Kyrillos To Re-Intro NJ Full Tenure Reform

New Jersey State Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) said today that he will re-introduce Thursday his tenure overhaul bill, in light of Tuesday’s landmark California court ruling that is expected to trigger education reforms nationwide.

A main provision in Senator Kyrillos’ legislation would eliminate in New Jersey last-in, first-out or “LIFO” protections, which the California court deemed as unconstitutional in that state.

In addition to re-introducing the bill, last session’s S-807, the Senator is also reaching out to the Students Matter advocacy group, a plaintiff in the California case, to urge their support in accomplishing similar results for New Jersey students, families and taxpayers.

“This legislature should seize this opportunity and momentum to pass full tenure reform to improve education and lower property taxes in New Jersey,” Kyrillos said. “This overhaul bill allows public school districts to best serve their students and communities by ensuring only the best teachers, administrators and staff members are the ones educating and nurturing our next generation.”

Senator Kyrillos’ bill was supported by the Star-Ledger upon its introduction last legislative session. Main provisions of the bill would:

·         Eliminate last-in, first-out (LIFO) seniority protections that force schools to ignore educator effectiveness and layoff high-performing younger teachers, instead of more expensive, ineffective ones;

·         Require school districts to adopt merit-based compensation schedules, whereby public school employees are paid and retained based on their performances, contributions and growth;

·         Allow school principals to assign teachers to classrooms where they will be effective; and

·        Alleviate tenure-law obstacles for school districts seeking to become more efficient by consolidating or merging services.

“I’ve seen first hand that this legislature can come together to put the public’s needs ahead of politics with the bipartisan tenure reform signed last year,” Kyrillos said. “That legislation was diluted but was a good initial step. I am confident that the action in California solidifies what must be and what can be done to improve education in New Jersey and across America.”