By David Cruz
Correspondent
Newark superintendent Chris Cerf is a former state Education Commissioner, more accustomed to being reported to than reporting, but his successor, current commissioner David Hespe, made him feel welcome this morning as Cerf presented a state-mandated annual report on the status of Newark’s state-controlled schools.
Cerf is required to report here monthly but this was an annual update on the status of the state’s largest school system, and, after just four months on the job, Cerf said his report would be realistic but positive.
“One of the challenges we face is a sort of pervasive narrative of negativity around the body of work in Newark and that is partly, or entirely, understandable in light of the journey that lies ahead, the challenges that remain and the work that remains unfinished,” he reported.
The media, says Cerf, is also partly to blame for this pervasive narrative. He says the city’s graduation rate is up from the high 50’s to 70 percent, a figure which is always in dispute in a system with a tradition of less than perfect self-assessment. Cerf told the board that raw data can be deceiving though, and that if you look closely, the system is actually on a very positive trajectory.
“Over the last four to five years, we’ve doubled the number of African-American children who attend schools that beat the average,” he added. “That’s a pretty significant development when you look at other important trends about which other schools are being chosen.”
That’s as close as Cerf came to a direct reference to the controversial One Newark plan, of which he is an architect. That plan caused an uproar in the city for two years and led to the resignation of Cami Anderson, a Cerf appointee. Cerf has been continuing that plan, albeit with a less caustic tone than Anderson. Today, he said “choice” the cornerstone of One Newark, is working.
“Almost 80 percent of the families preferred a school that was not their geographically most proximate, closest school,” said Cerf. “Parents are given an opportunity to make a choice and most overwhelmingly, they’re not choosing the nearest neighborhood school, for a lot of interseting reasons. I find that fascinating.”
Cerf says he will make a public budget report to residents this week and reported that he had whittled a budget gap from over $60 million to just over five. With no critics on hand, Cerf had a clear path to the exit, and a smattering of applause, neither of which he has yet to enjoy, in his new job.