'The diplomacy is over': Protesters blast Cerf, derail Newark meeting
NEWARK – Just three months after his appointment, it appears the welcome wagon for Superintendent of Schools Christopher Cerf has worn thin.
A meeting of the city's School Advisory Board was derailed after members of the Newark Student Union and other activists staged a protest of Cerf, new charter school expansion and subpar conditions in traditional schools.
Armed with a megaphone and a large banner reading "Full Local Control", the group of more than a dozen students marched to the front of the auditorium at University High School during a presentation on how the district plans to raise its scores on the annual state-administered QSAC evaluation.
Their chants of ""Save Our Schools" and "Whose City? Our City?" were met with a chorus of applause from much of the more than 200 people gathered at University High School, many of whom groaned and shouted angrily at Cerf and other administrators throughout the lengthy meeting.
The meeting marked the end of roughly three months of relative civility toward Cerf and a shift back toward the consistent animosity that characterized meetings under his predecessor, Cami Anderson – sparked largely by news that the KIPP network of charter schools plans to greatly expand its reach in Newark.
"We wanted to give him time to show to the community what kind of person he is, try to be diplomatic, but today I think the message our community is sending is the diplomacy is over," Jose Leonardo, the student union's president, said in an interview.
"Nothing's changed and we're tired of it. He's a kinder face, but it's the same mechanics, the same machine at work."
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Cerf, who remained silent and in his seat throughout the demonstration even as board members left the school stage and attempted to restore order, has deep ties to charter schools and the education reform movement. He served as commissioner of the state Department of Education when it appointed Anderson, whose support for charter growth and other shakeups stoked widespread public anger leading to her exit from the district in late June.
While much of the anger toward Anderson was focused on her controversial "One Newark" universal enrollment system and the logistical issues that accompanied its rollout last year, the newest wave of protest comes amid anger over the proposed expansion of charters and poor conditions in traditional public schools.
Veronica Branch was among a number of parents, students and other residents to voice those concerns Tuesday night.
"Where do you think these kids are going to go to?" she said. "Everybody don't want charter. We still have substitutes at Hawthorne Avenue....everybody's tired of it."
Responding to a barrage of criticisms, Cerf submitted that public schools do face challenges that charters do not, which he attributed to regulations and other compliance problems imposed by a bloated bureaucracy. However, he cautioned that the answer to the inequity was not to draw lines in the proverbial sand.
"That lack of equality, that lack of equal opportunity, does not involve pitting one kind of school against the other. It involves righting the wrong of not allowing every child, as you say, a thorough and efficient education that allows them to move forward in life successfully," he said.
Many protestors and speakers also expressed anger over the Central Planning Board's decision last week to approve a new K-12 NorthStar Academy charter school on a former Star-Ledger property. The building would not constitute expansion for the chain of schools run by New York-based Uncommon Schools, but rather move students from its many of 11 existing facilities in Newark into asix-story building at the corner of Court Street and Washington Street.
Other charter school networks are also pursuing expansion or new construction in the city. BRICK Academy is awaiting word on an application to officially certify its operations at the former Avon Avenue and Peshine Avenue schools into charters, and Great Oaks Charter School has scheduled a Wednesday ribbon-'The diplomacy is over': Protesters blast Cerf, derail Newark meeting | NJ.com:
