NJ Education Report

In today’s Star-Ledger, the Editorial Board considers the rift between New Jersey Republicans and Democrats on education reform — particularly the controversial practice of protecting teachers with more seniority during lay-offs (LIFO) — and proposes the “Cami Anderson test”:

Anderson is the superintendent in Newark who has established an “excess teacher pool” for educators whom no principal wants. It has about 80 unneeded teachers in it, at a cost of $8 million a year.

That sounds crazy, but it’s not. Because under existing tenure rules, Anderson can reduce her staff only if she’s willing to lay off her best young teachers first. She won’t do it, and she’s right not to. Under the watered-down rules Democrats are considering, that would not change.

So here’s the test: If tenure reform doesn’t allow Anderson to get rid of the teachers no one wants, then it’s not real reform.

Democrats need to remember there’s another core value at stake here: doing right
by our children.