Newark Residents Should Select Their Next Superintendent

We believe that the people of Newark should be able to democratically govern their public schools. 

Fortunately, Mark Biedron, President of NJ’s State Board of Education, seems to agree.  Mr. Biedron recently told the Star Ledger that “the people of Newark having local control over the school district…is a good thing.” 

On Wednesday, Mr. Biedron will have an opportunity to act on this belief when the State Board votes on whether Chris Cerf should become Newark’s next Superintendent. 
If the State Board approves Mr. Cerf, it will be continuing a 20 year history of disenfranchisement for Newark’s nearly 300,000 residents, who have had no say in this decision.

If the Board rejects Mr. Cerf and instead approves a candidate selected by Newark’s popularly-elected Board of Education, it will be putting Mr. Biedron’s admirable philosophy into practice.

There is plenty of precedent for allowing Newark to select its own superintendent.
Newark, Jersey City, and Paterson are all state-controlled school districts.  Yet Jersey City’s popularly-elected Board of Education selected its Superintendent, Marcia Lyles.  Paterson’s Superintendent, Dr. Donnie Evans, was selected by a committee that included members of Paterson’s popularly-elected Board of Education, along with other community leaders.  In contrast, Newark’s popularly-elected Board of Education has had no voice in selecting Mr. Cerf, who was nominated for this position by Governor Christie.

Approving Mr. Cerf is also difficult to justify because Mr. Cerf lacks the qualifications necessary to run New Jersey’s largest school district.  Unlike Jersey City’s and Paterson’s leaders, Mr. Cerf has no prior experience as a superintendent. 

Nor is there a record of success in related public-education positions on which to base Mr. Cerf’s nomination.  In fact, Mr. Cerf’s tenure as New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education was marked by numerous poor decisions regarding Newark, including:

• Appointing and continuing to support Newark’s prior Superintendent, Cami Anderson, whose policies and behaviors generated broad-based rejection and rebellion from Newark residents;
• Improperly giving in to a demand from Ms. Anderson “to allow her to retain full control over 28 low-performing schools, which resulted in New Jersey failing to comply with federal requirements; and
• Forcibly maintaining State control of Newark's schools by dramatically lowering the district’s scores on the State’s monitoring system (QSAC) from the scores that Mr. Cerf had given the district less than a year earlier. 

The people of Newark deserve the right to select their next Superintendent.  They also deserve an experienced public education leader with a proven record of success.  Mr. Cerf’s candidacy fails on all these counts.

We encourage Mr. Biedron and the other State Board of Education members to vote no on Mr. Cerf’s nomination and to allow Newark’s popularly-elected Board of Education to nominate the district’s next Superintendent. 

Newark’s residents have been deprived of their right to democratically control their public schools for 20 years.  It is long past time to correct this wrong!

If you agree, please sign and share. Save Our Schools New Jersey will share the letter and list of people who have signed with the State Board of Education before Wednesday's vote. 

Rosie Grant, Piscataway, NJ

Parent and nonprofit leader

Michelle Fine, Montclair, NJ

Parent and professor

Judy DeHaven, Red Bank, NJ

Parent and writer

Valerie Trujillo, Jersey City, NJ

Parent and public education advocate

Jacklyn Brown, Manalapan, NJ

Parent and educator

Julia Sass Rubin, Princeton, NJ

Parent and professor

Linda Reid, Paterson, NJ

Parent and nonprofit leader

Melissa Katz, South Brunswick, NJ

Future educator

Bobbie Theivakumaran, Metuchen, NJ

Parent and investment banker

Lisa Winter, Basking Ridge, NJ

Parent, technology manager and former Board of Education member

Marcella Simadiris, Montclair, NJ

Parent and educator

Michelle McFadden-DiNicola, Highland Park, NJ

Parent and public education advocate

Bill Michaelson, Lawrence Township, NJ

Parent and computer scientist

Marie Hughes Corfield, Flemington, NJ

Parent and educator

Rita McClellan, Cherry Hill, NJ

Parent and administrator

Sarah Blaine, Montclair, NJ

Parent, attorney, and blogger

Susan Cauldwell, Spring Lake, NJ

Parent and nonprofit leader

Heidi Maria Brown, Pitman, NJ

Parent and educator

Julie Borst, Allendale, NJ

Parent and special education advocate

Susan Berkey, Howell, NJ

Parent and educator

Darcie Cimarusti, Highland Park, NJ

Parent and Board of Education member

Amnet Ramos, North Plainfield, NJ

Parent and educator

Elana Halberstadt, Montclair, NJ

Parent and writer/artist

Ani McHugh, Delran, NJ

Parent and educator

Jill DeMaio, Monroe, NJ

Parent

Tamar Wyschogrod, Morristown, NJ

Parent and journalist

Lauren Freedman, Maplewood, NJ

Parent and public education advocate

Lisa Rodgers, South Brunswick, NJ

Parent and business owner

Laurie Orosz, Montclair, NJ

Parent and public education advocate

Michael Kaminski, Mount Laurel, NJ

Parent and educator

Ronen Kauffman, Union City, NJ

Parent and educator

Frankie Adao, Newark, NJ

Parent and social media specialist

Kathleen Nolan, Princeton, NJ

Parent, researcher and lecturer

Sue Altman, Camden, NJ

Educator

Jennifer Cohan, Princeton, NJ

Parent and publicist

Daniel Anderson, Bloomfield, NJ

Parent and Board of Education member

Debbie Baer, Robbinsville, NJ

Parent and educator

Dan Masi, Roxbury Township, NJ

Parent and engineer

Susan Schutt, Ridgewood, NJ

Assistant principal and public education advocate

Karin Szotak, Madison NJ

Parent and business owner

Tiombe Gibson, Deptford, NJ

Parent and educator

Lisa Marcus Levine, Princeton, NJ

Parent and architect

Kristen Carr Jandoli, Haddon, NJ

Parent and public education advocate

Jean Schutt McTavish, Ridgewood, NJ

Parent and high school principal

Virginia Manzari, West Windsor, NJ.

Parent and businesswoman

Stephanie LeGrand, Haddonfield, NJ

Parent and public education advocate

Melanie McDermott, Highland Park, NJ

Parent and sustainability researcher

Nora Hyland, Asbury Park, NJ

Parent and professor

Beth O'Donnell-Fischer, Verona, NJ

Parent

Susie Welkovits, Highland Park, NJ

Parent and Borough Council President

Gregory M. Stankiewicz, Princeton, NJ

Parent and nonprofit leader

Margot Embree Fisher, Teaneck, NJ

Parent and former Board of Education member

Stephanie Petriello, Dumont, NJ

Parent, educator and business owner

Laura Begg, Bernards Township, NJ

Parent and public education advocate

Gary C. Frazier, Camden, NJ

Parent and community activist

Debbie Reyes, Florence Township, NJ

Parent

Christine McGoey, Montclair, NJ

Parent

Regan Kaiden, Collingswood, NJ

Parent and educator

Moneke Singleton-Ragsdale, Camden, NJ

Parent and administrator

Liz Mulholland, Westfield, NJ

Parent and former educator

Mary Shaughnessy, Bloomfield, NJ

Parent and writer

Toby Sanders, Trenton, NJ

Parent, pastor and educator