Fwd: STOP THE PRESSES! Christie Picks Cami Anderson as Newark Schools Chief
Mona Davids
Begin forwarded message:
From: Whitney Tilson <wti...@t2partnersllc.com>
Date: May 3, 2011 8:48:48 PM EDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: STOP THE PRESSES! Christie Picks Cami Anderson as Newark Schools Chief
STOP THE PRESSES!!!
NJ Gov. Chris Christie (along with state education commissioner Chris Cerf and Mayor Cory Booker) has just picked Cami Anderson to lead the Newark school system. This is HUGE!!! I’ve known Cami a long time and she is a true ed warrior. Here’s a short bio from an interview with her from the TFA alumni magazine (http://edreform.blogspot.com/2007/07/cami-anderson-interview.html):
Since her time in the Los Angeles corps, Cami Anderson ('93) has spent more than a decade working for underserved students. She earned an Ed.M. from Harvard and worked as executive director of Teach For America - New York City and as chief program officer at New Leaders for New Schools. In her current role as superintendent of District 79, Alternative Schools and Programs, for New York City Schools, Anderson oversees the educational needs of 50,000 individuals at a variety of facilities, including suspension sites, transfer schools, and correctional education facilities (such as the schools on Rikers Island).
For more on Cami, see:
-- DFER board member Andy Rotherham (who rivals Jay Mathews as the best education writer in America) with a wonderful article about the work Cami has done to fix NYC's notorious District 79: http://edreform.blogspot.com/2010/01/prison-students-illustrate-shortcomings.html
-- This recent NYT editorial on helping more students pass the GED and a new program being tried in NYC's District 79 (run by Cami): http://edreform.blogspot.com/2011/01/success-and-failure-on-ged.html
-- A 7/07 DOE press release about Cami’s early work in District 79: http://edreform.blogspot.com/2007/07/district-79.html
-- A 6/07 NYT article about Cami shutting down schools for pregnant girls: http://edreform.blogspot.com/2007/06/new-yorks-schools-for-pregnant-girls.html
(Sorry I’ve been so out of touch – my craziest week of the year. Was at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting last weekend and am hosting the Value Investing Congress in Pasadena today and tomorrow. Lots of stories to catch up on soon – hopefully there will be wifi on my flight home tomorrow!)
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- NY SCHOOLS
- MAY 4, 2011
- http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703922804576301452192592140.html
Christie Picks Schools Chief
New York Official to Take Over Newark
By LISA FLEISHER and BARBARA MARTINEZ
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has selected Cami Anderson, a top New York City schools official, to lead the state-run Newark Public School system, according to several people with knowledge of the selection.
Ms. Anderson, 39 years old, will attempt to reform the largest and one of the most troubled public school systems in the state, a district that is the focal point for Mr. Christie's education policy. Newark has about 38,000 students, and only half of them graduate from high school in four years.
Gov. Chris Christie, pictured here yesterday during a press conference in Trenton, has selected Cami Anderson to lead the Newark Public School system.
Newark is being closely watched in education circles around the country. In September, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said he would give a $100 million grant to the Newark schools, saying he had faith in the Republican governor and his close ally, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat. The grant is predicated on Mr. Booker raising an additional $100 million, of which he has raised $44 million so far.
The pick of Ms. Anderson ends a months-long search with few viable candidates, as major districts such as Chicago and New Orleans hunted for chief executives simultaneously.
Though a final salary hasn't been decided, the $280,000 salary of the district's former superintendent is a "benchmark," said Christopher Cerf, the acting state education commissioner. The former superintendent, Clifford Janey, was told in August his contract wouldn't be renewed.
Ms. Anderson, who worked on Mr. Booker's unsuccessful mayoral run in 2002, emerged as a candidate only within the last month. The other finalist for the job, Maria Goodloe-Johnson, had been fired in March as head of Seattle's school system, but was considered a strong candidate.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who visited Newark last month, praised the selection.
"This a critical time and a tremendous opportunity for Newark's local leaders, educators, community members and business partners as they work to create lasting education reform," he said. "Cami Anderson has built a track record of extraordinary leadership in education, and I believe she can provide the kind of bold vision that will help Newark continue its crucial work toward providing all children the opportunity for a high quality public education."
Ms. Anderson has been a teacher, both in Montessori schools and through the Teach for America program. But the bulk of her career has been in management.
She was executive director of Teach for America in New York and worked for a leadership nonprofit before being hired in New York City in 2006.
Joel Klein, the former New York City schools chancellor, recruited Ms. Anderson to lead District 79, the group of programs for the city's most challenging students—those who have been through the prison system, returning drop-outs, or otherwise have multiple risk factors for dropping out. Ms. Anderson's "personal life commitment has been really devoted to working with the most under-served," said Mr. Klein, now an executive for News Corp., owner of The Wall Street Journal.
Ms. Anderson made the decision to close schools for pregnant students or young mothers under the belief that segregating those young women from their peers was harmful.
Ms. Anderson was itching to "totally transform the system in three and a half minutes," said Randi Weingarten, president of the national American Federation of Teachers, who was head of the New York City teachers union at the time. Instead of simply closing schools and leaving teachers to find jobs on their own, the two worked out a deal that required teachers to re-apply for their jobs.
"Initially it was a bumpy start, but then we actually worked together fairly decently," she said.
Ms. Anderson made the GED program full time, adding services and classes to help students to make the transition into college or into the work force, said Tim Lisante, deputy superintendent, who works with Ms. Anderson.
Ms. Anderson will have to work closely with Mr. Cerf and the donors who control the Facebook grants. Though she will be able to come up with programs and proposals, final decisions are still made by those who are donating the money, Mr. Cerf said.
