Crashing Cerf?
December 5th, 2008
This is one of those seemingly arcane stories replete with angles and notable for what it says about a range of issues: transparency at the Department of Education, ties between the Bloomberg/Klein education department and private education entrepreneurs, conflict of interest enforcement in the city and the influence of money at the Department of Education.
The News and the Times report today Deputy Schools Chancellor Christopher Cerf solicited a $60,000 charitable contribution from executives at Edison Schools, where he once served as president and which does business with the school system. Cerf asked the Edison executives to contribute to the Darrow Foundation, which runs wilderness programs for young people. When investigators began asking questions, Cerf thought better of it and told the people at Edison that “it would be the better course not to proceed with the contribution.”
The city’s Conflicts of Interest Board did look into the matter and found reasons for concern. Its chairman, Steven Rosenfeld reportedly wrote Cerf a letter saying the school official had used his city post to help Darrow and offering him a “formal reminder of the importance of strict compliance with the city’s conflicts of interest law.” Rosenfeld cited the City Charter, which bars public servants from using their positions to obtain privileges for themselves “or any person or firm associated” with them and from soliciting charitable donations from “persons or firms likely to come before the officials’ agencies or be affected by their official actions.”
The board did not take any action against Cerf, apparently viewing his behavior as less egregious than those, say, of the health department pest inspector who checked out a quality of life complaint at an uncle’s church without telling a supervisor and lost eight days pay. The board, as is often the case, also did not make its findings public. (For more on how the board operates, see The Public Principles Police.)
Richard Condon, the special commissioner for school investigations, also looked into the Darrow affair and sent a report on it to Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in August 2007. Condon never released the report, even though, as Juan Gonzalez notes in the News he “is never shy about announcing investigations of low-level school employees.”
The report surfaced yesterday after a Freedom of Information request, although with extensive deletions. (For a picture — literally — of how the Department of Education edits, see Gotham Schools.)
Cerf previously came under fire for holding stock in Edison while he worked as an education department consultant and Edison got city contracts. Cerf only surrendered the shares — said to be worth millions of dollars before the economic collapse — when he learned a parents group was about to question him about them.
The latest disclosure, Elizabeth Green writes in Gotham Schools has “not only resurrected questions about Cerf’s propriety, but bigger questions about how sufficiently the Department of Education is held accountable. … Advocates charge that the current structure allows school officials to hide from scrutiny. This report provides them some new ammunition.”
This comes as educators, advocates and state government prepares to debate the pros and cons of mayoral control of schools. As Gotham Gazette reported last month, many critics want the legislature to revamp the system to provide more oversight. This may well bolster that opinion.
By Gail Robinson on December 5, 2008, 3:09 pmIn category: Education | No Comments »

