Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Simonsen, Miller and Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson
SYNOPSIS
Establishes New Jersey Educator Evaluation Review Task Force; clarifies collection of student growth data.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing the New Jersey Educator Evaluation Review Task Force, and amending and supplementing P.L.2012, c.26.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. The Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey (TEACHNJ) Act, P.L.2012, c.26 (C.18A:6-117 et al.), was enacted in 2012 with the goal of raising student achievement by improving instruction through the adoption of an educator evaluation system that provides specific feedback to educators, informs the provision of aligned professional development, and informs personnel decisions.
b. Since the enactment of the TEACHNJ Act, educators have benefited from the individualized feedback, provision of targeted professional development resources, annual review of student performance data, collaborative exchange of educational strategies with their certified supervisors, and administrative support provided through the evaluation systems established pursuant to the TEACHNJ Act.
c. On November 10, 2022, Governor Philip D. Murphy issued Executive Order No. 309 to establish the Task Force on Public School Staff Shortages in New Jersey to develop recommendations to address teacher and education support professional shortages in school districts across New Jersey. In February 2023, the 25-member task force issued 31 initial recommendations with a goal of addressing Statewide educator staffing shortages in the public schools of the State. The task force recommendations focused on both short-term and long-term solutions to increase recruitment to the educator workforce, identify best practices to increase the educator pipeline, and ensure the retention of school staff members.
d. To address the retention of existing school employees, including teachers, the task force recommended that administrative burdens, and other tasks that pull teachers from classroom instruction, be reassessed and reduced, if appropriate, including the reassessment of student growth objectives within the educator evaluation process established by the TEACHNJ Act and regulations issued by the Department of Education.
e. In response to the ongoing
and widespread staffing challenges facing New Jersey schools, and considering
the recommendations of the task force report, it is fitting and proper to
examine revisions to the TEACHNJ Act.
2. (New section) a. There is established the New Jersey Educator Evaluation Review Task Force for the purpose of examining the educator evaluation process, gathering data, evaluating the data, and making recommendations concerning the annual evaluation process for teachers, principals, assistant principals, and vice principals established pursuant to the TEACHNJ Act, P.L.2012, c.26 (C.18A:6-117 et al.).
b. The task force shall consist of 12 members, each of whom shall have a background in, or special knowledge of, the legal, policy, and administrative aspects of educator evaluation in New Jersey, as follows:
(1) one member appointed by the President of the Senate;
(2) one member appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly;
(3) one member appointed by the Governor;
(4) three representatives of the New Jersey Education Association, at least two of whom shall be employed as full-time teachers in a public school in the State;
(5) three representatives of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, one of whom shall be employed as a principal in a public school in the State and one of whom shall be employed as a vice principal in a public school in the State;
(6) one representative appointed by the New Jersey School Boards Association;
(7) one representative appointed by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators; and
(8) one representative appointed by the Garden State Coalition of Schools.
c. Appointments to the task force shall be made within 30 days of the effective date of this act. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made.
d. Members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the task force within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its purposes.
e. The task force shall organize as soon as practicable, but no later than 30 days following the appointment of its members. The task force shall choose a chairperson from its membership and shall appoint a secretary who shall be an employee of the Department of Education. The secretary shall be a non-voting member of the task force. A majority of the membership of the task force shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of task force business.
f. The Department of Education shall provide such stenographic, clerical, and other administrative assistants, and such professional staff as the task force requires to carry out its work. The task force shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of any non-confidential data maintained by the department and the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.
3. (New section) a. It shall be the duty of the New Jersey Educator Evaluation Review Task Force to study and evaluate the educator evaluation system established pursuant to the TEACHNJ Act, P.L.2012, c.26 (C.18A:6-117 et al.), and implemented in New Jersey public schools. The task force shall consider the law in the current context of the States schools, identify areas for improvement, and make any recommendations regarding any appropriate changes or updates to the law or regulations implementing the law. The task force shall:
(1) examine the educational value, administrative burden, and impacts on teachers, principals, and vice principals of the use of student growth objectives in annual summative evaluations, and identify potential alternative approaches to the use of student growth objectives in annual summative evaluations;
(2) examine any unintended consequences of the implementation of the TEACHNJ Act;
(3) review current educational research on best practices in educator evaluation in order to prom