Mother Crusader: Cerf Invites Edison Learning Crony To Open "Cluster" Of Charters In Paterson With No Public Input

Mother Crusader: Cerf Invites Edison Learning Crony To Open "Cluster" Of Charters In Paterson With No Public Input:

Cerf Invites Edison Learning Crony To Open "Cluster" Of Charters In Paterson With No Public Input

by darciecima

The Paterson public school district has been under state control for 21 years, and elected officials are saying enough is enough.  But state control suits NJ Education Commissioner Chris Cerf just fine. 

After all, if he isn't in complete control of the district, how can he hand out charter schools to his buddies?

I have been following and writing about the Paterson Collegiate Academy Charter School Application for some time now, because as soon as I saw Steven Wilson I knew he was the kind of charter operator that would make Cerf go weak at the knees. Wilson came out of Edison Learning, just like Christie, Cerf and Evo Popoff (Cerf's new Chief Innovation Officer overseeing the Office of Charter Schools) but all I could do was speculate that these guys knew each other.

If you follow this blog at all, you know I am a big fan of the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and regularly submit OPRA requests which reveal all kinds of interesting information. So the thought occurred to me to OPRA emails between Wilson and Cerf or any other employee of the NJDOE.  

Turns out not only was I right, but Wilson and Cerf are chummy enough that Wilson emailed Cerf back in July 2012, three months before he submitted his application to the state, and the email went to Cerf's personal email