With an annual salary of $280K a year, Janey is one of the highest paid public officials in the state
Dr. Clifford Janey, superintendent of Newark public schools, speaks with school employees during a staff meeting in this 2008 photo. His contract was not renewed. NEWARK — Clifford Janey’s contract as Newark’s school superintendent will not be renewed, school officials informed of the decision said tonight.
Janey was told tonight that his three-year contract will not be reinstated, according to the two sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the decision. The move potentially leaves the city looking for a new schools chief, days before Newark students begin classes. Janey’s contract has one more year, but it is unknown if he will serve out the remainder of his term. He could not be immediately reached for comment.
The state Department of Education took over Newark's school system in 1995. The agency oversees all hiring decisions. The Department of Education declined to comment on the decision tonight, but Gov. Chris Christie has not been shy about criticizing a lack of progress in Newark schools.
"In the city of Newark, we are spending $24,000 per pupil and public money for an absolutely disgraceful public education system," Christie said during a May visit to Washington, D.C. "One that should embarrass our entire state."
Janey is one of the highest paid public officials in New Jersey, earning an annual salary of $280,000, but critics say his record of accomplishment in the Newark Public Schools has been thin. It took the superintendent a year-and-a-half after arriving in Newark to release a comprehensive plan detailing how he hoped to turn around the 40,000-student district's deep-seated problems.
The plan, dubbed "Great Expectations," expanded on interim proposals the superintendent released in 2009 for improving curriculum, developing community-minded schools, bolstering school safety, and making school system management more accountable.
Janey arrived in June 2008 following an appointment by former Gov. Jon Corzine, and oversees one of the lowest-performing urban public school systems in the country.
Forty-six percent of students who enter the system fail to graduate and only 40 percent of third graders read and write at grade-level. Further, some 98 percent of Newark’s high school graduates who enroll in Essex County College must take remedial math before enrolling in college-level courses.
Janey’s first accomplishment came in his first few months on the job. Three-quarters of the city’s pupils are enrolled in its elementary schools, and in a sweeping change to the district’s dress-code policy, Janey required all elementary students to wear uniforms. Students in all grades now wear uniforms.
Before coming to Newark, Janey served as superintendent of the Washington, D.C and Rochester, N.Y. public school districts.
By Jessica Calefati and David Giambusso/The Star-Ledger
| Christie speaks in Washington DC, calling Newark schools 'absolutely disgraceful' |