We have met the enemy and they is teachers. Gov. Christie has squarely taken aim at the public teachers of New Jersey.
Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday declared war on what he considers to be underperforming public school teachers, the people he believes are most hindering the education of their students.
The governor said he wants teacher evaluations backed by with data-supported evaluations that would include information on student achievement. He said he wants to expand opportunities for what he described as great teachers to succeed and ensure students have well-prepared teachers.
He has declared his focus to be: Focus on Accountability
The governor said his education proposals will bring and long overdue improvements to public education by making teacher effectiveness and student achievement the driving forces behind public policies and practices. He said the first step toward innovation in the school system means focusing on accountability.
The President of New Jersey's Education Association and Gov. Christie have been at odds since the day he took office.
The president of the New Jersey Education Association, the statewide teachers' union, Barbara Keshishian said Christie is politically grandstanding and tampering with an excellent public school system.
"As Governor Christie sets out to pursue an education agenda that has significant implications for the future of New Jersey's entire public education system, New Jersey residents and policymakers would be wise to ask whether it is an agenda based on sound educational practice, or simply another attack on New Jersey excellent public schools," Keshishian said.
Christie and the NJEA have been criticizing each other almost since the day he took office in January. While the governor may believe teacher salaries, benefits and seniority rights are hurting education, the Republican also sees the union as a major supporter of the Democratic Party and an organization he would like to bring to its knees.
Christie bases his criticism of teachers as the problem on longstanding achievement gaps:
He said that despite some of the highest levels of education spending in the nation, New Jersey's public schools continue to confront a critical achievement gap that shortchanges children.
For example, the governor said, the achievement gap between wealthy and low-income 8th graders in math is nearly the same as it was 19 years ago; the gap between at-risk 4th graders and those not at-risk has remained nearly unchanged over the past 13 years.
Here are the bullet points of his proposals. The full text of his proposals can be seen here.
Improving Public Schools By Rewarding Effective, High-Quality Teachers and Demanding Accountability in the Classroom
• Expanding Opportunities for Great Teachers to Succeed.
• Establishing New Credentials and Career Ladders.
• Expanding Opportunities to Receive Updated Certification.
• Demanding Accountability and Results for New Jersey's Children.
• Improving Teacher and Leader Effectiveness with Data-Supported Evaluations.
The reform plan puts an end to policies that reward teachers who fail over teachers who succeed by measuring performance and paying higher salaries for it.
• Ensuring Our Children Have Well-Prepared Teachers.
• Empowering Parents with Access to Quality Data and Additional Outreach Efforts.
• Engaging Families in Their Children's Education with Improved Access to Information.
• Improving Outreach and Communications Efforts to Parents and Families.
Through executive order, Christie will convene the Task Force on Teacher Effectiveness to define and evaluate teacher and leader effectiveness based on key guiding principles.