This afternoon at 2:00 Acting Commissioner Christopher Cerf will give what’s being billed as a “major address” on education reform. According to the Star-Ledger, a “source” says that that speech will outline an agenda that includes “the linking of teacher evaluations to student performance, eliminating teacher tenure and replacing it with five-year contracts, and offering bonuses to the state’s most talented teachers.”
Steve Wollmer, spokesman for NJEA says the forthcoming proposals will “ruin teaching and education in New Jersey” and derided the governor’s teacher evaluations task force as a “total sham.”
Here’s New Jersey School Boards Association’s reaction:
The proposed legislation would be a significant step for education reform, said spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards’ Association Frank Belluscio…”I think we’re looking at the concept of renewable tenure, where retaining teachers will be based on performance. That’s a concept we strongly support.”
Cerf’s remarks will be followed by a panel discussion that includes Senator Teresa Ruiz, a supporter of efforts to change tenure laws, and Daniel Weisberg, VP of The New Teacher Project, which published a widely-circulated study called “The Widget Effect: Our National Failure to Acknowledge and Act on Differences in Teacher Effectiveness.“
Stayed tuned for details.
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Questions for Frank Belluscio:
How, exactly do you intend to measure performance? Can you cite even one example of a reliable performance measurement system? Will districts be tempted to dump older, presumably higher-paid teachers in favor of cheaper, younger ones? Will the NJSBA create a legal defense fund to help defend districts from age-discrimination lawsuits?