What a disgrace!

Perth Amboy putting schools superintendent on leave wastes money, hurts kids

Published: Thursday, April 26, 2012, 12:43 PM     Updated: Thursday, April 26, 2012, 6:09 PM

By Tom Moran/ The Star-Ledger 
http://blog.nj.com/njv_tom_moran/2012/04/perth_amboy_putting_schools_su.html#incart_mce

Janine Walker Caffrey, superintendent of schools in Perth Amboy, in her office.

Congratulations to the Perth Amboy school board for the double-whammy last night when it voted to place Superintendent Janine Caffrey on administrative leave.

This move will waste money and hurt kids. Nice going.

Caffrey did nothing to deserve this. The charge against her was led by the board president, Samuel Lebreault, who is under investigation for trying to get free lunch for his kids even though he acknowledges he doesn't qualify. Caffrey has been cooperating with that investigation, which may be the reason Lebreault is aiming at her.

On the other hand, maybe that's not it. Maybe it's because Caffrey wouldn't hire any of the cronies Lebreault has tried to force on her since she arrived in Perth Amboy less than a year ago. Lebreault won't comment on that one. But let's just say that his credibility is not exactly inspiring after the school lunch bit. If you have to pick the more credible source, Caffrey wins this one with a slam-dunk.

The 22-point complaint against Caffrey is filled with pure nonsense. One of her offenses was that she spoke to the media. That's not usually considered a firing offense in a democracy. But what Caffrey did in an interview with The Star-Ledger is frankly discuss how insane the state's tenure rules are. That probably explains why the audience last night, packed with union teachers, erupted in applause when the board voted to chop off her head.

Caffrey will probably sue over this and surely win. That will cost taxpayers money. But for now, the loss can be counted in the kneecapping of her attempts to improve performance in the district, moves that impressed acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf and Mayor Wilda Diaz, both of whom think it's nuts to fire Caffrey.

Any way you look at this one, the kids in Perth Amboy are the big losers. And for that, this board deserves all the credit.