Cerf whacks the Newark schools, boosts the bureaucrats loyal to Cami
Christopher Cerf, the state-imposed superintendent of the Newark district, may be stripping public schools of teachers, programs, services and support staff—but he is building up the bureaucratic hierarchy to reward loyal supporters of the now discredited Cami Anderson, Cerf’s appointee and predecessor.
The state administration of the cash-strapped Newark schools now two new deputy superintendents, a new “director of operations,” and a dozen or more special assistants whose positions duplicate those of existing administrators. Cerf also has brought back a close friend and aide (and apparent landlord) to Anderson—De’Shawn Wright—to an unspecified position apparently paid for by private funds so it doesn’t appear in the public record.
Of course, Brittany Chord Parmley, the chief spokeswoman for the Cerf administration, won’t provide any details on the bureaucratic build-up but the new positions have been confirmed by sources at 2 Cedar Street.
The appointments not only demonstrate the state’s indifference to the children of the city who must now suffer the consequences of a $15 million budget cut imposed by Cerf, but they also show the new superintendent, a private business entrepreneur and charter promoter who served as state education commissioner, has no intention of relinquishing state control any time soon.
Members of the Newark school board, who have no power to block the Cerf whacks the Newark schools, boosts the bureaucrats loyal to Cami | Bob Braun's Ledger:
