The School Children First Act aims to reform teacher compensation and placement in New Jersey by mandating annual reporting of teacher and administrator effectiveness ratings while ensuring confidentiality. The act requires school boards to establish salary schedules that prioritize demonstrated effectiveness in advancing student learning, assignments to failing schools, and teaching in difficult-to-staff subjects. It explicitly prohibits using years of employment as a primary factor in salary determination and restricts additional compensation for academic credits or degrees unless they are shown to positively impact student achievement.

In addition to compensation reforms, the act modifies tenure and seniority rights for teachers, principals, assistant principals, and vice-principals, stating that these rights will not apply in certain contexts, such as the creation of new school districts or employee transfers. It also stipulates that teachers cannot be assigned to schools without the principal's consent and outlines procedures for those who do not receive such consent. The bill further mandates that dismissals due to reductions in force must be based on effectiveness rather than seniority and establishes a preferred eligible list for reemployment of dismissed staff based on seniority. The Commissioner of Education will adopt regulations to implement these changes, which will take effect immediately upon passage.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 18A:6-31.4, 18A:6-31.5, 18A:6-31.6, 18A:13-64, 18A:13-80, 18A:27-4.1, 18A:28-11.1