Teacher Groups Oppose Contract Review Proposal

Associations representing state teachers and school boards have expressed opposition to a proposal in Gov. Chris Christie's property tax "toolkit" to increase state oversight to contracts negotiated between school districts and local unions.

The proposal would set a four-point criteria for county executive superintendents of schools to review local contracts, with the governor's goal to keep property taxes below the 2 percent cap Christie signed into law earlier last month. 

The criteria, as outlined in a preliminary proposal to the New Jersey School Boards Association from the governor's office, would include county executive superintendents reviewing all contracts that have the total compensation and benefits exceeding the cap, did not allow subcontracting of such services as food and maintenance, did not allow employee contributions to health benefits and did not set a minimum number of instructional hours and days.

The proposal was drafted when the cap was the 2.5 percent constitutional amendment and not the 2 percent statutory cap Christie negotiated with the Legislature.

Michael Drewniak, Christie's press secretary, declined to comment on the specifics of the proposal. He said the governor's office is in the process of developing a final proposal, which will be presented to the Legislature during this summer's special session on property taxes.

Spokesmen from the school boards association and the New Jersey Education Association said the groups are not inclined to support the proposal, noting many of the proposals are already being used by school districts statewide. Legislative leaders declined to comment on specifics of the proposal, noting the details have not been released by the governor's office. 

Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the school boards group, said the association believes their members are using many of the practices statewide and parts of the proposal need to adopted to allow for better management practices to be used in districts. 

"We do believe strongly that local school districts have the responsibility to negotiate with their employees to meet local education goals," he said.

Belluscio said most school districts have set a minimum amount of instructional days and hours in teacher contracts as a standard practice, along with a growing number asking for an employee contribution to health care. He said the mandate on subcontracting is something the school boards group is in favor of, to allow districts to allow for the management practice to be used.

Belluscio said the association wants to allow for the subcontracting to continue and resists calls from the NJEA to disallow subcontracting to provide for cost savings to districts and the redirecting of funds to instruction. 

Belluscio said a study conducted by the school boards association show that most contracts settled since January have shown an average salary increase of 2.2-percent, down from an average of 4.4-percent last year. 

Wyckoff teachers are due a 4.4 percent pay increase this year, the last of their current contract. The administration and Wyckoff Education Association plan to enter contract talks later this fall.

The New Jersey Education Association, which has been locked in a war with Christie over education spending and teacher salaries, is opposing this proposal, with a spokesman saying that the entire toolkit is not based on "economic reality." 

Steve Baker, an NJEA spokesman, said the governor's proposal would hinder teachers and other public employees with slower salary growth than private sector employees. He said this could cause teachers to leave teaching instead of staying in the profession. 

"It does not take much imagination what this will do to the quality of education in New Jersey," Baker said. "You will tear apart your public schools. This is part of the governor's crusade against public service employees."

The county executive superintendents are agents of the state education commissioner and not county employees. They are appointed to fixed terms by the governor and state Senate and were created in 2007 by former Gov. Jon Corzine as part of an effort to remake public education in New Jersey. They already have some supervisory powers over local contracts. The Christie proposal would give the superintendents more control and oversight over the local actions.