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State education chief would have say in effort to hire "best and brightest" to head struggling schools
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Maintaining that New Jersey guidelines for hiring school district superintendents are too restrictive, Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday asked the state Board of Education to approve new regulations that would allow "the best and brightest people" to help revitalize schools where at least 50 percent of the children are failing state achievement tests.
Under the plan, a person seeking the superintendent position in certain districts would need a bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college and a review by the state education commissioner who would determine whether the candidate has sufficient work experience to lead a district. Three school districts under state control that would be affected by the proposed hiring standards are Newark, Paterson and Jersey City.
After a review by an education commissioner, a superintendent candidate would be given a provisional license and allowed to begin work immediately with guidance from a state-approved mentor. After passing three performance reviews in one year, and with recommendation from the mentor, the superintendent would be eligible for standard certification. Superintendents could be hired through this alternate route method for certification if they worked in one of the state's 57 districts that need improvement, according to federal requirements. They would also qualify for alternate route certification in any state-run district, or in any district where at least 50 percent of the fourth, eighth, or 11th-grade students have failed state tests for the last two years for either language arts or mathematics.Acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks said the proposed revisions would provide greater flexibility to recruit superintendents.
"It's important that New Jersey public schools recruit and hire the most experienced, talented managers possible," Christie said. "In large, state-run districts, or in schools that have failed our children for generations, we especially need leaders who know how to manage thousands of employees in districts that spend hundreds of millions in tax dollars."
"Good candidates are discouraged from applying to be school superintendents because New Jersey's regulations are unnecessarily burdensome," Hendricks said. "We need to open the doors of our public schools and let successful people with proven track records help us reform and rebuild schools where strong leadership and new ideas are needed the most."
The proposal appears similar to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to appoint Cathie Black, Hearst Magazines' chairwoman, as the new chancellor of the nation's largest school district. She had a long career in publishing but has no experience in education.
