West Morris BOE Chief: Teacher Tenure Rules Already Stringent

New Jersey’s acting education commissioner Christopher Cerf in a speech given Wednesday.

The proposal would require teachers to be rated effective or highly effective for three consecutive years in order to be granted tenure, but, conversely, teachers could lose tenure if they did not meet requirements for two consecutive years.

Performance standards are already a major factor when granting a teacher tenure status in the West Morris Regional High School District, according to Board of Education President Cristen Forrester.

Forrester said the district’s review process during a teacher’s first three years in West Morris Central or West Morris Mendham is in depth, and may include up to four evaluations per year.

“We have a very stringent three-year process of reviews,” Forrester said. “It’s not as involved once the teacher attains tenure, but if we need to expand the process based on the new proposals, we’ll certainly do that.”

Forrester said the district has never automatically granted tenure to a teacher without reviewing the teacher first.

“We have had instances where we recognize a teacher isn’t a good fit for the school, or the school isn’t a good fit for them before the ability to grant tenure comes up,” Forrester said.

The proposal is expected to go to the state Legislature in March. The effectiveness of a teacher in front of the classroom, according to Cerf, is how performance should be measured.

“We’ll continue to monitor our teachers,” Forrester said. “And where we haven’t been as involved, we’ll certainly lengthen the review process to fit the guidelines.”