TRENTON — After nearly a century, the days of New Jersey teachers automatically earning tenure after a few years on the job could be over. Under a plan introduced by Gov. Chris Christie’s education commissioner Wednesday, the state’s public school teachers would be assessed and paid using a new rating system based in part on how their students do...
State Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf speaks at the Lewis Library at Princeton University.TRENTON — After nearly a century, the days of New Jersey teachers automatically earning tenure after a few years on the job could be over.
Under a plan introduced by Gov. Chris Christie’s education commissioner Wednesday, the state’s public school teachers would be assessed and paid using a new rating system based in part on how their students do in the classroom.
Calling tenure "the last frontier of school reform," acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf unveiled a sweeping, five-point reform proposal during a panel debate at Princeton University. The plan calls for abandoning New Jersey’s 100-year-old teacher job guarantee program and replacing it with an evaluation system that rewards educators for good student performance and working in at-risk schools.
"Engaging in this conversation is not bashing teachers," Cerf said. "It is pro-teacher to say that excellence in the classroom should be rewarded. It is pro-teacher to change antiquated rules that treat teachers like interchangeable commodities."
About 150 people listened as Cerf outlined his plan, one that sharply divided school reform advocates. It was unclear Wednesday whether the Republican governor would be able to push the tenure changes through the Democrat-controlled Legislature or how the reforms would be implemented in nearly 600 districts that each have their own teacher contracts.
The head of the state’s largest teachers union said the parents of New Jersey’s 1.4 million schoolchildren should be "alarmed and dismayed" by the proposed reforms that would affect more than 100,000 teachers.
"This proposal is an unproven step in the wrong direction," said Barbara Keshishian, president of the New Jersey Education Association. "All reliable research suggests that evaluating teachers primarily on their ability to raise student test scores is bad policy, but that doesn’t deter Gov. Christie."
If the proposed changes are enacted, NJEA officials said, teachers would be vulnerable to getting fired because of school board politics.
"No one wants to create 125,000 new patronage jobs in New Jersey, but that’s the risk we run under the governor’s proposal," Keshishian said.
Among Cerf’s proposals:
• The state would create an evaluation system that would rate teachers as "highly effective," "effective," "partially effective" or "ineffective." Student performance would count for at least half of a teacher’s rating.
• Instead of automatically earning tenure after three years and one day, teachers would earn job protection only if they are rated "effective" or "highly effective" for three consecutive years. Teachers could lose tenure after one or two years of poor evaluations.
• Teacher raises would be based primarily on whether their students perform well in the classroom. They could also up their pay if they teach in high-need schools or in subjects where there are teacher shortages, including science or bilingual education.
The changes could require the Legislature to rewrite existing tenure laws, which were first introduced in the early 1900s to protect teachers from being fired for political or racial reasons.
Cerf said some pieces of the proposal, such as the four-tier evaluation system, could be in schools as early as September if approved. But he acknowledged the measures could be subject to a fight.
"Everything is subject to a fight in education," Cerf said.
Several lawmakers wasted no time criticizing the proposals. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) released a statement questioning the reforms even before Cerf concluded his appearance in Princeton.
"The Assembly is prepared to work cooperatively to advance responsible education reforms, but is not ready to cast blame on teachers who in many of these failing schools are quite simply real-life heroes," Oliver said.
It is unclear how much support the proposals will receive in the Legislature, though calls for tenure reform are already reaching across party lines. Sen. Teresa Ruiz, a Democrat from Essex County, said she will unveil a bill in the next two weeks tackling tenure.
Ruiz said her proposal, which she has been drafting for two months, will not include merit pay or the other ideas Cerf proposed.
"The bill I intend to draw focuses solely on teacher effectiveness and tenure," she said.
Other lawmakers worried amending the tenure system would mean teachers would be vulnerable to getting fired because of school board politics.
"If we’re going to weaken the protections of tenure, we need to tighten the rules about political activities of board members," said Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union).
Reaction to Cerf’s proposal was largely negative among teachers.
Sparta High School math teacher Andrew Bayliss said he worried his tenure and merit raises might be based on how his students perform on state tests.
"I teach a very difficult subject that a lot of students don’t like. When students rebel, (are) my superintendent and principal going to value me enough to support me?" said Bayliss, who has taught for 10 years in the Sussex County district.
Under the new system, longtime teachers earning higher salaries could be at risk when cash-strapped districts cut their budgets, said Steve Beatty, a social studies teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan High School with 18 years' experience.
"It makes it really tempting to clean house whenever you want to," he said.
But Robert Bumpus, executive county school superintendent for Salem and Gloucester counties, said he thinks teachers will warm up to the idea of tenure reform over time.
"If they really look at it and debate it," Bumpus said, "I think down deep inside they’re going to say this makes sense."
By Jeanette Rundquist and Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger
Staff writers Kelly Heyboer, Chris Megerian, Eunice Lee, Ryan Hutchins and Karl de Vries contributed to this report.