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Schools

Superintendent Supports Christie's Education Report

Report recommends tenure requirements be tightened, school budget votes be abolished.

School District of the Chathams Superintendent Jim O'Neill called a report on education from Gov. Chris Christie's office "incredible" at a Board of Education meeting last week, praising its hands-off attitude towards high-performing school districts like Chatham's.

"In the past, Trenton didn't listen," O'Neill said at the meeting. "But his report is incredible in the number of things given to them directly from my testimony, a handout I gave them, as well as information I sent to a superintendent I know on the transition team."

O'Neill told the board that the report covers subjects such as funding, collective bargaining, regulatory moratoriums and teacher certification. O'Neill felt particularly encouraged by the report's disdain for a one-size-fits-all mentality for school districts.

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"With some hope and optimism, we're looking forward to what comes of this," he said.

The report recommended that all teaching candidates certified by other states be able to work in New Jersey immediately with provisional licenses.  It also said that the probationary period for tenure be at least five years. A teacher currently acquires tenure the first day of their fourth year in a district, and the report said principals now do not have enough time to assess teachers. 

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"Once tenure is achieved, removal of an unsatisfactory teacher is an extremely difficult, costly, and a time-consuming process," the report said.

O'Neill later said by e-mail that more years are necessary to judge a teacher's ability to teach a subject at different levels. More time, he said, is also needed to assess their success with different cohorts of children and their dedication to professional improvement.

"Teaching is complicated and demanding. You don't become an expert overnight," he said.

Christie also wants to improve superintendent stability, saying that it is currently too easy for new Board of Education members to change superintendents if they so desire.

The report recommended the phasing-in of end-of-course exams for math, science and English/language arts to replace high school proficiency assessments, which are presently required for graduation.

It said passing grades on end-of-course exams should not be required for graduation for the first five years after they are introduced, but should instead be used for teacher/school assessment and should make up 20 percent of a student's grade.

The subcommittee also indicated support for pending state legislation that would allow school budgets to be determined by the Executive County Superintendent and the New Jersey Commissioner of Education instead of by voter approval.

"I think it is fair for there to be no vote on the budget if the district is under the cap, currently 4 percent," O'Neill said. "But it is also fair that if a school district wants to raise additional funds, that voter approval is needed."

In the area of special services, the report recommended New Jersey law shift the burden of proof to the parent or guardian who challenges a school district's placement of a child.

Special Services Director Harold Tarriff said Friday that if the burden of proof is on the parents, "it would lead to more parents coming in to talk rather than taking legal steps." 

He said that a school district can be challenged through a process that can include going through court, though meditation is built into that process. Tarriff said the district has not gone through the due process during his nine-year tenure with the district.

"We've had parents challenge us and have gone to mediation two or three times in the last five years and resolved the problem," he said. 

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