By Kathleen Nugent
(From NJ.COM, March 2nd, 2011)
New Jersey’s teacher tenure system is not working for our children, and it’s time to turn the page on our antiquated practices and begin a new chapter — where the interests of students are put first.
The single most important thing we can do to ensure every child receives an excellent education is to make sure there is a great teacher in every classroom. Therefore, we must strategically recruit, develop, retain, pay and place the best people for these pivotal roles.
Just as New Jersey set the standard in the 20th century by passing the first tenure law in 1909, we once again have the opportunity to lead the nation by developing a system that treats teachers as professionals and recognizes the critical impact of their work. Effectiveness must be the core criteria for gaining and retaining teacher tenure.
Tenure should reward the most effective teachers with job security and increased pay; it should set clear expectations for performance and provide the support needed for teachers to develop themselves and meet those goals; and it should ensure that any consistently ineffective teacher is removed from the classroom.
The main challenge with tenure today is its ambivalence toward student outcomes.
Under current law and collective bargaining agreements across New Jersey, teachers gain tenure after three years of consecutive service. Many teachers that have gained tenure under this system are excellent and realize major gains with their students. However, there are also tenured teachers who do not move their students’ achievement and whose impact in the classroom is minimal and therefore detrimental.
And therein lies the problem — once a teacher is granted tenure, he or she is not differentiated from peers and gains ironclad job protections that make it almost impossible to remove underperformers from the classroom.
Ineffectiveness, however criminal it is for a student’s education, is not grounds for removal. There are about 100,000 tenured teachers in New Jersey and over the past 10 years, only 17 of them were removed for ineffectiveness.
This is simply unacceptable.
It’s no secret many schools and districts in New Jersey are struggling. While we have some of the highest performing schools in the country, we also have some of the lowest. The disparity in schools, at times merely miles apart, is a shame on our state.
In Newark, 41 percent of public school students passed the state Language Arts Literacy assessment last year, while only 48 percent scored proficient on the math exam. Only 22 percent of the city’s high school graduates passed the High School Proficiency Assessment.
Newark public schools are in serious need of reform.
Will a change in tenure practices alone completely alter the district’s course? No. But will ensuring each classroom has a highly effective teacher play a crucial role in improving Newark’s education system? Absolutely. And that holds true for every school district in the state.
For teachers to gain tenure, it should mean they have demonstrated, year-after-year, a pronounced ability to raise achievement and develop students who are critical thinkers. Tenure should mean a teacher has a proven track record of doing an excellent job — not just a record of showing up. There must be consequences for failing our children. And finally, when budget cuts force layoffs, we must chiefly take effectiveness into account versus seniority alone to ensure as minimal an impact on students as possible, bringing an end to “last in, first out” practices.
State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) has been committed to championing tenure reform legislation and the needs of students. She launched a strong public discussion at a hearing in December and has been working on legislation. Gov. Chris Christie and acting commissioner Christopher Cerf both strongly support tenure reform, and Cerf is developing a critical evaluation system that will facilitate its implementation. This issue transcends party lines and has garnered massive support from residents statewide. It’s time for us to work together and make that happen.
Kathleen Nugent is the state director of Democrats for Education Reform, a national advocacy group dedicated to driving comprehensive education reform.