“The New Jersey School Boards Association wishes Dr. Librera the best of luck as he continues his career at Rutgers. Dr. Librera became commissioner of education at a challenging time for New Jersey and its public schools.

“During his term, New Jersey revised its Core Curriculum Content Standards —the goals that drive education programs for all students. Dr. Librera also worked to improve New Jersey’s standardized testing program. In particular, we appreciate his personal support for the efforts of the New Jersey Performance Assessment Alliance, which is exploring methods beyond standard paper-and-pencil tests to accurately measure student progress.

“Dr. Librera also faced the serious challenges of implementing the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act with little federal money, and of revising the system that our state uses to monitor school district performance. That monitoring process will hopefully lead to more focused state assistance to school districts.

“Dr. Librera has spent most of his career in local school districts, as an educator and an administrator. That local experience always showed through. We always found him willing to listen to the concerns of local school boards.”