Under the Christopher Cerf plan, full autonomy won’t be granted to the elected Newark school board until a two year transition is completed. A transition in which many consultants will get rich and high paid administrators, appointed by Cerf, will continue to earn their six-figure salaries and follow the pro-charter, anti-public, union-shredding school plans for Newark. That will make it official–the state will have controlled the city schools for 25 years–a quarter century.
Cerf’s letter to school employees follows:
Dear Colleagues,
Happy holidays! I hope that you are on your way to a well-deserved restful vacation right now. I am writing tonight to share information with you about some exciting events that have taken place this week for the Newark Public Schools.
As you may already know, on Tuesday, December 19, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) approved the transition plan that will allow for the Advisory Board to become the official Newark Board of Education on February 1, 2018.
The plan, which was presented to the board at our public meeting on Tuesday, includes a detailed timeline and set of milestones to guide the district’s transition over a period of two years.
The plan, an accompanying letter from the commissioner, and my presentation are available on our website.
With the completion and approval of the transition plan, I believe now is the time to focus on how we can all work together to ensure an orderly transition proceeds when we return from winter recess. To be clear, the most important action the board will take in the coming months is the search for and selection of a permanent Superintendent. As that process moves forward, the work of successfully educating Newark’s children remains our paramount goal, a goal that is best served in an environment of stability and unity of purpose. I believe that the right path to achieve that goal is for me to step down and for the Board to select an interim Superintendent to lead the district pending the appointment of a permanent successor. In that spirit, I have submitted my resignation effective February 1, 2018. Upon accepting my resignation, the Board appointed Deputy Superintendent Robert Gregory to lead the Newark Public Schools until such time as the search is completed and a new Superintendent is in place.
In order to ensure that you have as much information as possible about this transition, we will be hosting town halls for central office staff and principals on January 4th. We will follow up in the New Year with further details about those meetings.
In the meantime allow me to express my deepest gratitude and admiration to the Newark community, its extraordinary educators, our nearly 6000 employees, and, most of all, the over 55,000 students and their families who have worked so hard to build the foundations for a bright future.
Thank you for everything you do for Newark students. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and an enjoyable new year.
Best,
Chris