Chris Cerf Finally Sees The Light! Schools Need Adequate Funding
It's taken years, but it appears that my most stubborn congregant, Chris Cerf, is finally starting to understand that money matters in education. Let me tell the tale of this poor sinner's ascent into grace:
All the way back in 2012, when Cerf was New Jersey's Education Commissioner, a big part of his job was to go around the state and defend Governor Chris Christie's cuts in state aid to schools:
The state’s top education official today defended the Christie administration’s proposed changes to the school funding formula, including a plan to spend less money on poor students.
Testifying before the Senate Budget Committee in Trenton, acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf said adjusting the way public schools get state aid is good for students and will encourage teachers and administrators to boost student achievement.
"We need to collectively get out of the box that says we can define success in education by how much we spend," Cerf said. "It’s not only how much we spend — the box we’ve been pushed into by the courts — it's about an integrated strategy of policy and funds."
[...]
State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) questioned the logic of adjusting the funding before the state can fully fund the formula that was approved in 2008 by the Legislature and the state Supreme Court.
"Is it prudent to be tinkering with this when we haven’t funded what we already found to be constitutional?" Sarlo asked.
Cerf said the formula as it stands is "unfair" and "ill serves our children."
- See more at: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2015/10/chris-cerf-finally-see-light-schools.html#sthash.GEy62fTL.dpufState Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), however, called the proposed changes unfair because they will "punish" the same districts,
