PRINCETON BOROUGH — A "tumultuous" year in New Jersey politics, the pros and cons of charter schools and teacher evaluation systems, and the strained finances facing school districts were on the agenda today. Those were some topics of five former state education commissioners at an unusual roundtable discussion about the state of public education in the Garden State. The...
Former N.J. education commissioner Bret Schundler in this August 2010 file photo.PRINCETON BOROUGH — A "tumultuous" year in New Jersey politics, the pros and cons of charter schools and teacher evaluation systems, and the strained finances facing school districts were on the agenda today.
Those were some topics of five former state education commissioners at an unusual roundtable discussion about the state of public education in the Garden State.
The five — Bret Schundler, Lucille Davy, William Librera, Vito Gagliardi and David Hespe — shared the dais at a forum sponsored by LEGAL ONE, a partnership providing professional development in legal education for school administrators and others.
An audience of about 200 educators, from Rutgers University and local school districts, the state Department of Education and education advocacy groups, watched as the former commissioners talked about extending the probation period before teachers get tenure; using student test performance, but not just one test score, in teacher evaluations; and involving teachers in the ongoing effort to come up with new evaluation systems.
They also groused about a perennial issue in education: Funding.
"The problem is not the source of money, it’s the unpredictability of whether we get it," said Librera, commissioner under Gov. Jim McGreevey from 2002-04, in talking about the fluctuating levels of funding for schools,
Public education in New Jersey has undergone a rollicking year, with Gov. Chris Christie slashing state aid to schools; waging a high-profile battle with the NJEA over teacher salaries and tenure; and firing his education commissioner, Schundler, over the state’s botched bid for $400 million in federal education funding. .
Under Christie, the state is considering more charter schools and an expanded program of school choice; a task force is studying teacher evaluations; and a salary cap to limit what school superintendents earn, tying their salaries to the size of their districts, is pending. Christie is also expected to soon name a permanent commissioner of education.
On the local level, school districts are straining under tight budgets, leading to staffing and program cuts.
The five commissioners largely agreed on one thing: Politics are alive and well in New Jersey education.
"Political influences make the job harder," said Davy, who was commissioner from 2005 to 2010, serving Govs. Richard Codey and Jon Corzine. "Politics can really hinder the commissioner’s ability to get the job done … ." I don’t see how you can be an education leader and put politics first," she said.
Hespe, commissioner for Gov. Christie Todd Whitman in 1999-2001, acknowledged that "change is messy."
And Schundler, a former Jersey City mayor who served as Christie’s commissioner from January until August, said "if you have a politically controlled system, you’ll have politics."
Several in the audience later said they thought the forum raised many good topics, but not a lot of unexpected areas.
"I didn’t hear a lot I was surprised at," said Judith Brendel, supervisor of mathematics and art at the Pascack Valley Regional High School District.
Irvington Assistant Superintendent Martin Dickerson said he was pleased to hear many of the commissioners talking about the need to provide extra resources for children who need them.
The forum was held at the Nassau Inn in Princeton.