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

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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.