Two Bills in Legislature Pushing Education Reform

Pending state legislation that would curb the hiring authority of the superintendent and the Board of Education, and overhaul the tenure system, was the main topic of discussion at Monday night's school board meeting.

The state Legislature is expected to consider a number of proposals that would directly affect the superintendent's and board's scope of authority during its lame duck session, said Superintendent Michael Polizzi, who took issue with to two bills aimed at education reform.

Introduced by Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex/Union), "Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey (TEACHNJ) Act.”, Senate Bill 2925/Assembly Bill 4132, would give sole authority to appoint or remove instructional staff to the principal, in consultation with a “school improvement panel.” This panel will consist of the principal, an assistant principal and an experienced teacher nominated by the principal and approved by the teaching staff. 

The bill would severely limit the scope of local superintendents and boards of education. Whereas the decision to hire and fire is currently within the purview of the superintendent's and board's authority, the passage of the bill would remove all personnel issues regarding hiring and firing and place it in the jurisdiction of each school's principal and school improvement panel, according to legislative documents. 

, whose two-year tenure has brought significant changes, told Patch that much of his vision is accomplished by having the ability to recommend the hiring of the right people to the BOE for all of the district's schools.

If all of the hiring is being handled by each individual school, Polizzi believes it will be very difficult to pursue a unified vision for the district. In New Milford, as in most towns throughout the state, that would result in four individual schools, with four individual panels making four sets of individual decisions regarding hiring practices, he said. 

The BOE has a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers and is charged with setting district policy that is carried out by an appointed superintendent. The bill does not define who will provide fiscal oversight and accountability regarding hiring practices if the taxpayer-elected board is removed from the hiring process. Nor does it define who will establish a unified code of policies and procedures, if not the BOE whose members are elected by consent of the taxpayers.

Also included in the bill is proposed legislation to provide reform of the state’s century-old tenure laws. Tenure is essentially a permanent contract guaranteeing employment for life, unless "just cause" is established that would give the BOE the ability to terminate the employment of a teacher.

Currently, teachers in New Jersey are granted tenure after three years and one day of service to a school district. Ruiz's bill adds an initial year of mentoring to the probationary period. Under this proposed legislation, teachers would be required to work four years before receiving tenure and tenure would only be granted if teachers proved their "effectiveness" in the classroom.

If tenure is received, teachers would still be subject to an annual evaluation to prove their effectiveness in the classroom. In order to retain tenure, they must continue to demonstrate their effectiveness over the course of their careers in order to maintain it, according to the proposed bill. A teacher who receives a poor rating two years in a row would be given an individualized plan for improvement before losing their tenure. These plans would be developed by the principal and the school improvement panel. 

Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth/Middlesex) introduced similar tenure reform legislation S2881, "School Children First Act." In addition to tenure reform, Kyrillos's bill modifies evaluations of teachers and principals, eliminates certain seniority rights, and provides higher compensation for "efficient" and "highly efficient" teachers. 

Polizzi said that if the state were "more imaginative they would provide the board of education and superintendent with better tools" by which they could address underperforming members of the faculty. He emphasized that the state has no streamlined processes in place to effectively address underperforming tenured employees.  

"Superintendents and boards have been clamoring for tenure reform for years," Polizzi added.

Polizzi, who has previously outlined the district's mission to "emerge as a premier educational system in the county, state and nation" said the best way to reach success is to create a synergystic team and empower the front-line teachers.

And that goal, he believes, cannot be achieved by stripping superintendents and boards of duties central to the governance and cohesiveness of their school districts.