Speaking of tenure, during a panel discussion moderated by NJ Spotlight’s John Mooney on teacher evaluations and tenure, NJEA Executive Director Vince Giordano announced that NJEA would propose the addition of a fourth year before tenure is earned.

Currently, NJ public school teachers earn tenure after three years and one day. According to the NJEA handout distributed at the session yesterday and dated for November,

The tenure proposal is simple. It adds a fourth year of teaching before tenure is earned. But it does not do so just because four years is longer than three years. Instead it improves the support and evaluation that new teachers receive during their initial years in the classroom in order to ensure their effectiveness by the time they reach tenure status.

The first year of teaching would involve a residency. Just a novice doctors work under the guidance of an experienced physician, first-year teachers would be partnered with a qualified senior teacher for intensive assistance, support, and guidance.

In addition to this proposal, NJEA also proposes that school choice be expanded by creating more magnet schools and adding schools to NJ’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program.

(Magnet schools and IPSCP schools are staffed by union members.)

NJEA also supports a bill that allows private schools to convert to public charters, full funding of SFRA (School Funding Reform Act), and potential legislation that would require school attendance until age 18 or graduation. (Currently it’s 16.)

Finally,

The tenure proposals put forth by the governor and others so badly gut the protections against political influence that they put every teacher’s career in jeopardy. New Jersey cannot afford for its 120,000 teaching jobs to become political patronage positions. But that is exactly what would happen if some of the proposals to undermine tenure become law.