ASSEMBLY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, No. 5877  

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 4, 2024

      The Assembly State and Local Government Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments the Assembly Substitute for Assembly Bill No. 5877.

      As amended, this Assembly substitute establishes the New Jersey Educator Evaluation Review Task Force to study and evaluate the educator evaluation system established pursuant to the TEACHNJ Act and implemented in New Jersey public schools.

      The task force is to examine the educator evaluation process, gather data, evaluate the data, and make recommendations concerning the annual evaluation process for teachers, principals, assistant principals, and vice principals established pursuant to the TEACHNJ Act. The task force is to consist of 12 members who have a background in, or special knowledge of, the legal, policy, and administrative aspects of educator evaluation in New Jersey. The members are to include:

      (1) one member appointed by the President of the Senate;

      (2) one member appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly;

      (3) one member appointed by the Governor;

      (4) three representatives of the New Jersey Education Association, at least two of whom are to be employed as full-time teachers in a public school in the State;

      (5) three representatives of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, one of whom is to be employed as a principal in a public school in the State and one of whom is to be employed as a vice principal in a public school in the State;

      (6) one representative appointed by the New Jersey School Boards Association;

      (7) one representative appointed by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators; and

      (8) one representative appointed by the Garden State Coalition of Schools.

      The task force is to consider the law in the current context of the State’s schools, identify areas for improvement, and make any recommendations regarding any appropriate changes or updates to the law or regulations implementing the law. The task force is to issue a final report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature no later than July 31, 2024. The department is to make the final report available to the public on its Internet website.

      Additionally, as amended, the Assembly substitute clarifies that student growth data used for the purposes of educator evaluations is data collected in the most recent year in which an educator completed student growth objectives. Under the amended Assembly substitute, teachers are not to collect new student growth observation data in the 2024-2025 school year, and are instead to use, for the purposes of educator evaluations, existing student growth objective data from the most recent year in which the educator completed student growth objectives. For any teacher in their first year of employment in a district, any teacher without a record of pre-existing student growth objectives, or any non-tenured teacher, the teacher is to set student growth objectives and collect data pertaining to these objectives during the 2024-2025 school year. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, school districts are to implement guidelines for the collection of student growth objective data consistent with any law, rule, or regulation enacted as a result of the findings of the task force.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the Assembly substitute to clarify that teachers are not to collect new student growth observation data in the 2024-2025 school year, and are instead to use, for the purposes of educator evaluations, existing student growth objective data from the most recent year in which the educator completed student growth objectives. For any teacher in their first year of employment in a district, any teacher without a record of pre-existing student growth objectives, or any non-tenured teacher, the teacher is to set student growth objectives and collect data pertaining to these objectives during the 2024-2025 school year. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, school districts are to implement guidelines for the collection of student growth objective data consistent with any law, rule, or regulation enacted as a result of the findings of the task force.

      Additionally, the committee amended the Assembly substitute to provide that members of the task force are to be appointed as soon as practicable and the task force is to organize no later than 30 days following the effective date of the bill. The amendments also make certain technical changes.