NJEA says the union will make the process for removing teachers 'more efficient' Watch video
New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian at the podium with three members of the New Jersey State Board of Education meeting at the NJEA convention in Atlantic City in this November 2010 photo.TRENTON —The state’s largest teachers union will unveil plans today to streamline the process for removing tenured teachers from the classroom, just days before the Senate Education Committee holds a hearing on tenure and its impact on public education.
Tenure, the job protection afforded to New Jersey educators after three years and one day on the job, has come under increasing fire from Gov. Chris Christie and some education advocacy groups.
Steve Wollmer, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, said Monday that the union "will address the legal process for removing tenured teachers (and) make it more efficient," by proposing a system that would "take the judges out of the picture. " and use arbitration instead.
He did not offer further details.
Tenure charge cases that get to the point of a hearing now go before an Administrative Law Judge, who makes a recommendation to the state education commissioner. The commissioner can uphold, overturn or modify the ruling.
The NJEA also plans to release a raft of other proposals, for things such as teacher-driven innovation and mentoring, and "set the record straight" about its commitment to education, Wollmer said.
"Our organization has taken a pretty bad rap over the past 10 months," he said. "We’re going to set the record straight and get some ideas out there that really matter."
Other education advocacy groups have proposed extending the probationary period before a teacher gets tenure, or eliminating tenure entirely, in favor of renewable contracts, but Wollmer said that is not part of NJEA’s proposal, which would require legislative approval.
"If you haven’t figured out after three years if someone’s a good teacher, another year isn’t going to do it," he said. "The focus of our proposal is on the process and how its adjudicated. Our proposal directly addresses the time and cost, while maintaining the standard of fairness you have to have."
Tenure has become a hot-button issue in New Jersey this year, as Christie repeatedly has taken on the state’s largest teachers’ union.
The NJEA proposal comes just days before the Senate Education Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday on the subject. Representatives from the NJEA and state Department of Education, along with national experts, are among those expected to testify.
Separately, an "Educator Effectiveness" task force appointed by Christie is working to come up with a way to evaluate teachers and principals, and is to report to the governor by March 1.
Some education advocates said the NJEA’s proposal was timed to beat the Senate hearing.
"I’m confident this is pre-emptive," said Derrell Bradford, executive director of Excellent Education for Everyone, and a member of the Christie task force. "Given that the NJEA’s tactics normally involve saying ‘no,’ it appears they think the best way to deal with change they can’t stop is get out in front of it. I don’t see them proposing anything that substantively overhauls tenure."
Some experts say just taking about changing tenure represents movement.
"The type of hearing taking place on Thursday, you’d never have seen in the past," said Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association. "It’s been a real sacred cow."
The association supports eliminating the tenure system replacing it with contractual tenure, he said.
Another group, the Garden State Coalition of Schools, which represents about 100 suburban districts, wants to extend the tenure probationary period, or move to contracts.
"Three years is a tight timeline," said Lynne Strickland, the group’s executive director. "It’s fairer to the district to be given more time for in-depth evaluation and process, and often people say it’s fairer to the teacher."