Gov. Chris Christie has made tenure reform one of his talking points, saying the process allows teachers who do not perform well to retain their positions. But New Jersey Education Association Director of Communications Steve Wollmer says the latest tenure reform bill would create a process that would not be fair to teachers. Wollmer sad down with NJToday Managing Editor Mike Schneider to discuss tenure, a superintendent salary cap and the contentious relationship between the NJEA and the governor.

Wollmer emphasized that many teachers are dismissed without making headlines, often because they resign before the process is complete. “The cases you hear about are the ones that are appealed to the courts,” he said, adding that process can take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Nobody wants bad teachers in the classroom,” Wollmer said. “Everyone agrees…we need to have a faster, more cost effective way to do this but nobody wants to abandon the fairness standard.”

Wollmer suggests that New Jersey follow the model laid out by Massachusetts which uses an arbitrator instead of the courts to resolve issues. He said it would take much less time and cost far less money that way.

Wollmer also touched on the superintendent salary cap Christie imposed on school districts. While that doesn’t directly impact members of the NJEA, he said teachers always want to work with administrators who want to be there and feel adequately compensated.

The governor’s relationship with the NJEA is strained with criticism coming from both sides. Wollmer called the war of words happening in the public eye and on Twitter a sideshow Christie is using to divert attention away from the real issues.

“We need to focus on these issues,” Wollmer said. “[Tenure and teacher evaluations] are very important issues that are going to affect the livelihoods and lives of 120,000 professional educators who are delivering a terrific product in this state. They deserve a well seasoned, a well thought out, and a respectful debate. We don’t need these sideshows that have been going on.”

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