There’s a change coming to the Newark school system, which has seen a serious upheaval since Chris Christie took office, but it remains to be seen if it will be for the better or not. The failing schools in the Newark area were taken over by the state back in 1995, but under the current Governor they were put under a new marching order, popularly known as One Newark. Heading up this change was Cami Anderson, selected by Christie to find some way to make the system work, and she shifted the entire playing field. Neighborhood schools were restructured and a city wide lottery was put in place to give parents a better chance at getting their kids into a successful school. There were mass firings of teachers and administrators and a surge in the use of charter schools.

Now, after being attacked by the forces who wanted to keep the status quo pretty much since day one, Anderson is stepping down.

Cami Anderson, installed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) to launch one of the most radical school reform efforts in the country, is leaving the job after four tumultuous years and widespread community protests over her plan known as One Newark.

David Hespe, the state commissioner of education, announced Monday that Anderson will step down from running the public schools in Newark, the state’s largest city, on July 8.

“Superintendent Anderson has worked tirelessly over the last four years to implement a bold educational vision for the students and parents of Newark,” said Commissioner Hespe. “Under Cami’s leadership, the Newark school district signed a landmark teacher’s contract, implemented One Newark, and increased flexibility and support in virtually every school in Newark. We know that these positive educational reforms will continue to benefit the students and parents of Newark for years to come.”

If you want to know how well Anderson was doing, you need look no further than the response from the unions.

“Good riddance,” said John M. Abeigon of the Newark Teachers Union,which had fought against One Newark. “The damage she has done to children, parents and dedicated employees in this city is quantifiable and must now be reversed. We will work with whoever is in charge towards that end.”

The announcement that Anderson is stepping down came just four months after Hespe opted to continue her contract to run the Newark schools through 2015 and after Christie had made it clear that he stood by Anderson despite opposition from community leaders, clergy, state lawmakers and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D), who was elected in 2014 on a promise to get rid of One Newark.

Christie famously told the new mayor, “I’m the decider – you have nothing to do with it,” according to an account he gave at a gathering at the Aspen Institute last year.

Anderson is expected to be replaced by Christopher D. Cerf, another reformer who worked for an education technology firm run by Rupert Murdoch. All of this is happening while Anderson was under serious attack from the teachers unions and their surrogates. The Newark School Board had recently issued a call for her to be replaced and got many students to participate in a sit-in to protest the changes. All of this was seen as a “distraction for Christie” as he was debating a presidential run, at least according to the New Jersey press.

But was it really a negative for the Governor? It could be argued that the biggest thing which brought Scott Walker to national prominence was his ongoing and successful wars with public sector unions in Wisconsin. For Christie, highlighting a fight he was having with the teachers unions seems like it would have done a lot to shore up his conservative credentials on a national level. And yet, for some reason, you really never heard much in the national news about Newark One or the protests taking place. If Christie had hit that a bit harder on the trail he might not be flagging so badly in the primary. (Well, avoiding that walk on the beach with Obama might have helped too.)