FRAGILE TRUCE SHOWS SIGNS OF CRUMBLING DURING NEWARK SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
Charter-school advocates clash with teachers’ union leader, students disrupt gathering and chant ‘Cerf must go’
- Protesting students disrupt yesterday's meeting of the Newark school board.
It’s not like he had a wide berth to begin with, but the relative calm that greeted Chris Cerf’s arrival as the new superintendent of Newark schools is pretty much over.
At the local school board’s monthly public meeting last night, the rancor of the Cami Anderson era was back, with the Newark Teachers Union stepping up its presence and many of the usual activists on hand.
At one point early in the meeting held at University High School, a dozen members of the outspoken student group who once took over former superintendent Anderson’s office disrupted the meeting by setting up in front of the stage with a banner reading “Full Local Control.”
“Cerf must go, Cerf must go,” a few chanted.
The superintendent, the state’s former education commissioner, remained largely stoic throughout. Unlike his predecessor, he has vowed to stay at the public meetings and face the consequences.
He did issue a statement later in the evening, saying it was “unfortunate that a few people chose to speak outside the confines of the public comment structure, interfering with our ability to share information and to learn more about how we Fragile Truce Shows Signs of Crumbling During Newark School Board Meeting - NJ Spotlight: