By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org
TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is making a full-court press for teacher tenure reform, pleading his case at town hall meetings across the state as legislators move forward on two competing bills.
Speaking before more than 600 people at a town hall in Haddonfield, Christie pointed out that only 17 out of more than 100,000 New Jersey teachers have faced tenure revocation for ineffectiveness in the last decade, NJspotlight.com reports.
“Do we really believe there are only 17 ineffective teachers in New Jersey?” he asked.
State lawmakers believe the answer is “no,” and are considering two different bills to change the current tenure process.
A state Senate bill slated for a budget committee hearing would require teachers to have three consecutive years of positive evaluations to keep tenure, and would take away the job protection after two straight years of poor performance ratings, the news site reports.
Lawmakers are reportedly not discussing the details of their discussions regarding the bill. We speculate that details of how teachers would be evaluated and the process for appealing and repealing tenure are central to the debate.
The state Assembly Education Committee is also expected to review tenure reform legislation backed by the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union. Union support for the bill almost certainly means its provisions are far more forgiving of ineffective teachers than the Senate bill.
NJspotlight.com reports that the Senate version is the “odds-on favorite” to gain legislative approval.
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Tags: Gov. Chris Christie, New Jersey