Cami Anderson, appointed by the Chris Christie administration, has lit a fire in Newark.
Newark public schools have been under state control since 1995.
The outrage that Anderson ignited is now influencing the mayoral race.
This article describes the dynamics.
Newark residents are angry about Anderson’s plan (ironically called “One Newark”) to privatize or close many public schools.
The candidates who are most outspoken against Anderson have an edge.
The one who seems likeliest to benefit is Councilman Ras Baraka, a high school principal on leave, who said:
“How could you say that you want education, but depreciate democracy?” Baraka said to applause from the crowd, referring to the recent suspensions and before calling for Anderson’s removal. “We want full and unfettered democracy. Everybody that disagrees with the reform strategy that’s going on is being painted as folks that don’t want reform. We all want reform. We just don’t want this reform.”
Christie is in hot water on his own, but he said this about Anderson last fall, before things heated up in Newark:
Anderson was appointed to run the state-run Newark school district, the state’s largest, by Christie in 2011. The governor publicly stated in September 2013 that he plans to reappoint her, and that he did not care about community criticism.
Vintage Chris Christie.
Read more at http://www.politickernj.com/71155/cami-conundrum-how-christies-newark-schools-appointee-could-be-shaping-newark-mayoral-race#ixzz2sImnL7BD
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
http://queenscourier.com/2006/community-outreach-project-gets-03620000-grant-14219/
Ms. Anderson has a lot to answer for here in NYC! As soon as she walked in the door of the NYC Alternative Schools District $20,000 went missing from the Second Opportunity Schools Queens Outreach program in 2006. The students in the Alternative Schools District were used as guinea pigs for the experimental trials of Ms. Anderson’s skills.
It would seem as if she needed a position of “validation” in order for Cory Booker to get her in good with Chris Christie. She destroyed the entire district. As you see in the Article link above, programs were issued money under her watch, but this particular grant from Derek Jeter was never GRANTED to the suspension students of the Queens Outreach Second Opportunity School. When the issue of the missing money was brought up it was pushed under the rug and covered up. The question still remains, Where’s the money??
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Christie went after the funding of the urban districts but lost at the NJ Supreme Court so he went to plan “B”!
Hand picked superintendents and or state appointed fiscal monitors have been dispatched across the state to do his bidding. “Cami” has excelled with the zest, zeal, and indifference displayed in being the Number 1 Henchmen for the Cristie/Cerf Axis.
Brick City deserve better!! I have had a peak at the politics that defy logic as it permeate the District of Newark. Cristie/Cerf Axis at it best.
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Anderson has displayed an abject disregard for the parents, students, teachers, and staff of the Newark Public Schools. Her vengeful tactics are an embarrassment. Last week she failed to cancel school during a snow storm when all other schools in the county were closed. Yesterday she made the decision at 7:30 am. Telephone messages were not sent to teachers, staff, and parents until 7:50. Many were already on the road or at school. Students were arriving at school to find the school closed; students were on buses with headed to closed schools with parents unaware of their child’s destination. She is clearly incompetent. A leader who can’t decide on whether or not the weather is safe for students is hardly qualified to make decisions about so many children’s education and future. Christies uncompromising support of her is clear evidence of his contempt for the Newark Public schools (students, parents, teachers, and staff). No organization can thrive or improve under adversarial leadership.
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The behavior of Anderson and her ilk perpetually raises the question: where does the incompetence end, and the malice and venality begin?
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“He did not care about community criticism.”
No, of course not. He only cares about Chris Christie. And his OWN children.
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She is beyond incompetent. She did not inform us of school closure till most of us Newark employees and students had made the voyage to school. Who knows what will happen with tomorrow’s snow storm
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As I stated before their has been a war on public education and education for minorities in the guise of charter schools for over a decade. We educators wring our hands and do nothing, They had a great educator in Newark before this fraud appeared, just as they have had great educators in other urban cities across this country but this Governor control, mayor control has destroyed all education in the inner cities. We can write reports, we can justify Ivy league reports, justify five weeks of teacher training but at the end of the day whether we want to admit it or not we are losing generations of children who never had an opportunity. Let’s hold these elected officials responsible, protest get your voices heard, we have no time to waste thinking that this fiasco is going to right itself. They have shown us their cards and they want to destroy everything that real teachers have worked so hard to achieve. Not everyone can play sports or get a reality TV show or be a talking head. Mayor Bloomberg is gone lets get his talking heads out of education positions that destroy communities.
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