By David Kilby, Staff Writer
MONROE — The Monroe Board of Education told the state it supports teacher tenure reform through a recent letter to state officials, as other school districts, legislators and the New Jersey Education Association work on coming to an agreement regarding the controversial issue.
Gov. Chris Christie has made teacher tenure reform a key component in his education reform efforts, emphasizing the need for the elimination of lifetime tenure and other reforms during his State of the State speech earlier this year.
While the New Jersey School Boards Association supports the elimination of lifetime tenure, the New Jersey Education Association and its member unions do not support the governor’s proposal to have teachers evaluated through test scores to determine whether or not they deserve tenure.
About two months ago, the board sent a letter to the state and relevant agencies expressing the kind of reform Monroe supports.
In the letter, the Monroe board recommends that the New Jersey teacher tenure statute require five years of satisfactory performance, instead of three, before granting tenure. It also recommends that, after granting tenure, a board would renew the contract every three to five years if the tenured teacher continues to teach effectively.
Teacher tenure was established by law in 1909 to protect teachers from arbitrary dismissal and discrimination, reads the letter, which was sent to Gov. Christie, state Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney,D-3, Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver, D-34, Commissioner of Education Christopher Cerf, and the school boards associations of Middlesex County and New Jersey.
The letter goes on to say that times have changed and the school environment is different than when the tenure statute was originally established.
Many teachers are granted tenure after teaching at the same school for three years and one day, but in recent years some school districts, like Monroe, have become more strict about whom they grant tenure to.
Districts have to go through an expensive, lengthy process to eliminate tenure after granting it. In addition, collective bargaining, established in 1968, provides extensive protection to school employees in the areas of working conditions, disciplinary procedures and grievances arbitration, reads the letter.
”I think we need a more stringent process in place to make sure we are maintaining a high quality instructional staff in our district and schools,” said Dr. Kenneth Hamilton, Monroe superintendent of schools, speaking of tenure reform. “Putting more emphasis on performance and results may be one way to do that.”
Gov. Christie has also called for teacher evaluation through test scores as part of teacher tenure reform. Dr. Hamilton, however, does not think this is a good idea.
”I don’t think it’s good to equate student results to teacher evaluation,” he said.
For example, he said it is tough to evaluate a student’s effectiveness in subjects like physical education, music, art and engineering.
State standardized tests must be put in place before such evaluation can fairly exist, he explained.
”If you are going to tie performance to testing then I think the state has the responsibility to create measure instruments so there is an equitable formula for determining how outcomes are weighted for tenure,” he said.
He added that the Monroe board wants to have some input in what the final proposal of tenure reform will look like.
That may include providing and sharing comments at the county or state level, and helping the reform proposals in the letter to become legislated, he said.
Caren Castaldo, president of the Monroe Township Education Association, believes the issue should be discussed more.
”I believe that a committee needs to be established with teachers, veterans and non-tenured included,” she said, adding she’d like to see the NJEA, administrators, superintendents, legislators and members of the Department of Education all represented such a committee.
”The tenure law is actually a fair dismissal law that provides due process for teachers facing dismissal,” she said. “Dismissal should not hinge on unreliable measurements, such as student test scores.”
She said every year, teachers are evaluated through formal and informal observations, personal improvement plans and educational accomplishments.
She added, “There are too many factors beyond a teacher’s control that can influence how well students perform on standardized tests.”
”Parenting, number of parents in home, income, employment, parent education, availability of books, and dedication to homework and school attendance is critically important to student achievement,” she said.
”I believe in reform that is collaborative and that makes sense and is research based,” she added. “I do not believe in reform that is not proven to be effective.”
The New Jersey School Boards Association supports the governor’s tenure reform plan.
”It’s long overdue,” said Frank Belluscio, director of communication for the association. “We’ve sought elimination of lifetime tenure since Gerald Ford was president. So we’re very happy to see the governor make this a part of his education reform efforts.”
He added, “Teachers should not fear changes in tenure.”
He said those teachers who perform satisfactorily should welcome reform because their performance will become more of a factor in their employment.
”The problem with tenure is that it is very difficult to remove a teacher from a position based on poor performance,” Mr. Belluscio said. “What’s being proposed is renewable tenure which is philosophically in line with what our position has been.”
But the NJEA supports reform of a different kind.
Steve Baker, spokesman for the NJEA gave the association’s general position on teacher tenure reform.
”We think tenure remains an important concept that should be maintained,” Mr. Baker said.
But he added that the NJEA would support legislation that would streamline the process of tenure charges.
He said the reform the NJEA supports would make tenure charges “much quicker and much less costly, which we think would address many concerns.”
”This is a complex issue. We are in favor of some forms of change,” he said, adding that the NJEA is working with legislatures on tenure reform.
”You need to maintain a process of dismissal so you don’t have undue political influences or personalities making decisions in inappropriate ways,” he said. “If you eliminate tenure you create 120,000 political patronage jobs in New Jersey, and that’s not a direction we want to go in.”
He said four out of 10 teachers are not granted tenure after three years with a school district.
”It (teacher tenure) is far from automatic,” he said.
Tenured teachers have many recommendations from other teachers and principals and are “already a high-quality, capable teacher” by the time they receive tenure, Mr. Baker said.
Currently, the Monroe Township School District has a tenure defense round, implemented by Dr. Hamilton, which provides a “snapshot or portfolio” of the teacher’s performance before the teacher is granted tenure.
In the tenure defense round, the principals of each school come to Dr. Hamilton and give their reasons for why they believe certain teachers of theirs deserve tenure.
In the defense round, the principal of the teacher’s school makes a case for the teacher’s performance in the classroom, demonstrated commitment to the district, engagement with the community, presence at evening and weekend events, participation in committees, and other demonstrations showing that the teacher is “going above and beyond that which may be present in a contract, but (also) taking steps towards making kids successful,” Dr. Hamilton said.
The tenure defense round would be kept in place if tenure reform is passed.
”The thing I ask (the principals) is ‘would you want your child in the teacher’s classroom that you’re recommending tenure to,” Dr. Hamilton said.
If a new governor replaces Gov. Christie before reform legislation is passed, the push for tenure reform probably wouldn’t lose its momentum, Dr. Hamilton said.

