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7-14-14 Education in the News - Common Core; Tenure Decision Process
Star Ledger - Chris Christie plans to issue executive order on Common Core standards this week 'While attending a meeting of the National Governors Association today, Gov. Chris Christie said he plans to issue an executive order this week regarding common education standards that have sparked criticism from parents and educators.Christie declined to elaborate on the substance of the order.'

NJ SPOTLIGHT - PACE OF TENURE RULINGS INCREASES, BUT DECISIONS STILL GO TO BOTH SIDES...Streamlined process for dealing with tenure charges gets more cases on the calendar -- and more decisions to litigants 'While the political and policy debates continue as to how teacher evaluation will work in the future, tenure charges continue to be filed -- and decided -- at an accelerated rate. By the start of July, 17 cases had been decided and posted by state arbitrators under the new teacher tenure law. At that pace, the total will exceed the 27 decisions posted in 2013, the first full year of the law...'

Star Ledger - Critics of N.J. schools superintendent salary cap say it is arbitrary and should be repealed…Critics of the salary cap say no other local officials and none of the state-employed superintendents are subject to the cap, which they want repealed.

Star Ledger - Chris Christie plans to issue executive order on Common Core standards this week

By Star-Ledger Staff and Wire Reports 
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on July 13, 2014 at 6:15 PM, updated July 14, 2014 at 8:04 AM

Christie declined to elaborate on the substance of the order.NASHVILLE, Tenn. — While attending a meeting of the National Governors Association today, Gov. Chris Christie said he plans to issue an executive order this week regarding common education standards that have sparked criticism from parents and educators.

A bill that would delay linking teacher evaluations to tests used to measure how well students have mastered the Common Core standards passed the Assembly last month. The state Senate has not yet voted on the legislation.

The Common Core standards were not on the formal agenda during the three-day meeting here that ended today, relegated to hallway discussions and closed-door meetings among governors and their staffs. The standards and even the words "Common Core" have "become, in a sense, radioactive," said Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican whose state voluntarily adopted the standards in 2010.

Christie told the Associated Press that public skepticism about the standards can be traced to a general distrust of the federal government.

He said voters, "given the lack of confidence they have in government in Washington and that type of centralization, want their governors" to figure out solutions that work for their states.

The legislation passed by the Assembly last month would create a 15-member task force to investigate Common Core, a set of English and math standards that spell out what students should know and when, and the tests created to gauge students’ mastery of the standards.

The tests would still be rolled out as planned if the legislation passed but the results would not count toward teacher evaluations, the centerpiece of the teacher tenure reform law signed by Christie in 2012.

There was little controversy when the bipartisan governors association in 2009 helped develop the common education standards aimed at improving schools and students' competitiveness across the nation. The standards were quickly adopted by 44 states.

But conservative activists who hold some influence in Republican politics aggressively condemned Common Core, and lawmakers in 27 states this year have proposed either delaying or revoking Common Core. The issue has forced many ambitious Republicans who previously had few concerns to distance themselves from the standards and the issue has begun to shape the early stages of the 2016 presidential race.

Wisconsin's Republican, Gov. Scott Walker, a potential 2016 candidate among the governors gathered in Nashville, said he has proposed a measure to adopt Wisconsin-specific education standards that are tougher than what the state adopted under Common Core in 2010.

"My problem with Common Core is I don't want people outside Wisconsin telling us what our standards should be," Walker said.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was the first to sign legislation revoking Common Core in April, and fellow potential Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana signed a series of executive orders blocking the use of tests tied to the standards, a move that outraged his state's own education superintendent.

Republicans governors in Oklahoma and South Carolina, an early presidential primary state, have signed measures aimed at repealing the standards.

Other Republicans, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, have defended the standards as integral to improving student performance and maintaining American competitiveness around the globe.

Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin of Vermont called the conservative critics "crazy."

"The fact that the tea party sees that as a conspiracy is a symptom of their larger problems," said Shumlin, who leads the Democratic Governors Association.

Common Core's standards for elementary math have confounded some parents by departing from some traditional methods to emphasize that kids understand how numbers relate to each other. Comedian Louis C.K. captured some of that that frustration when he took to Twitter earlier this year to vent about his kids' convoluted homework under Common Core, writing that his daughters went from loving math to crying about it.

Some governors attending the weekend conference said they were surprised to find the resistance to the standards.

"It's important for us governors to keep remembering the history of this, and the fact that this was not and continues to not be about a federal takeover," said Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada stressed that the majority of the states are still in the process of implementing the new standards and it's the responsibility of governors and education officials to remind people that the curriculums will be designed locally.

"Nothing comes without a bit of controversy, but at the end of the day people realize it's in the best interest of the children of the state," he said.

NJ Spotlight - PACE OF TENURE RULINGS INCREASES, BUT DECISIONS STILL GO TO BOTH SIDES

JOHN MOONEY | JULY 14, 2014

Streamlined process for dealing with tenure charges gets more cases on the calendar -- and more decisions to litigants

While the political and policy debates continue as to how teacher evaluation will work in the future, tenure charges continue to be filed -- and decided -- at an accelerated rate.

By the start of July, 17 cases had been decided and posted by state arbitrators under the new teacher tenure law. At that pace, the total will exceed the 27 decisions posted in 2013, the first full year of the law.

RELATED LINKS

Arbitrator Decisions

Tally of Teacher Tenure Cases Shows New Law Has Had Impact

Educator-Effectiveness Code Amendments

The numbers are still small but are expected to increase rapidly with the statewide evaluation system dictated by the law finishing up its first year and entering its second. Ultimately, teachers receiving two straight evaluations of less than “effective” will almost be required to be brought up on tenure charges.

The pace of decisions under TEACHNJ, the new law, has already exceeded that of the previous statute. In the latter case, hearings went before an administrative law judge and could be far more time-consuming and expensive. Under TEACHNJ, tenure charges are brought before one of two-dozen state-appointed arbitrators in an expedited process.

And they have shown that the scope of the reasoning districts use in bringing cases -- and teachers employ in fighting back -- is in stark contrast to the debates currently underway over how much student test scores will count in determining a teacher’s rating. It’s a debate likely to be fueled this week with Gov. Chris Christie’s expected announcement of a compromise proposal.

But meanwhile, in most of tenure cases so far under the new law, the arguments have been over typically either individual incidents of alleged misconduct or longer patterns of teachers failing to improve their practices. Chronic absenteeism is a common issue, too.

And the current process has proven to be a fickle one, with districts by no means winning a preponderance of decisions.

Last week, six more cases were posted by the state Department of Education, five of them against teachers and the sixth involving a school secretary. And in three of the five teacher cases, the state arbitrators ruled in favor of the teachers, in two cases restoring them outright with full pay and in the other giving them a 10-day suspension.

One charge in Chathams schools was over a theater teacher’s lesson in which she surveyed of eighth-grade students to their personal and family experiences. some potentially embarrassing. The district lost, and the teacher was restored to her job with full back pay.

In a Cumberland County case, a high school teacher was brought up on charges her lessons in general were unplanned and carried forth, despite repeated warnings from her supervisors. The district won, and the tenure charges were sustained.

A Mullica Township case landed somewhere in between, where district brought up charges against a kindergarten teacher in whose class a boy and girl snuck off into the bathroom unsupervised, where there was possibly physical contact. The district lost on the charges, but the arbitrator did rule that the teacher faces a 10-day suspension for failure to properly supervise the children.

A similar case ended slightly differently in Belleville, where a teacher was charged with discharging a six-year-old student at the end of the school day without a parent or guardian, allowing her to walk home alone. The tenure charges also contended that she sought to cover up her lapse.

But the arbitrator sided with the teacher, but also upheld an unpaid suspension.

Still, beyond even the test scores issue, there continue to be adjustments to the current process, some of them contentious. The Christie administration has proposed new regulations that would codify an appeals process for teachers. Under the law, teachers can appeal based on mistakes in the evaluation process, not the outcomes themselves.

Ironically, it was the New Jersey Education Association, the teachers union, that has objected to the administration's proposals, saying they would slow the process and take key decisions out of the arbitrator’s hands. The union said that such appeals should be handled through the grievance process.

“This procedure undoes the streamlined approach to tenure of TEACHNJ,” NJEA president Wendell Steinhauer said before the State Board of Education last week.

“Part of the law’s intent was to keep tenure issues out of the Office of Administrative Law (OAL),” he said. “This proposal will bring the tenure process back to OAL.”

said he has proposed a measure to adopt Wisconsin-specific education standards that are tougher than what the state adopted under Common Core in 2010.

"My problem with Common Core is I don't want people outside Wisconsin telling us what our standards should be," Walker said.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was the first to sign legislation revoking Common Core in April, and fellow potential Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana signed a series of executive orders blocking the use of tests tied to the standards, a move that outraged his state's own education superintendent.

Republicans governors in Oklahoma and South Carolina, an early presidential primary state, have signed measures aimed at repealing the standards.

Other Republicans, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, have defended the standards as integral to improving student performance and maintaining American competitiveness around the globe.

Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin of Vermont called the conservative critics "crazy."

"The fact that the tea party sees that as a conspiracy is a symptom of their larger problems," said Shumlin, who leads the Democratic Governors Association.

Common Core's standards for elementary math have confounded some parents by departing from some traditional methods to emphasize that kids understand how numbers relate to each other. Comedian Louis C.K. captured some of that that frustration when he took to Twitter earlier this year to vent about his kids' convoluted homework under Common Core, writing that his daughters went from loving math to crying about it.

Some governors attending the weekend conference said they were surprised to find the resistance to the standards.

"It's important for us governors to keep remembering the history of this, and the fact that this was not and continues to not be about a federal takeover," said Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada stressed that the majority of the states are still in the process of implementing the new standards and it's the responsibility of governors and education officials to remind people that the curriculums will be designed locally.

"Nothing comes without a bit of controversy, but at the end of the day people realize it's in the best interest of the children of the state," he said.

Star Ledger - Critics of N.J. schools superintendent salary cap say it is arbitrary and should be repealed…Critics of the salary cap say no other local officials and none of the state-employed superintendents are subject to the cap, which they want repealed.

By Peggy McGlone | The Star-Ledger 
Email the author | Follow on Twitter 
on July 13, 2014 at 7:07 AM, updated July 13, 2014 at 9:59 AM

 
 
 
 

Fire chiefs don’t have state-imposed salary caps, and neither do police chiefs or directors of public works, education officials told a Senate committee last month. So why should there be salary caps just for superintendents, they asked?

As a parade of teachers, superintendents, members of local boards of education and representatives of education organizations criticized at a hearing in Trenton a policy that caps superintendent salaries at $175,000, they described an unfair system fraught with inconsistencies.

While critics complained that only school chiefs were being targeted, several also noted that the salary cap doesn’t apply to all superintendents, including the County Executive Superintendents, or CESs. These "super supers" — who are Department of Education employees — oversee the budgets, contracts and operations of the local school districts. Currently, the state employs 14 CESs, including 10 who are temporary and are limited to part-time hours, and four who are full time. Their salaries range from $71,000 to $190,000.

That the state caps the salaries of district superintendents but not county superintendents makes no sense, said Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex).

"Really, the exceptions prove how illogical the rule is," Diegnan said. "The districts should be given the opportunity, just as the state is given, to pay the right salary to get the right person for the job."

Gov. Chris Christie proposed the salary caps early in his first term as a cost savings measure in order to keep more education aid in the classroom. But critics say the regulations are inconsistent and unfair because they handcuff local government’s power to run their operations.

"To me it’s blatantly unfair," Ridgewood Board of Education president Sheila Brogan said. "You freeze this one group of employees, and not your own employees. And there’s exemptions here and there, and to have no cost of living increase? This is so frustrating."

Brogan said the state already restricts boards on the amount they can budget for administration, so the salary cap on the chief officials is really "a cap within a cap."

Madison Superintendent Michael Rossi, one of two local school chiefs who testified at last month’s hearing, said Christie predicted the cap would save almost $10 million.

"But I could produce data through a survey of my colleagues that shows not only has it not saved that, it probably cost that much more," Rossi said.

Critics of the cap say it has led to an explosion of interim leaders, many who come out of retirement to earn hourly wages on top of their substantial pensions. This trend is prevalent among county executive superintendents. Four of these 14 officials are full-time state employees with contracts ranging from $98,123 to $190,966.

Two of them also drew pensions in 2013 of $79,424 and $82,744, pushing their income over the $175,000 maximum applied to their district colleagues.

Ten others have temporary contracts that limit their hours to 944 over 12 months, or about 24 hours a week. And yet their 2014 contracts allow them to earn as much as $119,600.

"I love the work, I love working with the superintendents, the boards," Hunterdon County Executive Superintendent Gerald Vernotica said. "It’s a diverse job, with approval of contracts, budgets, transportation, shared services, looking at special education and its delivery."

Several of the 14 executives, including Vernotica, oversee several counties, which is why there are only 14 CESs and not 21.

Vernotica, who is also responsible for Somerset County, was first appointed to the Hunterdon job in 2008, one of the original seven appointments made by then-Gov. Jon Corzine, who created the post. He was asked to return as a temporary employee with a part-time contract that could pay $71,760. That’s in addition to his 2013 pension of $100,257.

Joseph Zarra retired as superintendent of the Nutley school district in July of 2011, just four months after the cap went into effect. Two years later, he was appointed Essex County executive superintendent, with a temporary employment contract at $460 an hour (but no benefits).

In his first 11 months, Zarra earned $61,962 for the part-time job, according to the Department of Education. Records show his 2013 pension was $93,850.

Like Zarra, Laura Morana retired from her superintendent position after the cap took effect. Morana stepped down from her Red Bank position last summer. Five months later, she accepted a temporary position as county executive superintendent for Mercer and Middlesex counties. She earned $56,166 for the first six months.

Zarra and Morana referred questions to the Department of Education.

Four of the current county superintendents are full time, earning between $98,123 and $120,000. Two of them also drew pensions in 2013 of $79,424 and $82,744 respectively, records show.

Superintendents of districts with more than 10,000 students are also exempt from the caps. Fifteen of almost 600 are that large, including the four state-operated districts, who are led by superintendents hired by the state. One of them, Cami Anderson of Newark, signed a new contract last month that will pay her $251,500 for the year that began July 1.

Diegnan and state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, chairman of the Senate Education Committee who held the recent hearing, said they have heard from all corners of the state that the salary cap must go.

"It’s rare to have all of the education advocates on the same page, but everyone I respect says the same thing. It’s not hypothetical. It’s leading to a drain," Diegnan said.

Diegnan predicted the measure he introduced in March to lift the caps will pass both houses in the fall.

"Of course, then it goes to the governor’s desk," he said, "which is where this all started."