Ending tenure for poor teachers? USA/New Jersey

Christie Proposes Ending Tenure

for Poor Teachers

By WINNIE HU

Published: February 16, 2011

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PRINCETON, N.J. — One month after Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey used his annual state address to call for an end to tenure for teachers, his administration unveiled a plan on Wednesday that would take away tenure from ineffective teachers but stopped short of eliminating it.

The acting state education commissioner, Christopher D. Cerf, in an address at Princeton University, said Mr. Christie would propose that tenure continue to be awarded to teachers who are rated highly effective or effective for three consecutive years. Those who are rated ineffective for one year, or partially effective for two consecutive years, would lose their tenure protections, though not necessarily their jobs, he said.
Mr. Cerf said these ratings of teachers would be based on a new evaluation system that would assess the performance of teachers based at least partly on their students’ test scores but also on other measures, like classroom observations and teacher practices. He said Mr. Christie wanted to make the evaluation system mandatory in all districts, and to prohibit it from being altered in union negotiations.
The proposal would need the approval of the State Legislature.
Mr. Cerf said Mr. Christie, a Republican, had not changed his position that the tenure system needed to be radically reconsidered. In the past decade, Mr. Cerf said, 17 teachers, out of about 100,000 tenured teachers statewide, have lost their jobs because of charges of incompetence.
“The governor’s plan is consistent with his longstanding position that the tenure system is broken,” he said.
Mr. Cerf said the governor would also propose that decisions about layoffs be based primarily on teacher evaluations, though seniority could be a lesser factor.
Joseph Ricca, superintendent of the East Hanover Township district, said he supported the governor’s ideas for tenure changes. “It will certainly allow administrators to make decisions based on student achievement, and that — really, ultimately — has to be the driving force,” he said.
But the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, continued to oppose Mr. Christie’s plan. “In fact, if the governor’s goal is to cultivate anxiety in the heart of every parent and every teacher in New Jersey, he has done that today,” Barbara Keshishian, the union’s president, said in a statement. “He just doesn’t understand teaching, the tenure process or what constitutes a sound evaluation process.”
Mr. Christie, who was scheduled to speak in Washington on Wednesday, has attracted national attention with his tough approach to schools. During his State of the State address in January, he said “the time to eliminate teacher tenure is now.”