The Record: Assessing Cerf Friday

February 14, 2014, 6:16 AM

Chris Cerf became the state's education commissioner at a very difficult time in 2010.Cerf Cerf's predecessor, Bret Schundler, had just been fired after the state botched a $400 million federal grant application, and his new boss, Governor Christie, was in the middle of a very public spat with the state teachers union. Making things even rockier for Cerf, he was "acting commissioner" for months because a state senator used a legislative maneuver known as senatorial courtesy to block his permanent appointment.

Cerf seemed unfazed by all that, telling The Record as he took the job that he was an "unapologetic school reformer," adding that the nation's educational achievement gap was a national shame. After a little more than three years overseeing public education in New Jersey, Cerf will leave his post at the end of the month. Clearly, Cerf's main accomplishment was persuading the New Jersey Education Association to support changing teacher tenure laws, a feat many observers considered impossible.

The new regulations require teachers to work four years instead of three before being eligible for tenure, and, more importantly, teachers can lose tenure if they continually get poor evaluations. The NJEA is now criticizing the state's evaluation system, parts of which rely on student test results, but that should not detract from the bipartisan accomplishment Cerf helped bring about. Tenure reform over time will improve education by rewarding good teachers and weeding out those who are subpar.

The outgoing commissioner also can take credit for the appointment of Cami Anderson as superintendent in the state-run Newark school district. With Anderson at the helm, the district reached agreement with the teachers union to base raises partly on merit. That brings teacher pay increases more in line with what happens in the "real world" and, we hope, will serve as a model for other districts going forward. The state Education Department also reappointed Paterson superintendent of schools Donnie Evans, which should bring more stability to a district still under state supervision.

But not all of Cerf's initiatives bore fruit. Giving all parents more choice in selecting schools for their children has been an aim of the Christie administration since it took office four years ago. To that end, Cerf approved 37 charter schools, but a plan for a pilot voucher program in a handful of underperforming districts has stalled in the Legislature.

Most recently, the governor announced plans to extend both the school day and year. He said the Education Department would provide additional information. That was a month ago, and so far there have been no details. That will apparently wait for the new commissioner, as will implementing Common Core standards, a set of national guidelines for what students should master in each grade. Tests reflecting the standards are set to start this spring. In a state that has more than 600 school districts and about 2,500 schools, the education commissioner can do only so much to affect individual classrooms.

Cerf sought to improve educational achievement by giving parents more choice and by holding teachers more accountable for how their students perform. He may not have implemented all of his goals, but Cerf will depart Trenton with a solid list of accomplishments.