NJ Spotlight - Fine Print: Christie Veto of School Arbitration Bill...Governor's action represents second legislative defeat within a month for NJEA

NJ Spotlight - Fine Print: Governor Vetoes Binding Arbitration Bill - Second Defeat of NJEA legislation in a Month By John Mooney, July 19, 2013 in Education |1 Comment What it is: Gov. Chris Christie yesterday vetoed a bill passed this spring in the Senate and Assembly that would have given nonteaching staff in public schools certain job protections, including the right to binding arbitration in disciplinary matters. Related Links Gov. Christie’s Veto of Senate Bill 2163 Senate Bill 2163 What it means: The veto was expected, and it is not likely to see an override attempt, given that it didn’t have the necessary votes in either the Assembly or the Senate. But it certainly is a rebuke to the New Jersey Education Association, which lobbied hard for the bill and saw it progress farther than ever before, including support from several prominent Republicans. It is Christie’s second veto in a month of NJEA-backed employee rights bills, with a third one pending. The bill: Sponsored by state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), Senate Bill 2163 would have given noncertified staff in state, county or local public schools, including teacher aides, custodians and bus drivers, the right to arbitration in all disciplinary matters, ranging from reprimands to terminations. It would have superseded any contractual obligations. Lesniak’s reasoning: Lesniak said yesterday that he sought to protect these employees from what he called “overly political” school boards, including the one in his hometown of Elizabeth. “We just want to give these professional workers, janitorial staff, attendance workers the same rights in these cases as have teachers,” he said. “It is shameful that he wouldn’t protect school employees from discrimination and retribution from boards of education.” Christie’s reasoning: The governor in his veto message invoked the recent passage of a new teacher tenure law that ties teachers’ job protections to ongoing evaluations of their and their students’ performance. “The result was a thoughtful balance of arbitration rights and enhanced accountability,” he said. This is no tenure law: “This bill does not strike a similar careful compromise,” Christie continued in the veto message. “This bill expands arbitration procedures and tenure-like protections to noncertified staff without any matching performance measures or assurance of cost-efficiency. Indeed, this bill has the potential to impose burdensome and expensive administrative procedures on every school district, diverting resources from our students, teachers, and classrooms.” School boards applaud: The veto was greeted with praise from the state’s school boards association and its executive director, Lawrence Feinsod. “This bill would have undermined the advances made in employee accountability through recent initiatives,” said Feinsod. “We thank the Governor for recognizing the potential negative impact of S-2163 on school districts and the taxpayers who support them.” The NJEA boos: “All we were asking for was some measure of fairness and basic rights to those who work in our schools,” said Ginger Gold Schnitzer, the NJEA’s chief lobbyist. “And knowing now that we can get some Republican support and get this through the Legislature, if we just had a different governor, this would have been law.” Two down, one to go: The veto yesterday follows Christie’s veto in late June of a bill that would have restricted schools and municipalities in how they could privatize local services. There is one more bill to go to his desk, this one giving public employees in schools the right to 90-day notice in case of a privatizing move. The school boards association also opposes this bill. But Schitzer of the NJEA was holding out hope. “Just because this one was vetoed, we’re not counting the next one out yet,” she said. ______________________________________________________________________ GSCS FYI - Session Voting on S2163 per NJ Legislature records: Session Voting: Sen. 3/18/2013 - 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE - Yes {24} No {16} Not Voting {0} - Roll Call Addiego, Dawn Marie - No Allen, Diane B. - No Bateman, Christopher - No Beach, James - Yes Beck, Jennifer - No Bucco, Anthony R. - No Buono, Barbara - Yes Cardinale, Gerald - No Codey, Richard J. - Yes Connors, Christopher J. - No Cunningham, Sandra B. - Yes Doherty, Michael J. - No Gill, Nia H. - Yes Gordon, Robert M. - Yes Greenstein, Linda R. - Yes Holzapfel, James W. - No Kean, Thomas H., Jr. - No Kyrillos, Joseph M., Jr. - No Lesniak, Raymond J. - Yes Madden, Fred H., Jr. - Yes Norcross, Donald - Yes O'Toole, Kevin J. - No Oroho, Steven V. - No Pennacchio, Joseph - No Pou, Nellie - Yes Rice, Ronald L. - Yes Ruiz, M. Teresa - Yes Sacco, Nicholas J. - Yes Sarlo, Paul A. - Yes Scutari, Nicholas P. - Yes Singer, Robert W. - No Smith, Bob - Yes Stack, Brian P. - Yes Sweeney, Stephen M. - Yes Thompson, Samuel D. - No Turner, Shirley K. - Yes Van Drew, Jeff - Yes Vitale, Joseph F. - Yes Weinberg, Loretta - Yes Whelan, Jim - Yes Asm. 5/20/2013 - SUBSTITUTE FOR A3696 - Yes {0} No {0} Not Voting {80} Abstains {0} - Voice Vote Passed Asm. 5/20/2013 - 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE - Yes {51} No {26} Not Voting {2} Abstains {1} - Roll Call Albano, Nelson T. - Yes Amodeo, John F. - Yes Andrzejczak, Bob - Yes Angelini, Mary Pat - No Barnes, Peter J., III - Yes Benson, Daniel R. - Yes Bramnick, Jon M. - No Brown, Chris A. - Yes Brown, Christopher J. - No Bucco, Anthony M. - No Burzichelli, John J. - Yes Caputo, Ralph R. - Yes Caride, Marlene - Yes Carroll, Michael Patrick - No Casagrande, Caroline - No Chivukula, Upendra J. - Yes Ciattarelli, Jack M. - Not Voting Clifton, Robert D. - No Conaway, Herb, Jr. - Yes Connors, Sean - Yes Coughlin, Craig J. - Yes Coutinho, Albert - Yes Cryan, Joseph - Yes Dancer, Ronald S. - No DeAngelo, Wayne P. - Yes DeCroce, BettyLou - Abstain DiMaio, John - No Diegnan, Patrick J., Jr. - Yes Egan, Joseph V. - Yes Eustace, Timothy J. - Yes Fuentes, Angel - Yes Giblin, Thomas P. - Yes Gove, DiAnne C. - No Green, Jerry - Yes Greenwald, Louis D. - Yes Gusciora, Reed - Yes Handlin, Amy H. - No Jasey, Mila M. - Yes Jimenez, Angelica M. - Yes Johnson, Gordon M. - Yes Kean, Sean T. - No Lampitt, Pamela R. - Yes Mainor, Charles - Yes McGuckin, Gregory P. - No McHose, Alison Littell - No McKeon, John F. - Yes Moriarty, Paul D. - Yes Mosquera, Gabriela M. - Yes Munoz, Nancy F. - No O'Donnell, Jason - Yes O'Scanlon, Declan J., Jr. - Not Voting Oliver, Sheila Y. - Yes Peterson, Erik - No Prieto, Vincent - Yes Quijano, Annette - Yes Ramos, Ruben J., Jr. - Yes Rible, David P. - Yes Riley, Celeste M. - Yes Rudder, Scott - No Rumana, Scott T. - No Rumpf, Brian E. - No Russo, David C. - No Schaer, Gary S. - Yes Schepisi, Holly - No Schroeder, Robert - No Simon, Donna M. - No Singleton, Troy - Yes Space, Parker - No Spencer, L. Grace - Yes Stender, Linda - Yes Sumter, Shavonda E. - Yes Tucker, Cleopatra G. - Yes Vainieri Huttle, Valerie - Yes Wagner, Connie - Yes Watson Coleman, Bonnie - Yes Webber, Jay - No Wilson, Gilbert L. - Yes Wimberly, Benjie E. - Yes Wisniewski, John S. - Yes Wolfe, David W. - No