Tenure Hypocrisy Update

When we last left Dr. Janine Walker Caffrey, the Queen of Gutting Tenure, she was demanding that her due process rights be respected by appealing to the ACTING Commissioner to stop her firing by the Perth Amboy school board.

Here's today's chapter of this continuing soap opera:

The dispute between the Perth Amboy Board of Education and the schools superintendent appears to be heading to the state Office of Administrative Law, following the state education commissioner’s latest ruling. 

[...]

For the second time this month, acting state Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf ruled against the Perth Amboy Board of Education’s efforts to place the schools superintendent, Janine Walker Caffrey, on paid administrative leave. 

Caffrey, who has been at odds with the board since taking the job last July, served nine schools days on paid administrative leave following an April 25 school board vote. The commissioner reinstated her to the superintendent position on May 8.

Cerf on Friday denied the board’s motion for reconsideration of a May 7 vote by all nine school board members to return Caffrey to paid administrative leave.

Yes, that's right: this woman, who decried tenure as "...the single greatest impediment to education improvement in New Jersey, without a doubt," used the very same mechanism - appeal to an out-of-district authority - to override her board's vote.

But it gets even better:

Because of the factual issues in dispute, Cerf said that he is unable to make a determination on the board’s action taken at the May 7 special meeting.

“Therefore, in that the board’s reply submission addressed the issues raised in the amended petition, the matter will be transmitted to the Office of Administrative Law. Accordingly, the motion for reconsideration is hereby denied,” Cerf said in his decision. [emphasis mine]

Catch that? The case will now be adjudicated by an administrative judge. Well, here's the current tenure law:

If, following receipt of the written response to the charges, the commissioner is of the opinion that they are not sufficient to warrant dismissal or reduction in salary of the person charged, he shall dismiss the same and notify said person accordingly. If, however, he shall determine that such charge is sufficient to warrant dismissal or reduction in salary of the person charged, he shall within 10 days of making that determination refer the case to the Office of Administrative Law for further proceedings , except that when a motion for summary decision has been made prior to that time, the commissioner may retain the matter for purposes of deciding the motion. [emphasis mine]

Caffrey's case is following the current tenure law - the very law she herself decries - nearly exactly.

The hypocrisy meter is now spinning so crazily, I'll bet even Tom Moran can hear it...

The Hypocrisy Meter - made in Perth Amboy!