Legislative Update - August 2010
By Tim McGrail

“If we are not activists in politics, we will be the victims of politics.” National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel advanced this message to the NEA family in his keynote address at the Representative Assembly this past July in New Orleans, Louisiana. His message is true for all local associations across the country, but particularly true in here in New Jersey. The political climate in Trenton is so hostile to our profession that the number of new retirees has ballooned and many college students are rethinking their choice of education as a future career.

Not only will the NJ legislature be considering Governor Christie’s Toolkit for reducing school employees’ pensions, benefits, and bargaining rights this fall, but a new committee is being established by the NJ Department of Education. The Educational Effectiveness Evaluation Committee (EEEC) is being formed. Go to the NJ DOE website, http://education.state.nj.us/eeec and read all about. The following are the stated goals of the EEEC:

   “The EEEC will explore teacher and leader evaluation models and ultimately propose a statewide evaluation system that will inform decisions about various school policies, including professional development, compensation, bonuses and the awarding of tenure.

   The EEEC’s first task is to present draft recommendations to the Commissioner of Education by January 2011 regarding the best way to measure the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, based on defined parameters. The effectiveness recommendations will include:

1. which measures of student achievement -- representing at least 50% of the teacher/school leader evaluation-- should be used for evaluating educator performance, and how each measure should be weighted
   

2. which practices of effective teachers and leaders should comprise the remaining basis for such evaluations, and how these measures of effective practices should be weighted.”

The EEEC will be a committee of 37 members. NJEA will get one seat. The eventual recommendations of this committee will have a major impact on our future considering that the charge of the EEEC is to change the way we are evaluated, awarded tenure, and compensated.

As we move forward this fall, stay informed, stay active, and recruit your colleagues. Check out www.njea.org frequently to find out what is happening to your profession. We can’t afford to roll over and play dead.