Legislators Looking for Residents to Weigh in on Education

The legislators of the 38th District are looking for residents to help them decipher the various educational issues the state faces.

Assemblywoman Connie Wagner said residents can lend their expertise to topics like the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, teacher tenure and teacher evaluations.

Wagner, Assemblyman Timothy Eustace and Senator Bob Gordon have issued a call to interested constituents to send a letter to the Paramus office of Wagner and Eustace on Robin Road.

"They can be people in the field, they can be lay people," Wagner said. "In other words, whoever feels a passion that they want to have their voice heard."

While Wagner has a background in education, it's been five years since she was a guidance counselor at . That's why she wants to hear from people in the field and who have children in schools now.

The legislators are hoping to form a committee of ten that will meet four to five times a year. Wagner already knows what she wants to talk about first.

"I want to hear about the proposed tenure and evaluation procedures," Wagner said. "I want to hear what they have to say."

Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) has drafted a new set of tenure rules that are under debate in the state legislature. Under her proposal, teachers would lose tenure after two years of bad evaluations.

There are a number of other educational topics coming up for discussion in the legislature, including school aid, the Opportunity Scholarship Act and charter schools.

"I don't have solutions to some of the issues that we face and I recognize that there are many people out there who have solutions," Wagner said.

Anyone interested in joining the 38th District Public Education Advisory Committee should send a cover letter and resume to 205 Robin Road, Suite 330, Paramus, NJ, 07652, by May 1. Members must live in one the following District 38 towns: Bergenfield, Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Hasbrouck Heights, Hawthorne, Lodi, Maywood, New Milford, Oradell, Paramus, River Edge, Rochelle Park or Saddle Brook.