Cerf’s Amplify gets $2.3 million from Newark
Cami Anderson, the Christie-appointed superintendent of Newark schools, has awarded three contracts worth $2.3 million to Amplify Education, Inc.—a company that, in a few days, takes on a new executive, New Jersey Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf, Anderson’s immediate boss. When Cerf announced he was leaving Feb. 10, he told The Star-Ledger he didn’t know whether […]
BULLETIN: Teacher seniority waiver to be dropped
Cami Anderson, the Christie-appointed superintendent of Newark schools, is expected to drop her request for a waiver from state regulations to she can ignore seniority rights when and if she lays off hundreds of city teachers. That doesn’t mean she won’t lay off teachers—but she will have to abide by current law and regulations when she does.
The main characters in the drama won’t talk about the report I received that Anderson won’t try to persuade outgoing Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf or his successor to set aside regulations that protect experienced teachers. Tomorrow is Cerf’s last day.
I first reported here Feb. 21 that Anderson would try to use a little-used provision in state regulations that permits school districts to ignore, or waive, regulations if they come up with an “equivalency” plan that achieves the same goal as the ignored rules. In this case, she wanted to skip traditional standards—experience within appropriate certifications—and to add so-called “effectiveness” ratings as a measure of experience. As a consequence, a teacher with less experience but