "one group standing in the schoolhouse door blocking reform."
"I am looking forward to the time when the teachers union wants to be part of real reform," Christie said. "I have seen nothing that indicates they will be. However, I wait in hope."
NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said later the union looks forward to meeting with Cerf and "hopefully establishing the type of dialogue that ought to exist between the commissioner and NJEA." He pointed to an agreement Cerf made with New York City’s teachers’ union, which created a system where schools earned bonuses when students excel.
Christie selected Cerf to fill the job left vacant when the governor, in August, fired former Education Commissioner Bret Schundler over the state’s failed Race to the Top bid for federal education stimulus money.
Acting Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks, who was assistant commissioner of education, and who was a candidate for the permanent post, has filled the role since Schundler was fired. Christie also thanked her, and said she will be staying on in his administration.
Cerf’s appointment has been praised by many in education.
Ryan Hill, CEO of TEAM Academy, said Cerf is "very bold and has high expectations for what education should look like."
"Fundamentally, Chris is about what’s good for kids," he said.
Hill also said Cerf is still a member of the TEAM Academy board, but he expects the commissioner-elect to have to step down from that post before becoming commissioner.
