It may seem early to mention elections, but Spring has arrived (by calendar if not by weather) and there are some deadlines to watch. First, if your community has not moved their Board of Education elections to November, please vote! That election is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. The primary [...]
ESP Bills pass Senate!
As reported by the NJEA tonight, ESP rights bills S-1191 and S-2163 have passed the full Senate. This legislation protects due process rights and anti-privatization. Now for the Assembly…hopefully soon!
On the New Evaluation System
Read this blog post by the Jersey Jazzman: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2013/03/nj-teacher-evaluation-operation.html Prepare to be outraged!
TAKE ACTION NOW!
The tenure law passed this summer (August 2013) requires a new evaluation system for teachers. Now is the time to tell our state Board of Education members what education professionals believe. Use our sample letter and NJEA talking points to guide your communcation. Click here for more information. There are also proposed changes to the [...]
Concerned about walkthroughs?
Help protect yourself by keeping a log of the visitors to your classroom. Use the NJEA Evaluation Resources to help guide your recordkeeping.
Editorial: School Repairs
The Star-Ledger published an editorial in its January 7, 2013 paper criticizing Governor Christie for the poor response by the organizations under his direction responsible for school construction and building repairs. Read the editorial in its entirety.
Contest Information
California Casualty is an insurance company that offers discounts to educators and other public servants. They have two contests going on right now that may interest our members in Passaic County. One is a School Lounge Makeover in which the winner’s school would receive an updated faculty room worth $7500. A second contest is for [...]
Evaluation Models
According to the TEACHNJ Act, the law that was approved in August of 2012 as tenure reform, also impact the evaluation process for education professionals. Each school district must have a District Evaluation Advisory Committee, or DEAC, and this committee is charged with choosing an evaluation instrument by December 31, 2012. Visit this site often [...]
Thank you, unions!
20 reasons to support workers’ unions: minimum wage, 5-day work week, fair wages, end child labor, employer-based health coverage, maternity leave, occupational safety, workers compensation, sick days, overtime pay, anti-discrimination, job training, annual pay increases, lunch-break laws, protection against retaliatory firings, documented review before firing, retirement/pension plans, against outsourcing, immigration laws
Teacher Evaluation Reform
The TEACHNJ Act (Chapter 26) not only changed the tenure law with respect to the amount of time (now 4 years and 1 day) for a teacher to earn tenure but also places additional emphasis on the evaluation a teacher receives. The evaluation process is established by the local district and has yet to be [...]
