On Thursday, Nov. 14, the Assembly Education Committee received testimony from invited guests regarding the New Jersey Educator Evaluation Review Task Force Report. The task force – created as a result of legislation (S-2082/A-3413) from earlier in 2024 – produced the report and submitted it to Gov. Phil Murphy in September.
The New Jersey School Boards Association’s senior director of advocacy, Jonathan Pushman, served on the 13-member task force, whose charge was to consider the current context of the TEACHNJ Act (P.L.2012, c.26) in the state’s schools, identify areas for improvement and make any recommendations regarding the annual evaluation process for teachers, principals, assistant principals and vice principals. The report offered various recommendations that included targeted changes to AchieveNJ evaluation regulations, the establishment of a New Jersey Department of Education educator-led working group and the issuance of more comprehensive, enhanced guidance from the NJDOE on the current system.
At the Nov. 14 meeting, the committee heard from members of the task force. Most of the testimony came from the task force’s chair, Dr. David Aderhold, superintendent of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, who was joined by Karen Bingert, executive director of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association; and Elisabeth Yucis, associate director in the Professional Development and Instructional Issues Division at the New Jersey Education Association.
The speakers discussed the importance of, among other things, the reduction of administrative burdens by eliminating student growth objectives from educator evaluation; ensuring teachers have the supports they need; and implementing a working group, in consultation with the NJDOE, to expand on the work of the task force to create actionable recommendations for districts. Throughout the nearly two-hour hearing, committee members appeared highly receptive to the task force’s recommendations and eager to assist in moving them forward. The NJSBA will continue to provide updates on the implementation of any of the task force’s recommendations or other changes to the evaluation system.
Signed by the Governor
On Monday, Nov. 18, Murphy signed a series of bills into law, including the following relevant bill:
Compensation and Promotion Transparency S-2310/A-4151 (P.L.2024, c.91) requires all New Jersey employers to make reasonable efforts to announce, post, or otherwise make known opportunities for promotion that are advertised internally or externally on internet-based advertisements, postings, printed flyers, or other similar advertisements to all current employees in the affected department or departments of the employer’s business prior to making a promotion decision. The law also requires employers to disclose in each posting for new jobs and transfer opportunities that are advertised by the employer either externally or internally the hourly wage or salary, or a range of the hourly wage or salary, and a general description of benefits and other compensation programs for which the employee would be eligible. The legislation also establishes penalties for noncompliance.
Assembly Local and State Government Committee
The Assembly Local and State Government Committee also met Nov. 14 and advanced the following relevant bills:
Remote Public Meetings A-1858 would allow a public body to conduct a meeting and public business by electronic means. Under current law, such flexibility is permitted only during a state of emergency, public health emergency, or state of local disaster emergency; the bill would make the flexibility permanent. Under the bill, any meeting conducted electronically would have to be made open to the public consistent with existing law.
The NJSBA supports the bill. Its counterpart in the Senate, S-228, has not yet moved.
Reporting Cybersecurity Incidents A-3897 would require municipalities, counties and school districts to report cybersecurity incidents via an online reporting form developed by the attorney general in consultation with the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell. The bill provides that the online form would be used promptly after a designated employee has been made aware of a cybersecurity incident and would specify if the cybersecurity incident has done either of the following:
- Compromised the confidentiality, integrity, availability, or privacy of the billing, communications, data management or information systems, or the information resources thereon.
- Compromised the industrial control system, if applicable, including monitoring operations, and centralized control systems, that adversely impacted, disabled, or manipulated infrastructure, resulting in loss of service or damage to infrastructure.
Within 30 days of a reported incident, the NJCCIC would require an audit of the cybersecurity program of a municipality, county, or school district and any actions taken in response to the incident. The audit would be conducted by a qualified and independent cybersecurity company and would be paid for by the Department of Law and Public Safety. The audit and corrective action plans would be exempt from the Open Public Records Act, and costs for compliance would be reimbursed by the state.
The NJSBA is monitoring the bill.
To view the full text of any of the bills summarized above, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.
