The New Jersey School Boards Association has called on the state Legislature and the administration of Gov. Chris Christie to begin serious discussion of changes in the state’s century old tenure laws that govern employment of public school teachers and other school district employees.
According to a press release from the NJSBA, to promote public discussion, the association has issued a white paper on tenure reform to the state Senate and Assembly majority and minority offices, as well as to the office of the governor’s counsel.
“School boards operate in a completely different environment today than they did when tenure was established in 1909,” reads the paper. “Over a century of statutes, regulations and court decisions protect employees from arbitrary dismissal and discrimination. … New Jersey’s tenure system has devolved into a lifetime job protection for teachers, regardless of how well they perform in the classroom.”
Late last month, Christie announced a wide range of education reforms that would affect how teachers are compensated and how they earn tenure.
“The governor’s initiative is clearly in line with NJSBA policy that was established when Gerald Ford was president [1974-77],” said Marie S. Bilik, NJSBA executive director. “We appreciate Gov. Christie bringing the issue of tenure into public debate; it’s long overdue.”
According to the press release, NJSBA believes New Jersey’s current system of lifetime tenure should be replaced with a system of renewable employment contracts, with continuation of tenure based on effective performance. Such a system would balance employees’ concern about fair treatment with the local board of education’s need to hold staff accountable for ongoing effective performance, according to the association.
A
t present, an employee receives lifetime
tenure protection upon three years and one day of service in a school district position.
Once tenure is earned, a local board of education may dismiss an employee only upon the filing of tenure charges with the commissioner of education. Tenure charges can be brought for four reasons: incapacity; unbecoming conduct; inefficiency; or other just cause. Charges of inefficiency address teacher performance and instructional quality.
Tenure cases are first heard in the state’s Office of Administrative Law, which makes a recommendation to the commissioner of education, who may accept, reject or modify the recommendations. The commissioner’s decisions may be appealed to the Appellate Division of Superior Court.
According to the NJSBA, on average, a tenure case takes more than a year to reach a decision by the commissioner of education. When tenure charges are filed, the employee is suspended without pay.H
owever, his or her salary must be restored after 120 days. At that point, the employee remains on the payroll even through he or she is not working for the district. During this period, the board not only must pay the employee’s salary, but also the cost of substitute staffing and the legal services needed to pursue the tenure charges. The cost to school districts, and taxpayers, goes well into six figures per case, according to NJSBA.
For school boards, the time and expense involved in tenure proceedings, under the current lifetime system, has been a detriment to taking action except in the most egregious situations, according to NJSBA. State Department of Education statistics support this observation.
From January 2009 through June 2010, the state Department of Education lists 29 tenure decisions by the commissioner of education, and many address non-teaching staff. Only one of the cases involves charges of inefficiency, the category that applies to poor job performance, according to the press release.
In comparison, more than 129,000 full-time teachers worked in New Jersey’s public schools in 2009-10, according to the state Department of Education.
“Employees should not feel threatened by a system that ties retention of tenure to job performance. Implementing the change will require a fair and consistent evaluation process,” said Bilik. “Developing such a system is supported by NJSBA and is part of the administration’s new plan to revise tenure and compensation practices.
“In the end, an improved tenure process will benefit not only our children’s education, but will recognize employees for quality performance and effort.”
The NJSBA white paper cites 31 provisions of state law that would need to be repealed or modified to reform the current lifetime tenure system. In addition to eliminating lifetime tenure, the association recommends changes in law that would make the filing of tenure charges less burdensome for school districts. These would include extending the period of suspension without pay after charges are filed and expediting the hearing process, according to the press release.
“Our state’s children deserve a public school system that places educational quality above employee job security. Therefore, reforming the current system of lifetime tenure should be at the heart of educational improvement and reform,” reads the NJSBA white paper.