the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Legislation sponsored by Senator Joseph Lagana which would require school districts and charter schools to adopt nepotism policies cleared the Senate Education Committee today.
“We must ensure that our school districts are hiring the most qualified people for the job, without allowing personal relations to taint their judgment,” said Senator Lagana (D-Bergen/Passaic). “All hirings should involve a competitive application process and end with the hiring of the best possible candidate.”
The bill, S-2637, would direct boards of education of school districts and county vocational school districts to adopt and implement a nepotism policy. The adoption of such a policy would be required to receive state aid. At minimum, the policy would have to include the provisions outlined in the bill.
The bill would also direct the board of trustees of a charter school to adopt and implement a nepotism policy, incorporating the provisions outlined in the bill.
The policy would apply to relatives of school board members, chief school administrators, school business administrators, school board attorneys and directors of personnel.
A school district or county vocational district could exclude per diem substitutes and student employees from its nepotism policy.
The bill was released from committee by a vote of 3-0, and next heads to the full Senate for further consideration.
can they adopt a non-indoctrination policy?
Most School Districts already adhere to this policy. Would be nice to see municipal govts apply it to police hires!!
OK Roy
Why can’t we apply this to municipal hires for police, fire, etc ?
^^^^ more people who don’t understand that the Civil Service tests negate the issue of nepotism… maybe one day people will get it
They don’t want to get it.
To fully understand this you have to look at the hiring practices for a specific municipality or district. Lets take the Police and Fire.
You take the Civil Service test and do very well, in fact you are a top candidate. However candidates much lower on the list are RW Village residents and their mother is mayor. Would it be helpful to you if the mayor voted to enforce residency requirements? negating the hiring of the actual top candidates. The top candidates went to other towns, RW got the locals from down on the list
So yes the Civil Service tests in theory should negate these practices, however there are ways around getting the best. As a taxpayer we should all be insisting on the best candidates, regardless of their address or political connections.
Same thing in the schools, does anyone really believe that our Super and HS Principal are the best we can possible get for all the money we spend. They are not, they are the local folks who would be challenged hard if they had to compete for roles outside the Village. Remember our Super threatened to leave a number of times but stays as no other offers have been forthcoming.
As residents and for the village taxes we pay, we should be demanding the very best, even if it means going outside a line on a map. But I suspect some less then honest people will always find a loophole.
I thought Knudsen’s two sons got hired by the RPD? So did Killian’s son. Lots of familiar family names on the professional firefighter roster, too. Maybe the civil service test is *supposed* to negate the issue of nepotism, but in reality it doesn’t because of the residency rules. How many of these kids get hired and then move out of town? It’s a joke. The problem from an organizational behaviour standpoint is you have a bunch of kids in these departments who listen to daddy instead of thinking for themselves. Doesn’t inject new thinking or new blood in to these departments, just same old thinking on home rule and taxpayer abuse.
“They don’t want to get it.”
More like, you and your crony pals will do anything to protect home rule and nepotism so you can keep stealing from the rest of us like pigs at the trough… sooooey!
Roy, I know from personal experience that NJ school districts DO practice nepotism in hiring. I graduated with a Masters degree, GPA 4.0, received Outstanding Student Teacher Award and went on numerous interviews where the interviewer DID NOT EVEN MAKE EYE CONTACT. When I was later told I did not get the job, I always asked for feedback on the interview; what was lacking, what could I have done better? Nine times out of ten they said my credentials and interview answers were excellent but they already had someone in mind for the job. One time a lazy C student I knew from school got the job for which I interviewed. She had a mother, aunt and cousin already working in the district. I was shocked and disillusioned by the whole experience. They couldn’t care less about getting the best for the students.