Tenure Reform: More Than Just a Matter of Time

In Hawaii, it’s just one year. In Ohio, it can be as many as seven. In between, most states pick three years as the magic number, after which a teacher receives tenure.

But times are changing, as states seek to add years to the requirements for a new teacher to be granted tenure -- New Jersey included. And with those changes has come the debate as to how much time is right, with little consensus beyond the agreement that adding years must also come with added support.

It will be a key debate here, as the legislature begins this month to weigh various tenure reform proposals. The law in New Jersey calls for teachers to automatically receive tenure after three years of teaching in a district, the span required in more than 30 states.

But led by Gov. Chris Christie and some of the legislature’s Democratic leaders, there is a move afoot to revamp that law, maybe as soon as this fall in the upcoming lame duck session.

The most prominent plan comes from Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), who is proposing a system in which every teacher must receive three consecutive years of positive evaluations to receive and maintain tenure. He or she would also lose the protections after two consecutive years of negative reviews.

But in a back and forth likely to dominate the coming months, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) has come back with a proposal that calls for four years before a teacher receives tenure, instead of the current three. The NJEA’s plan wouldn’t have the same precise requirements for positive evaluations included in Ruiz’s bill, but it would streamline the process for removing ineffective teachers.

Notable in the union’s plan is also a requirement that the first year be a “residency” for the new teacher, working closely with a veteran teacher, and subsequent years would have stricter requirements for continued mentorship of the new teacher.

“Actually what we’re adding is not a fourth year but a first year,” said Ginger Gold Schnitzer, the NJEA’s director of government relations. “It’s not just to give districts a longer look, which it would. But that’s not reason enough. The reason is to give a residency year like a doctor’s, where they have someone committed to coaching them and helping them be successful.”

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