Christie Names Higher Education Secretary

The state official who ordered the  on the Washington School redistricting plan will be in charge of coordinating New Jersey’s higher education system.

Gov. Chris Christie announced Thursday that he was nominating longtime state education official Rochelle Hendricks as the state’s first secretary of higher education. Hendricks currently serves as acting deputy education commissioner and is a former acting education commissioner.

Hendricks took the helm of the state Education Department last summer after former Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, a Westfield native, was  by Christie in the wake of the Race to the Top controversy. Hendricks helmed the education agency until January when former New York City education official Chris Cerf became acting commissioner.

While acting education commissioner, Hendricks signed off on a plan ordering the Board of Education to conduct a new vote on the redistricting of Washington students from Roosevelt Intermediate School to Edison Intermediate School. Hendricks  from a state administrative law judge saying that the BOE violated it’s by-laws by holding the second vote less than four weeks after the first vote. The new vote confirmed the original BOE decision.

In addition, Hendricks provided the formal directive to former county School Superintendent Carmen Centuolo to Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan’s new contract, which gave Dolan a salary above Christie’s new cap for school district chief executives. The BOE has an appeal pending before Cerf.

Hendricks is a longtime staffer in the state education department, according to a press release from the governor’s office. Her service, which started in 1987, includes a stint as assistant commissioner for school effectiveness and choice and professional development director.

As higher education secretary, Hendricks will also serve as executive director of the Commission on Higher Education and will be responsible for coordinating the state’s higher education system. She will also serve as a member of several education and employment related commissions.

Hendricks’ appointment garnered praise from a state lawmaker who will have to vote to confirm the nomination.

"Rochelle Hendricks has spent her career as an innovator in education," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield). "Her experience in the classroom, as an administrator, and in government makes her the perfect choice to ensure that New Jersey's public colleges and universities continue to offer a world class education at an affordable cost. The Governor's Higher Education Taskforce has laid out a set of ambitious recommendations to improve higher education in New Jersey, and I am confident Commissioner Hendricks is up to the task."