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Reader says , ” There are still some dedicated teachers in the system but more often than not, tenure destroys motivation”

tradition of excellence

There are still some dedicated teachers in the system but more often than not, tenure destroys motivation. Ridgewood teachers are very, very lucky. They receive top teaching salaries and for the most part their students do receive support from homes where education is prized. The NJEA and its demands will continue to bankrupt the state. Nurses do not earn as much as teachers nor do they enjoy the same benefits packages. That is not to say that effective, caring teaching is not an extremely demanding job but all the complaints about their salaries/benefits are hard to entertain. Personally, I think those who teach in less desirable districts should be the high earners. That is where you find the dedication and what used to motivate those entering the profession – hoping to make a difference and inspire learning.

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N.J. lawmakers want voters to decide if Supreme Court justices should keep their jobs

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Posted on May 21, 2017 at 10:35 AM

BY S.P. SULLIVAN

ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com,

NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

TRENTON — A pair of Republican state lawmakers is looking to do away with tenure for state Supreme Court justices, proposing a constitutional amendment that would have voters give them a thumbs-up or thumbs-down every four years.

State Sens. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen) and Michael Doherty (R-Warren) say the move would make the justices accountable to New Jersey voters, but some worry the move would further inject politics into the state’s highest court.

Currently, New Jersey’s seven justices are appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate with an initial term of seven years. Then, if the governor reappoints and the Senate again approves, a justice gets tenure until hitting a mandatory retirement age of 70.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/05/elected_judges_nj_lawmakers_want_constitutional_am.html

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Post-CA Tenure Decision, Kyrillos Seeks Repeat in New Jersey

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file photo by Maura McMahon DeNicola in Ridgewood PJ Blogger with Joe Kyrillos 

Post-CA Tenure Decision, Kyrillos Seeks Repeat in New Jersey
Jun. 11 Education, Joe Kyrillos, National, Uncategorized 1 comment

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Joe Kyrillos at 2012 RNC in Tampa, Florida

Following an earth-shattering decision by the California state court striking down that state’s tenure law, state Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) says he’s reaching out to an advocacy group involved in the West Coast case to help accomplish the same result in New Jersey.

He’ll start by re-introducing S-2171, “The School Children First Act.”

“This legislature should seize this opportunity and momentum to pass full tenure reform to improve education and lower property taxes in New Jersey,” Sen. Kyrillos said in a statement released by the Senate GOP office. “This overhaul bill allows public school districts to best serve their students and communities by ensuring only the best teachers, administrators and staff members are the ones educating and nurturing our next generation.”

Past efforts have been examples of tokenism at best and a waste of time for the more cynical among you.

Kyrillos says his legislation would accomplish the following: 

· Eliminate last-in, first-out (LIFO) seniority protections that force schools to ignore educator effectiveness and layoff high-performing younger teachers, instead of more expensive, ineffective ones;

· Require school districts to adopt merit-based compensation schedules, whereby public school employees are paid and retained based on their performances, contributions and growth;

· Allow school principals to assign teachers to classrooms where they will be effective; and

· Alleviate tenure-law obstacles for school districts seeking to become more efficient by consolidating or merging services.

It’s a tough issue, Save Jerseyans.

Why? Because it’s easy enough to say “let’s reward good teachers and reform/penalize the bad ones,” but how do you effectively evaluate teacher performance when the good teachers find their classrooms filled with the most challenging students on an annual basis?

There’s also an emerging consensus among everyone NOT in government that testing is close to useless.

School choice is the only solution. The free market is the only fair way to judge any professional’s abilities. Anything else is probably a net negative for hardworking teachers and a net neutral for the kids we’re trying to help. Just one former student’s opinion…

– See more at: https://savejersey.com/2014/06/kyrillos-california-tenure-new-jersey/#sthash.3GPFmDS8.dpuf

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Judge Rejects Teacher Tenure for California

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Judge Rejects Teacher Tenure for California

By JENNIFER MEDINAJUNE 10, 2014

LOS ANGELES — A California judge ruled Tuesday that teacher tenure laws deprived students of their right to an education under the State Constitution and violated their civil rights. The decision hands teachers’ unions a major defeat in a landmark case, one that could radically alter how California teachers are hired and fired and prompt challenges to tenure laws in other states.

“Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the challenged statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or minority students,” Judge Rolf M. Treu of Los Angeles Superior Court wrote in the ruling. “The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience.”

The decision, which was enthusiastically endorsed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, brings a close to the first chapter of the case, Vergara v. California, in which a group of student plaintiffs backed by a Silicon Valley millionaire argued that state tenure laws had deprived them of a decent education by leaving bad teachers in place.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/us/california-teacher-tenure-laws-ruled-unconstitutional.html?_r=0