Cerf Takes Ideas To Teachers

New Jersey's education chief says the state needs to acknowledge that some teachers are more talented than others and change the way students are tested and educators are evaluated.

It's a message Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf has been giving since he took office in January. But his audience Friday was particularly tough: Members of the New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union.

Cerf spoke to about 250 educators at their annual convention in Atlantic City.

The teachers guffawed when he said Gov. Chris Christie respects educators. But they cheered when he said New Jersey has one of the nation's top education systems.

The union this week unveiled its own slate of reform proposals.