Only a few hours before a school board meeting scheduled for this evening, Newark’s state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson announced that neither she nor her leadership team would attend the meetings or any other meetings of the school board. Apparently, she thinks the board is too unruly and she prefers to engage with parents in other (controlled) settings.
This is quite a show of contempt for the Newark school board, which is the closest the people of that city come to having any voice in school affairs. Their district has been under state control since 1995.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Guessing that this means the superintendent will be fired, since she answers to the board.
Sad.
So, why not do what people in Medford, Oregon are doing, and gather petitions for a vote to recall the board?
What are you talking about? It is not the board that is out of line here.
Under the applicable statute, NJSA 18A:7A-47(b), she’s obligated to attend these meetings in person:
“At the meetings, the State district superintendent shall report to the board on all actions taken and on pending actions in a timely fashion, and provide an opportunity for a full discussion by the board and by the public of those actions.”
– See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2014/02/outrage-cami-anderson-to-newark-who.html#sthash.uZcR8uTp.dpuf
Thanks, Dawn. Sometimes superintendents forget who they are supposed to report to. In L.A. it’s Broad, Riordan (a multimillionaire former mayor), Gates, and the kcal media.
I did not mean to offend anyone by my comment. Hope that the superintendent keeps her job.
My point: can the board be recalled? I appreciate the efforts in Medford.
From what the article said, I believe the Board is an advisory board. The community has no direct control of the superintendent. She does what she pleases without needing community support or approval. I’m not sure how the advisory board is chosen, but they obviously have no power and Cami feels no obligation to pay attention to them. She does not answer to them.
tim- u must be confusing Newark for a democracy. our superintendent is appointed by Gov Christie, and our school board has no power at all. this is the case for most of NJ’s black/urban/poor communities.
Even Deasey goes to board meetings (the better to control them).
Well she can walk all over the parents and then cant handle their outrage. She can destroy communities and then doesn’t want to talk to the people she has gone out of her way to destroy. I suppose if the Governor who should step down would stand next to her she did receive that outstanding bonus for doing nothing but destroying pubic education she would attend.
Colette Gosselin Ed.D Assistant Professor of Social Foundations of Education CAEP Coordinator Coordinator of Undergraduate Secondary Education Education Building 202H 609 771 2967 gosselin@tcnj.edu
In Newark, it’s called a School Advisory Board (SAB). Newark schools are under the control of the state and the state (Christie and now departing school commissioner, Cerf) appointed the superintendent, Cami Anderson. Anderson trumps the SAB. I’m not sure if the SAB is elected or not? Anderson is in charge and she can ignore the SAB.
What ever happened to representative democracy?
From the SAB web site: The Newark Public Schools Advisory Board is comprised of nine members who are elected to the Board in three year intervals. The members represent various parts of the city and come to the Board with various professional backgrounds. In their advisory capacity, the members are charged with reviewing and voting on a wide range of issues that impact the district and all of its students.
http://www.nps.k12.nj.us/Domain/45
So in other words, they vote on stuff, but their vote is only advisory and carries no weight other than that which Carrie chooses to give it.
Isn’t that taxation without representation?
Really? Who pays her salary and where exactly does the money come from?
Run Cami Run…
Run Cami Run…
Is she afraid to face the opposition?
“Lay your cards on the table and face the problems”
Instead…she RUNS!!!!!!
Did Governor Christie really say this when asked if they were going to renew her contract?
Did I read this correctly
“Yes we do, and……… we’re going to renew it because she’s done a great job, and I don’t care about the community criticism,” Christie said.
“We run the school district in Newark, not them.”
What a Bully!!!!!
“We run the school district in Newark, not them”
hmmmm……Trying to block traffic ..again?
This is not a show of contempt. She is verbally assaulted from the minute the meetings start. Chanting and yelling dominate the meetings. It is chaotic and angry. There is nothing productive about these meetings. People have every right to be angry and express themselves but how about civilized, productive conversation? Diane, the other side is not “all” – all republican, all conservative, all evil. You are not helping by always painting this picure of good (you and everything you stand for) and evil (everyone who doesn’t agree w/ you on all points). I have great respect for you and am thankful for voices like yours. But the mud- slinging and slanted interpretation of issues like cami not going to the meeting really do not help.
“Chanting and yelling dominate the meetings. It is chaotic and angry.”
Let’s take a moment to stop and think about why.
::wait time::
Now turn to your neighbor and share.
::discussion time::
kindergarten interlude, what did you and your neighbor discuss?
I am disappointed that I cannot express my thoughts without being belittled.
I have been to those sorts of “meetings” myself over the years. They are unproductive and frustrating, but when one side has apparently already demonstrated that the opinions of the other side are unimportant to any decisions the powers that be might make, the meeting is unlikely to generate genteel behavior. They are for show and nothing more; people have decided that if their opinions are ignored at least their voices will be heard. The Board meetings were just for show. Cami was not there to listen; she was there to command. Any decision making was probably done well before meetings.
It could be k-interlude that the citizens attempted to speak softly and no one listened. therefore..what other choice do they have. ??
This is what happens when the appointed authority answers no questions, does not listen, and claims “They Run the Schools…not them”…inferring makes no difference what the citizens say?
Sometimes any group has to shout a little louder…Got my attention..
“I am disappointed that I cannot express my thoughts without being belittled.”
Forgive me, but it might have been better to stop and think for a moment. Anderson is not listening to the people. The disrespect started with her. Yes, two wrongs do not make a right, but obviously she hears the complaints now–she just refuses to give them merit under the guise of some feigned notion of “civility.” There is NOTHING civil about ignoring the will of the people.
If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
This announcement was right out of the John King playbook.
Part of good and effective leadership in a situation that involves community members, their children and public tax dollars, involves building consensus and creating “buy-in”. You need to consider and respond to the perspectives, concerns, desires, and needs of the community. People need to believe in a policy that, so directly, effects their children.
Cami Anderson, similar to John King, is not doing this. She is not interested in good leadership, but in imposing an agenda that is in line with free market, data driven, corporate school reform.
She is not advocating for strong, public, community based schools. She believes in, and is implementing, a policy that wants to privatize public schools.
hmmm.. In that case I would say Run Faster.
Dialogue is the key..
But your Gov says “We run the school system, not them”
With that attitude, how can anyone even hope of dialogue?
this is a lie. i was at the mtg. she is paid $300k/year. she caused this travesty of justice. and where there is no justice, there will be no peace.
KI,
I get your point about many things. But I disagree about Anderson’s decision not to attend meetings. It’s part of her job to be present at the meetings regardless of how the meetings develop. As a leader of a public organization, perhaps she should listen to what the community complains about. This is what happens when democracy is not part of the process.
Anderson is not responsible to the community. She is only responsible to the governor, who is not part of the community.
I’ve been at meetings (non-school meetings since I worked in business too) where top down management was blasted by employees for policies and procedures. Good managers responded to the feedback even though the process wasn’t pretty. Creating a bunker mentality does nothing to help the process.
Am I forgiven from teaching a class of unruly students because it devolves into chaos? No. That would be a dereliction of responsibility. Anderson is doing the same. Be an adult and face the music. Don’t run away because it’s hard. If she thinks her unpopular decisions are the right thing to do, then she should reiterate why and work to persuade the community through results.
Anderson is a public servant and her responsibility is to the people, not to herself. Distancing herself is at worst an act of cowardice and at best a sign of arrogant leadership. This only makes it more difficult for her to do things going forward. People will begin to oppose just for the sake of opposing her now.
Good leaders bring other people in. They don’t isolate themselves and enact policies “because they can.” Getting buy-in is the most important part. Without faith from those who must execute the policy, it is doomed to fail.
yep, video below
note that at the end, the board says they don’t need the superintendent there to do their business, approximately 9:22
Scratch a bully, find a coward.
Scratch Cami, and you’ll find incompetence and evil intertwined . . . .
Cami Anderson & Gov Christy have pens & phones, they don’t need anyone to tell them how to do their jobs!
bazinga! 😉