Kyrillos: Court Ruling Offers Blueprint for NJ Teacher Tenure Changes
By Senator Joe Kyrillos
A JUNE 10 California court ruling that teacher tenure laws are unconstitutional and violate students’ rights to quality education signals the need for further education reforms in New Jersey and other states across the country.
New Jersey was the first state to pass tenure legislation more than 100 years ago, and despite bipartisan reforms enacted two years ago, many antiquated state education laws still persist.
In 2012, the Legislature and Governor Christie compromised to pass a bipartisan reform law, addressing teacher tenure and the teacher dismissal process. Although it was a good first step, that effort came up short because public teachers’ unions had enough influence over the Legislature to preserve policies such as “last-in, first-out.”
LIFO forces schools to ignore educator effectiveness and lay off high-performing, bright educators, instead of ineffective, more senior ones.
Posted: June 18th, 2014 | Author: admin | Filed under: Education, Joe Kyrillos | Tags: California court, Education, Joe Kyrillos, Judge Rolf Treu, LIFO, Senator Joe Kyrillos, Teacher Tenure, Tenure | Comments Off on Kyrillos: Court Ruling Offers Blueprint for NJ Teacher Tenure Changes