Former New Jersey Education Commissioners Lucille Davy and Chris Cerf offer guidance to Governor-Elect Mikie Sherrill on how to improve our state education system so that all children graduate high school with the skills they need for a successful life. This was originally published in NJ Spotlight.

Reporting directly to the governor as a member of his/her cabinet, New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education has considerable authority to shape educational policy – and student learning outcomes. He or she is responsible for allocating an annual budget of more than $22 billion, over one-third of the entire state budget, assuring the qualifications of almost 117,000 educators, managing a 600-employee department, working with the State Board of Education to set academic standards and implementing accountability systems predicated on the successful achievement of those standards. The commissioner has ultimate constitutional authority over 590 school districts, 89 charter schools and three renaissance schools serving more than 1.35 million PK-12 students.

Before briefly outlining some of the critical issues and responsibilities a new commissioner will confront, we believe it is critical to articulate clearly the commissioner’s central role. Every decision the commissioner makes – indeed every issue in the realm of education policy — can be seen as either a “means” or an “end.”

Put simply, the “end,” the ultimate objective against which all decisions should be measured, is to ensure that every child in New Jersey, regardless of birth circumstances, economic status or demographics, graduates from high school equipped with the foundational skills necessary for a successful and fulfilling life. While this goal is only a “floor” — and while there is room to debate what those skills are — at minimum they include competency in literacy and mathematics. And while it is politically convenient to laud New Jersey as having among the best school systems in the country — as in the aggregate it truly is — it is also essential to acknowledge the long-standing achievement gaps among NJ’s students that have increased over the past few years.

As one illustration on the “gold standard” National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), New Jersey’s eighth grade math performance ranks fourth nationally. In sharp contrast, however, for students who are growing up in impoverished homes, New Jersey ranks 25th despite spending much more per pupil than most other states. Similarly, children of parents who have a college degree rank third in the nation, while children of parents who did not graduate high school rank 27th compared to peers in other states.

Ensuring that student learning is at the center of the commissioner’s decision-making is especially important in light of the complex politics and competing priorities inherent in education policy decision-making.

The results in language arts literacy are even more alarming: only about a third of New Jersey’s African American, Hispanic or economically disadvantaged third graders are deemed proficient on the statewide literacy test, while 62% of white and 81% of Asian students are proficient.

Ensuring that student learning is at the center of the commissioner’s decision-making is especially important in light of the complex politics and competing priorities inherent in education policy decision-making. Public education necessarily implicates a broad range of interests, most of which are entirely legitimate. Among these are the interests of educators in job security and fair compensation, the concerns of parents, the value of local oversight via a school board, the desire of elected officials to be responsive to constituents and the interest of taxpayers in responsible budgeting.

In our judgment, the organizing principle of an effective commissioner is to be keenly aware of these tensions – and when they arise, to resolve them in favor of the “end” identified above. That end bears repeating: to ensure that every child in New Jersey, regardless of birth circumstances, economic status or demographics, graduates from high school equipped with the foundational skills necessary for a successful and fulfilling life.

With this framing in mind, we now briefly discuss six issues that the next commissioner will almost certainly be called on to address.

Staff capacity of the department

None of the issues facing the next commissioner exist in a vacuum; many are interconnected and require a high functioning DOE staff to support the critical work of providing leadership and guidance to districts and charter schools throughout the state. Over the past several years, the DOE has lost considerable staff through attrition and retirements, significantly reducing its ability to fulfill its mission and responsibility to the children of New Jersey. State budgetary constraints have made it difficult for the DOE to fill critical staff roles.

In addition, when the law was changed in 2007 to create the position of executive county superintendent (ECS), it was intended they would be accomplished district leaders who could effectively serve as the Department’s main contact and resource for local districts.

These positions need to be filled with fidelity to the law’s initial intent. The commissioner will need to persuade the next governor and legislature to provide additional funding to build back the DOE’s capacity so it can effectively lead and implement education policy decision-making.

The achievement gap

As noted above, New Jersey does indeed have much to celebrate when the focus is on student performance across the entire population. The disaggregated numbers tell a different story. For pretty much any population generally correlated with lower family income – eligibility for free-or-reduced-price lunch, race, children of non-college graduates—New Jersey’s performance is quite ordinary, falling well below that of more affluent children.

There are reasons to care deeply about this inequity from both a practical and a moral perspective. Graduating from high school having mastered the foundational skills of, at minimum, reading and math is highly correlated with lifetime earnings, longevity, avoiding negative contact with law enforcement, marriage and even maintaining a community of friends, a surprisingly important predictor of a balanced and fulfilling life. The state must make narrowing this gap a high priority. Equality of opportunity has been a central ideal of the nation since the beginning. Free public education serves this ideal by ensuring that every child, regardless of class or race, is empowered with the competencies to succeed.

Fortunately, the commissioner has several means to address these persistent achievement gaps, although deploying them quite often encounters resistance from some political quarters. Here are a few:

• Don’t hide behind bromides about our high state ranking; celebrate success but also publicize the gaps and the urgency of addressing them.
• Be “quality focused but governance neutral” in evaluating public schools; support and expand the reach of urban charter schools even if local officials object.
• Resist the siren song of those who want to dilute standards, reduce “cut scores,” eliminate high school exit requirements, and weaken objective measures of learning progress.
• While local control is the norm, the constitutional duty to assure a quality education falls squarely on the state. Deploying state mandates is rarely popular, but sometimes entirely appropriate. Directives paired with consequences often are more likely to get results.

High-Quality Instructional Material

Research shows that consistent, sustained use of high-quality curricula has a greater impact on student learning than many other interventions, including class size reduction. Unfortunately, other research suggests that only a minority of classroom time is spent on high-quality, grade-level material. Recent developments in literacy instruction have brought this issue to new prominence. As studies have confirmed for nearly two decades, incorporating “the science of reading” is critically important especially in grades K-3.

The commissioner should develop a clear strategy designed to ensure the adoption and effective implementation of high- quality curriculum materials. Historically, the NJDOE has largely relied on setting academic standards (the “ends”), while leaving all curricular decisions (the “means”) to individual districts. An increasing number of states are taking a more active role, for example by developing an approved list of research-based curricula, incentivizing districts to choose such programs and even penalizing districts that use literacy programs that are proven ineffective.

The point is not to urge a particular approach, but rather to identify an area of critical importance for which the next commissioner can learn from other states and potentially make a huge and quick impact.

State assessments

Annual state assessments are essential for accountability; the state needs a common test administered in all schools to provide public data on how well students are mastering the core curriculum standards. It is illogical to have high standards for students and then not to evaluate the degree to which they are being met. Such accountability also provides an opportunity to establish concrete consequences for inadequate progress, such as state intervention and not renewing charters.

The next commissioner will need to wrestle with these issues, as well as continued implementation of a high school “exit exam” to ensure students graduate with the skills needed for postsecondary education and the workforce.

Recently DOE announced the move to new adaptive end-of-year assessments. Migrating to a new test, particularly one not yet been widely field-tested, can be challenging. The commissioner will need to be vigilant so that the state does not lose a year of assessment data because of this change. In addition, districts will need support from the DOE and ECSs during this transition, along with the move from the previous NJSMART to the new NJSLEDS student data system.

Teacher pipeline and quality

Few research findings are more robust than that the quality and effectiveness of the teacher in front of the classroom is the most critical determinant of student learning. While individual personnel decisions are left to the discretion of local districts, the commissioner can influence the exercise of that discretion in several ways:

• The regulations governing the threshold eligibility requirements to become a certified teacher in the state, while sometimes viewed as mechanistic, can be refined in the interest of advancing student learning.
• The 2012 Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for Children Act lengthened the number of years before tenure can be granted, established clear standards for annual teacher evaluation, linked tenure decisions to performance and streamlined the process for removing ineffective teachers. Notwithstanding the clarity of the statutory language, the commissioner’s role is critical in effectuating the legislature’s intent, not least by resisting the pressure on the State Board to promulgate dilutive regulations.

While not the case in all grades and subjects, New Jersey has long experienced a shortage of teachers in certain areas, most notably in special education, STEM, and ELL. The commissioner can play an influential role in striking the right balance between ensuring quality and supporting a pipeline robust enough to meet districts’ needs. Perhaps most important of all, the commissioner should set a tone of respect for and gratitude to the over 100,000 teachers in the state for their professionalism and commitment to the children of our state.

Budgets and school funding

New Jersey’s school districts continue to face budgetary pressures due to increasing expenses for personnel, insurance, and other operational costs. The future potential loss of federal funding for teacher preparation and support for English learners could exacerbate these burdens. It will be important for the DOE to identify possible efficiencies and provide timely guidance to districts as the next fiscal year budget process unfolds in early 2026.

Despite the school funding formula (SFRA) being fully funded in the current school year, some districts have complained about inadequate state funding. In certain cases, despite declining enrollments, districts have not adjusted their spending or operations accordingly. Other districts have failed to raise their local fair share to support schools. The DOE should continue working with legislators to ensure that all communities are equitably supporting local schools as required by SFRA.

And some districts are so small – serving less than 200 students – that they cannot operate effectively.  One alternative that should be pursued is incentivizing the fiscally responsible consolidation of small pre-K to 6th and pre-K to 8^th grade districts, which would allow for better curriculum coordination and support as well as more robust middle school programs.

Lucille Davy served as New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education from 2005 to 2010, following her role as Education Policy Counsel to the Governor.  After leaving state government, she continued her work on education policy at the national level, including serving one term on the National Assessment Governing Board, where she held the position of vice chair for two years.  She is currently collaborating with other New Jersey educators to examine opportunities for regionalization or consolidation of school districts that are not part of a comprehensive pre-K through 12th grade district.

Mr. Cerf served as Deputy Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, Superintendent of the Newark, New Jersey public schools and New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education. Co-founder of the National Summer School Initiative, he continues to serve as board chair. Other non-profit boards include Excellence in Education, NJCan,and the Uplands Center Foundation. In the private sector, Mr. Cerf sits on several company boards and previously served as Associate Counsel to President Clinton and as a partner in two Washington, D.C., law firms. A graduate of Amherst College and Columbia Law School, Mr. Cerf also was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Prior to attending law school, he spent four years as a high school history teacher.