There
are so many issues facing educators in today’s world. An issue not new to
education but one that has received a great deal of attention lately is the
issue of tenure reform. Over the past decade, teacher tenure has come under
fire as one of the major problems facing education today. Before one can speak
to the issues of tenure reform, we must identify the concept of tenure. What is
tenure? Academic tenure refers to a policy that provides job security for
teachers who have successfully completed a probationary period and may not be
disciplined or fired without cause or due process. Its purpose was to provide
protection for good teachers from being fired for issues related to their
personal beliefs or personality conflicts with educational leaders. It provided
teachers with the opportunity and freedom to pursue research and teach their
students accordingly without political fall-out. Critics indicate that tenure makes it virtually
impossible to remove ineffective teachers as it can involve years of review at
great expense to the school districts.
On August 6, 2012, Governor Chris
Christie signed the Teacher
Effectiveness and Accountability
for the Children of New Jersey (TEACHNJ)
Act, a bold first step in education reform in New Jersey that links the
tenure process and teacher performance. This bipartisan effort that takes
effect in the 2012 – 2013 school year marks the first extensive reform of New
Jersey’s tenure law in over 100 years, and is viewed as a critical step
necessary to ensure the presence of highly effective teachers in every
classroom. The intent of this
legislation is to “transform the existing tenure system to provide powerful
tools to identify effective and ineffective teachers, strengthen the supports
available to help all teachers to improve their craft, and for the first time,
tie the acquisition, maintenance, and loss of tenure to a teacher’s
effectiveness in the classroom” (“Governor Chris Christie”, 2012). Many are
hopeful that this new law will bring about the necessary changes to improve
student success. With that said, there is still a great deal of uncertainty as
to how this law will be effectively implemented.
For the first time in
New Jersey’s history, a connection is being made between the acquisition of
tenure with teacher effectiveness rather than to the years of service in the
profession. Teacher tenure must be
earned on the basis of educator performance that will now be measured by a new,
and what many are calling a modernized evaluation system, a system that elicits
more collaborative, constructive feedback on teacher practices. Educational
leaders, using this feedback, can then provide ongoing professional development
that supports student achievement.
These new evaluation
systems are currently being piloted in a number of school districts and must be
implemented during the 2013 – 2014 school year. “Evaluations must be based on
an individual’s job description, professional standards, the use of multiple
measures of student progress and multiple data sources. Only approved (by the
district BOE and the NJDOE) evaluation tool’s rubrics can be used as the
primary reference for evaluations” (Parent, 2012). The law also contains a
provision “requiring that the rubric be partially based on multiple objective
measures of student learning that use student growth from one year’s measure to
the next” (Parent, 2012). The law, however does not specifically state which
evaluation tool to use. That choice is left to the discretion of the school
districts. Which then begs the question, will there be consistency state wide? Student test scores should not be the
principal factor in teacher evaluations. In grades and subject areas where
standardized tests are not state-mandated, it is up to the district to
determine the method of measuring student growth. Districts must also provide
guidelines for proper training to ensure competence in the use of the
evaluation tool.
Under the new law, tenure will be granted
after four years and only awarded after receiving a rating of “effective” or “highly
effective” in at least two of the next three years. It should be noted that
those in the process of earning tenure prior to the signing of the new law will
still earn tenure in three years. The first year will now require those new to
the teaching profession to be mentored by skilled colleagues and educational
leaders. This is to ensure they have the necessary skills and essential
supports needed to be effective. “If a teacher receives a rating of
“ineffective” or “partially ineffective” on an annual summative evaluation, a
corrective action plan must be developed by the administrator and the plan must
include how the school district will assist and provide help” (Parent, 2012). If
the teacher experiences this type of rating on a second consecutive evaluation,
the teacher will be brought up on tenure charges and removed based on poor
performance. It should be noted that in such cases, the superintendent may
choose to give a teacher a third year to demonstrate improvement. During that
third year, the teacher would have to receive a rating of “effective” or
“highly effective” to avoid facing tenure charges. Anyone brought up on tenure
charges would then have the right to refute these charges at a hearing before a
neutral third party.
Under the new law, all
tenure charges will be heard by an arbitrator. In order to effectively expedite
this process, the Commissioner of Education is now required to have a 25 member
panel of nationally certified arbitrators to hear cases involving tenure. “Of
the 25 arbitrators, 8 arbitrators shall be designated by the New Jersey
Education Association, 3 arbitrators shall be designated by the American
Federation of Teachers, 9 arbitrators shall be designated by the New Jersey
Boards Association, and 5 arbitrators shall be designated by the New Jersey
Principals and Supervisors Association” (Parent, 2012). All decisions made
during arbitration are final and binding and may not be appealed to the
Commissioner of Education. The time frame will be limited to a period of 105
days from the time charges are received and costs to be paid by the state are
capped at $1250 per day and $7,500 per case.
Teacher tenure is not
transferrable from one district to another. “Any employee beginning employment
in a new district after the effective date of the new law must earn tenure
under its requirements, even if that employee was previously tenured in another
district under the requirements of the old law” (NJEA, 2012). The rights to
maintain due process and seniority have been maintained in the new law.
Assemblyman Patrick J.
Diegnan Jr. stated, “This is meaningful tenure reform that does what’s best for
our children while balancing the protection of due process for our principals and
teachers. This is real change that will ensure new teachers are properly
trained and evaluated and that tenure charges are handled in a timely and
professional manner. Our focus is where it should be – making sure that our
students have the best teachers in the classroom” (“Governor Chris Christie”,
2012).
“Committed, education stakeholders must work
together to build innovative reforms that accelerate 21st century
transformations that benefit learning and education’s key focus: the integrity
of equity, value, and relevance in educational opportunities and meaningful
experiences for all learners” (Petrosino, 2012).
References
Governor chris christie signs revolutionary
bipartisan tenure reform into law. (2012,August 06). Retrieved from http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/552012/approved/20120806c.htm
NJEA. (2012,
September). The new tenure law.
Retrieved from http://www.njea.org/news-and-publications/njea-review/september-2012/the-new-tenure-law
Parent, M.
(2012, July 27). The push & the pull:
breaking down the teachnj act. Retrieved from http://mikeparent.blogspot.com/2012/07/breaking-down-teachnj-act.html
Petrosino, A.
(2012, June 27). Dr. petrosino. Retrieved
from
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