A New Jersey Senate committee has unanimously approved acting state education commissioner Christopher Cerf.

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After Thursday's vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Cerf's nomination will now be taken up by the full Senate.

Cerf has served as the state's acting commissioner for about a year and a half. He has had a hand in crafting a bill on teacher tenure reform that the Legislature recently passed and is now awaiting Gov. Chris Christie's signature.

Before coming to New Jersey, Cerf worked for private-sector companies involved in public education, and was senior campaign adviser to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He was nominated by Christie after the governor fired then-commissioner Bret Schundler in 2010 over a botched $400 million federal grant application.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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