Yesterday Bob Braun reported that Cami Anderson would step down in a day or two and be replaced by former state commissioner Chris Cerf. He was right. Cerf will serve as interim superintendent until a permanent replacement is selected by Governor Christie.
Cami Anderson announced that she was resigning and hoped that the work she had done in Newark would be an inspiration for other urban districts.
Cami Anderson had a very rough ride in Newark. She arrived as Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook gave Newark $100 million for “reform.” Cami proceeded to use that money and much more to implement a bold privatization plan, closing neighborhood schools and replacing them with charter schools. Newark parents and students became very angry. They had nothing to say about what happened to them or their schools. The school board, which was powerless, was angry at Cami, and one school board member insulted her; Cami stopped attending school board meetings. A few months ago, students from the Newark Student Union occupied her office and refused to leave until she met with them. Their number one demand: She should resign.
Anderson claimed credit for an increased graduation rate and for the choice plan that parents and students hated.
Now it is Chris Cerf’s turn. The local school board has heard that Governor Christie might consult them. That would be a first.

Peter Greene is reporting that Cerf is going to be offered a three year contract.
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It is on nj.com. I just read it.
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Too bad this site doesn’t include sound so Diane could post a rendition of Hallelujah Chorus. Goodbye and may your work be an inspiration to other urban districts to TALK BACK, REVOLT, JUST SAY NO, MARCH IN PROTEST and STAND TALL against the likes of C.A.
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The wording in the article reveals such an edudeformer slant that is ridiculous and risible.
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And another member of the self-proclaimed “education reform” movement joins in the “dance of the lemons.”
My sympathies in advance to the state/school district that will suffer the next Cami beat down, rheephorm style.
😒
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When I first glanced at your post and “dance of the lemons” I read it as “dance of the morons”. The mind does strange tricks sometimes.
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Señor Swacker: I am sure you didn’t mean to, but I was dreading my email inbox filling up with…
Complaints from some “morons” and their protective association that find the comparison to rheephormistas patently offensive and untrue.
Look at it this way: if you were to call educrats like Arne Duncan or Paul Vallas or Cami Anderson a “jackass”—
Think how unfair that is to jackasses everywhere. Bad enough that the label carries a heavy pejorative weight, but then to add injury to insult by lumping them in with the $tudent $ucce$$ crowd…
Well, I think you get my point.
‘Nuff said.
😎
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Meet the new boss, same as the old boss …
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Cerf is ethically challenged.
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An inspiration to other repressive totalitarian regimes perhaps.
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The reformer game of Musical Chairs…
It happened in New York with the appointment of the monster Elia.
Now it come to New Jersey.
The outcries of the citizens continue to be ignored…
The oligarchs and their “bought” politicians must be made to pay a severe price for their criminal actions as they continue to violate the civil rights, pillage traditional laws, and plunder their way through our local and state treasuries.
Protect our people and destroy the reformers…for now, for always…
for our nation.
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The only reason the School Board should agree to meet with Governor Christie is to hand him a letter protesting the appointment of Cerf. The Governor is NOT going to “consult them.” He is going to spin the meeting to look like he gives a hoot what they think, but he does NOT.
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Ah, summer fun in the city…..you ‘forgot’ to mention the consultant rabbit hole the $100 mill went into.
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…an inspiration to other urban districts?
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Happy for Newark:)
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I’m sorry, I know I’m cynical, but I don’t get the cheering. I mean, I know Cami was bad, but Cerf has his own track record. It reminds me of when Chicago got rid of Jean Claude Brizard only to get Barbara Byrd-Bennett instead.
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Campbell Brown appoints herself spokesperson for 74 million children:
“Former CNN host Campbell Brown went from a career in journalism to a second life as an education-reform advocate. Now she is looking to combine the two.
Next month, Ms. Brown will be launching a non-profit, education-focused news site called The Seventy Four, which she says refers to the 74 million school-age children in classrooms across the U.S.”
She doesn’t speak for me or my kid and either do her billionaire backers but I’m sure she’ll have much better access to lawmakers than any ordinary person:
“The site – which will launch July 13 with 13 employees — is well-funded, with an annual budget of $4 million. Its finances will rely solely on philanthropic donations, and it won’t sell any advertising – a departure from one of the mainstays of typical news organizations. Its founding backers — Bloomberg Philanthropies (former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropic organization), the Walton Family Foundation (the philanthropic group for the family that owns Wal-Mart), Jonathan Sackler, and the Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation — are all proponents of charter schools, an approach the teachers union has resisted.”
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It’s hysterical how it’s always the same names. It really is musical chairs in ed reform. It’s like 50 people and they all hire and promote each other.
I love the revolving door with the ed reform product sector, too. If Amplify goes under do public schools get all the Amplify managers back?
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Seriously Chiara…….and they complain that school districts “pass the lemons”.
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testing
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the most significant theme in all this………public schools are supported by people who believe in democracy……..in urban areas, they are increasingly being ruled by people who do not trust democracy, because voters are capable of electing the wrong people. President Obama was correct in saying that not using impolite language does not do a lot to battle racism………he needs to take a look at just why his legacy in education is dominated by Bill Gates and Arne Duncan. I doubt if either ever uses the n word…..but their agenda has had profound negative effects on the fights against racism in education.
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When I posted the article and my response in my thread in the SL Post Dispatch regarding charter schools, I put quotation marks around ‘wrong” and added in parentheses…(when that happens, they are often disenfranchised as punishment).
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Really nice to see RI legislators working on existing public schools:
http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150622/NEWS/150629763
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I also think it’s great that some of the ed reform leaders are admitting the objective is to get rid of public schools completely.
Now if we could just get politicians to tell the truth we could have a debate on whether we should privatize all US public schools. Come on, have the courage of your convictions, politicos! Run on what you’re hoping to do.
http://cashinginonkids.com/brought-to-you-by-wal-mart-how-the-walton-family-foundations-ideological-pursuit-is-damaging-charter-schooling/?utm_content=bufferb4ff6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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Thanks, Chiara!
All should read that article!
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So we are seeing some music chair game going on in NJ, as white hawk is gone with a miserable F grade, and another ‘Klein-tagged’ guy from TFA is pitching in for Astro-Cerfing.
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