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.
Source: N.J.
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