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Njspotlight.com - Waiting a Little Longer for Long-Awaited Tenure Reform Bill...Despite some favorable comments from both sides of the aisle, Sen. Ruiz's bill is still a work in progress
“…We’re wondering if the district leaders are being left out of the loop," said Lynne Strickland, director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, a suburban schools organization. "All of this is a major change, and as with any major change, these things need to be looked at and discussed thoroughly.Ruiz concurred..." and said she was not ruling out the Senate education committee, of which she is chairman, holding hearings through the summer and fall that would delve into some of these issues, not to mention other looming issues around education, including charter schools and special education…”
Courier Post - Democrats rebel against Christie and Sweeney's compromise on pension and health benefits
Wall Street Journal - Pension Deals Elusive in Both N.J. and N.Y.
Star Ledger - Gov. Christie to unveil public-private school partnership plan
Njspotlight.com - Waiting a Little Longer for Long-Awaited Tenure Reform Bill
Despite some favorable comments from both sides of the aisle, Sen. Ruiz's bill is still a work in progress
“…"We’re wondering if the district leaders are being left out of the loop," said Lynne Strickland, director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, a suburban schools organization. "All of this is a major change, and as with any major change, these things need to be looked at and discussed thoroughly."
Ruiz concurred and said she was not ruling out the Senate education committee, of which she is chairman, holding hearings through the summer and fall that would delve into some of these issues, not to mention other looming issues around education, including charter schools and special education. The legislature typically recesses for the summer and, in this election year, through the fall…”
By John Mooney, June 9 in Education|Post a Comment
The tenure reform bill from state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) was much anticipated and long awaited, a proposal from a leading figure in the Democratic-led legislature that actually had a decent shot at passing.
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It may take a little longer than expected.
Ruiz said yesterday that she had initially hoped to have the bill heard and even approved by summer. But in talks with various key players and organizations, she said a number of issues have arisen, from how teacher seniority would work to the role of principals in hiring and firing.
Ruiz always said the bill was a work in progress, and yesterday said that work may take some more time.
"Right now the major thing is the budget, and as I’m a member of that committee, that’s my main attention," Ruiz said.
“There are a lot of critical issues we need to deal with in this bill,” she continued. “I don’t intend to move any of this without all the stakeholders involved.”
Ruiz's bill would change much of how New Jersey’s century-old tenure system would work. Educators wouldn’t get protection until after their fourth year, instead of the current three, and would need three consecutive years of satisfactory evaluations to keep tenure. After two years of "ineffective" ratings, they would lose the tenure protections.
Among other details, every school would have teams of administrators and at least one teacher that would decide on evaluations. Principals would also have a stronger say in transfers and hires.
The bill complements in some ways and conflicts in others with Gov. Chris Christie’s own plans for tenure reform. And there has been a lot of discussion on all sides about the details. Christie’s proposal is incorporated in a separate bill proposed by state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth).
Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said yesterday that he has reviewed Ruiz's bill and found a lot that the administration can work with.
"There is a great deal in common," he said. “In both bills, tenure is no longer granted by just the passage of time, but through an objective judgment of the performance of the teacher."
Still, he said there are some differences to bridge. For instance, Christie’s bill calls for tenure to be lost after just one year of the lowest rating. It would also do away with seniority as a factor in whether a teacher is laid off, while Ruiz’s bill allows for current teachers to retain seniority rights.
Cerf only said of Ruiz's take on that seniority issue: "I respect the senator's perspective."
Yet, the senator is also getting pushback from the other side. The teachers unions have hardly embraced her plan. Leaders of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the dominant union, met with Ruiz the day she filed the bill but not since.
"We have a lot of questions," said Steve Baker, an NJEA spokesman. "A lot of people need to be in this, and a lot of questions need to be answered."
Ruiz did meet with leaders of the smaller American Federation of Teachers (AFT) on Monday, including the president of the Newark Teachers Union (NTU), Joseph Del Grosso.
Del Grosso said the Trenton meeting was productive, and he applauded Ruiz for some of the evaluation details, including the school teams. But he said other pieces are still problematic, including the powers ultimately vested in principals.
"We like some of the beginning, but as the bill progresses, it gets back to denigrating teachers," he said. "The peer review is good, but still gives the principals too much power. You are empowering the people who haven’t done their job in the first place."
That’s been an issue for others, too, from other perspectives. Lobbyists for school boards and superintendents said they wondered what are their members’ roles under the new system.
"We’re wondering if the district leaders are being left out of the loop," said Lynne Strickland, director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, a suburban schools organization. "All of this is a major change, and as with any major change, these things need to be looked at and discussed thoroughly."
Ruiz concurred and said she was not ruling out the Senate education committee, of which she is chairman, holding hearings through the summer and fall that would delve into some of these issues, not to mention other looming issues around education, including charter schools and special education. The legislature typically recesses for the summer and, in this election year, through the fall.
If the legislature does not return, the bill would then likely not be taken up until after the November election, possibly in the lame duck session. Most of those interviewed said at this point, a more deliberate approach may be the way to go, and they commended Ruiz for continuing to hear different perspectives.
"Sen. Ruiz is the perfect sponsor for this bill, which is a long time coming and significant legislation for our state,” said Kathleen Nugent, New Jersey director of Democrats for Education Reform, a national group that has pressed for tenure changes.
“Her approach is very thoughtful and comprehensive,” Nugent continued in an email. “Throughout her drafting process, she has engaged education experts statewide and looked at best practices across the country. She continues this work today. At the end of this, we are sure to have an exceptional bill that will elevate the teaching profession in New Jersey and help ensure we have an effective teacher in every classroom."
Courier Post - Democrats rebel against Christie and Sweeney's compromise on pension and health benefits
Written by
JASON METHOD
· News
TRENTON — An agreement on how to solve the state's looming $120 billion pension and health benefit crisis stalled Wednesday after Democratic members of the Assembly and Senate rebelled against the plan.
The proposal represented a compromise between positions taken by Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney.
The agreement, if enacted, would force public employees at all levels of government to pay thousands of dollars more each year for pensions and benefits, a source close to the negotiations said. It also would obligate the state to make pension contributions and give unions better legal footing for negotiations.
The issue has taken on a sense of urgency as pension and health care costs are a key state and local budget component and they figure to expand enormously in coming years. The state's bond rates have risen in recent months as investors and ratings agencies fret over whether the state can stabilize the pension funds and rein in benefit costs.
Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver has said she is willing to support a bill that deals with rising health benefits -- a key factor -- but she released a statement late Wednesday saying she wanted more support from fellow Assembly Democrats before moving forward.
Sweeney said in a statement that the plan would save the state $120 billion over time and protect pensions and benefits.
"I look forward to working with the governor and the speaker on ironing out the final issues that remain before us," Sweeney said in a statement.
Union leaders insist that health benefits be left to collective bargaining. They also say they are willing to support some pension reforms and changes that cut health care costs.
Word of an agreement, rumored for days, created a tense atmosphere in the State House Wednesday.
Some two dozen representatives of labor unions lined hallways in the State House to talk with Democratic elected officials and staff Wednesday in an effort to press their case.
Union leaders privately described angry conversations held with some Democratic officials.
Democratic Assembly and Senate members walked tight-lipped into their respective meeting rooms, where they remained sequestered for some four hours. Meanwhile, Republican staffers loitered in the hallways as they awaited word on the outcome.
After the Senate meeting, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg of Bergen County said 11 of the 24 Senate Democrats met. She described the meeting as a "wide-ranging discussion" and that "everyone had a chance to express their opinion."
She said she hoped and expected that Sweeney would not move a bill without support from his members. What the final outcome will be, I don't think has been decided, Weinberg said.
After his meeting, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, D-Bergen, said, "We're going to support our unions."
Assemblywoman Linda Stender, D-Union, said there was "good discussion" but there remained no agreement among members.
Steven Demofonte of the Fraternal Order of Police was one union member who waited to greet legislative allies. He said his members were not going to live with cost increases mandated by the state.
"For decades . . . more often than not, (police) took benefits and less in the way of salary," Demofonte said. "Now the state wants to step in and say that what they've been doing is wrong and they want to take away those negotiating abilities?"
The state's largest union, the Communication Workers of America, which represents some 40,000 state and local workers, and the New Jersey Education Association, the largest teachers union, issued statements denouncing the proposed agreement.
Hetty Rosenstein, state director of the CWA, said the proposed deal would only pass along health costs to employees but do nothing to stem their rise.
The problems with the state pension and benefits have long been reported.
The state pension system faces a $53.9 billion unfunded liability for the next 30 years. The pension funds for state workers and teachers are in the most dire shape.
Meanwhile, the long-term costs to provide retirees with the health benefits they receive stands at $67 billion, and unlike the pensions funds, there is no money set aside to pay for those benefits.
Wall Street Journal - Pension Deals Elusive in Both N.J. and N.Y.
June 9, 2011 more in New York »
BY LISA FLEISHER AND JACOB GERSHMAN
A sweeping deal to cut pensions and health-care benefits for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey public workers was teetering Wednesday, as rank-and-file Assembly Democrats refused to go along with an agreement struck between top legislative Democrats and Gov. Chris Christie.
The New Jersey proposal would require workers—from teachers to state police to judges—to pay more of their salaries into the ailing pension system, give up annual cost-of-living increases and pay a percentage of their health-care premiums in a tiered system based on their salary, according to people familiar with the deal.
New employees would have to work longer to ...
Star Ledger - Gov. Christie to unveil public-private school partnership plan
Published: Thursday, June 09, 2011, 6:15 AM Updated: Thursday, June 09, 2011, 6:18 AM
By Chris Megerian/Statehouse BureauThe Star-Ledger
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie will announce legislation today to create public-private partnerships to run some schools in New Jersey, three people with knowledge of the plan said tonight.
The governor is scheduled to make the announcement at noon at the Lanning Square Elementary School in Camden.
Two of the sources said Christie will be appearing with Camden Mayor Dana Redd, a Democrat who has worked with the Republican governor on education issues.
It's unclear exactly how the public-private partnerships would work, and the sources said it would start as a pilot program. They declined to speak on the record in advance of the public announcement.
One source said individual districts would need to opt into the pilot program and approval from local school boards would be required.
Christie’s acting education commissioner, Christopher Cerf, has experience in public-private school partnerships. He previously led Edison Schools, a for-profit company that became the largest private-sector manager of public schools. Cerf left the company, now called EdisonLearning, in 2005.
Since Christie's campaign for governor two years ago, he has criticized the state of urban education in New Jersey, saying public schools and teacher unions have perpetuated a failing system.
Angel Cordero, who helped create the Community Education Resource Network, an alternative school for dropouts, applauded the plan for public-private schools.
"It’s time we think out of the box and break up the monopoly" of the teachers unions, he said. "This is the perfect storm right now. People are ready."
Christie was in Camden for the Community Education Resource Network's graduation ceremony on Friday, where he and other political leaders called for a shakeup in the public school system.
Steve Baker, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, expressed skepticism about the partnership proposal.
"Anything that turns public schools over to private operation, and reduces public accountability, would be very problematic," he said tonight.
Christie has enraged the NJEA with his push for more charter schools and a voucher program.
The voucher proposal, called the Opportunity Scholarship Act, has stalled in the Legislature despite support from both sides of the aisle as some Democrats have pushed to downsize it.
Star-Ledger staff writer Jessica Calefati contributed to this report.
