Assemblymen Patrick Diegnan Jr., D-Middlesex, and Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, introduced NJEA-supported legislation on May 5 that would reduce the cost and shorten the timeline when action is taken against a tenured public school employee. The bill, A-3947, would require binding arbitration to determine contested cases involving the dismissal or reduction in salary for tenured public school employees.
On May 12, Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, introduced a companion bill, S-2861, in the Senate.
Many of the elements of tenure reform that NJEA President Barbara Keshishian introduced in a press conference last December are in the bill, including the use of nationally certified arbitrators in tenure disputes, rather than administrative law judges.
“By taking the courts out of the equation, we believe the average case can be adjudicated in 60 to 90 days at a fraction of the cost,” Keshishian said at that press conference.
This bill would require binding arbitration for contested cases involving the dismissal or reduction in compensation of tenured employees of a school district. The commissioner of education would continue to determine whether or not there is a contested case. In contested cases, an arbitrator would be assigned by the commissioner to hear the case and make a final, binding determination.
Under the bill, the arbitrators would be chosen from a panel of 20 permanent arbitrators maintained by the commissioner of education. Of the 20 arbitrators, 10 would be designated by NJEA and 10 by the New Jersey School Boards Association.
The bill provides for a limited number of instances in which the decision of the arbitrator would be subject to judicial review, enforcement, or vacation.
The bill also alters the reasons for which a person under tenure may be dismissed or reduced in compensation. The reasons currently stated in law—inefficiency, incapacity, conduct unbecoming, or other just cause—remain but if the reason is “conduct unbecoming,” that conduct must now be related to the public school employee’s position.
NJEA members are urged to contact their state Senators and Assembly members to ask them to become co-sponsors of the legislation. Contact information for your legislators can be found at www.njleg.state.nj.us.
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