
A story in The Star-Ledger Wednesday revealed that  Newark Mayor Cory Booker hired a consulting company founded by acting Education  Commissioner Christopher Cerf to help overhaul Newark public schools. The  company, Global Education Advisors, used Cerf's home address as its New Jersey  address. Cerf gave an extended e-mail interview yesterday to Star-Ledger  columnist Bob Braun.
  
 Q. Given today's story, do you believe you can  provide unbiased judgment as to the best needs of public school children in New  Jersey?
  
 A. Yes.
  
 Q. If disputes arise over the Newark school  reorganization plan, can you be objective?
  
 A. Not sure what you mean by the Newark  reorganization plan. If you mean the document that was leaked last week, I had  no role in developing it. So far as I am aware, the work it reflected was done  after I no longer had any association with GEA. From the look of it, it also  appears that much of it was also done before GEA was created.
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 You should understand that GEA was created to offer  general education consulting services. I believe it currently has one employee,  although my understanding is that others have been retained as independent  contractors, e.g. analysts. Its efforts, with respect to Newark, if I recall,  did not begin until around Thanksgiving, and even then, not in earnest until  December. I resigned a matter of weeks later, when I was asked to be  commissioner. I can't date that specifically, but I think it was around  Christmas. It was a very part-time involvement that took place while I was CEO  of an unrelated organization. I did it in the spirit of being of service to the  Newark public schools, and never asked for or received payment, not even  reimbursement for expenses. I do not believe I ever saw the contract and do not  know its final economic terms.
  
 During that very brief period, GEA's work was  limited to doing a "diagnostic" that would serve as a fact base for others,  including the new superintendent, to use as a basis for decisions. I had no role  as part of GEA in any recommendations involving co-locations, charter  placements, new schools, school consolidations or the like. None. I do not  believe those issues were even in contemplation during my very brief  tenure.
  
 Others have made much of the firm's mailing  address. I worked out of my home during my last job, as the company's  headquarters were in Brazil. When my colleague filed the required papers, I gave  him permission to use my home address. It's that simple  entirely  ministerial.
  
 Q. You also exercise a judicial function in  rendering decisions in disputes involving school law. Can you be objective if  you must render a decision on a conflict arising out of the Newark  plan?
  
 A. Yes, for the above reasons. But I will consider  each matter that comes before me in light of applicable rules related to  recusal, etc. Respectfully, I have some difficulty envisioning what kind of  disputes you are referencing related to a judicial function. But certainly,  should such a matter arise, I would evaluate my obligations in light of  applicable rules and regulations.
  
 Q. Do you view your connection to GEA as a conflict  with your present post? Do you see where it might create a perception of a  conflict? If not, why not?
  
 A. I do not see it as a conflict. My very short  involvement occurred when I was a civilian and ended when I was a civilian. The  only work I did in that capacity involved generating a fact base on which others  might make decisions. I have no current interest of any sort in the  organization.
I believe the perception of a conflict, if there is one, is  traceable in large part to a misunderstanding of the underlying facts and the  manner in which the story was reported.
I might note that I have been  entirely open and transparent about my work on the diagnostic. I met with the  leadership of the School Advisory Board to brief them and had numerous public  conversations about the work and my role in it.
  
 Q. Do you or members of your immediate family have  an interest in any private entity that has in the past, now does or plans to do  business with any public entity in New Jersey?
  
 A. No. My wife is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist,  but to the best of my knowledge, 100 percent of the folks she works with are  private individuals.
  
 Q. What other clients does GEA have?
  
 A. There are many, but I do not know them and had  no involvement with them. My colleague had a pre-existing consulting practice  working with school districts and educational foundations. I believe that, as a  convenience, he folded them all into GEA for purposes of administrative  convenience. Perhaps it would be helpful to point out that this is not  "McKinsey" or a significant enterprise, but essentially one guy who, on a very  part-time basis, provides consulting services.
  
 Q. Did you not consider that if your connection to  GEA was revealed, it might appear to be a conflict?
  
 A. No. I have been transparent about my involvement  with the School Advisory Board and others. More important, that involvement was  fleeting and "diagnostic" in nature and did not include the recommendations in  the document that The Star-Ledger reported. I have a long, long commitment to  reform in the Newark public schools. I considered the volunteer service I  offered to be a part of that effort.
  
 Q. Also, has the New Jersey Department of  Education, any public entity within the jurisdiction of the department, the New  Jersey Charter School Association, any individual charter school, or any group  seeking to establish a charter school ever hired Global Education Advisors or  any other private entity with connections to the commissioner?
  
 A. No. As has been reported in the press, I served  on the board of trustees of Team Academy in my personal capacity (nothing to do  with GEA), but resigned prior to assuming my post. I will recuse myself from  matters related to it.