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THE DEVASTATING CHRISTIE TOOLKIT
• A corporate tax scholarship program whereby • A higher retirement age;
corporations would subsidize a private school
voucher type program in exchange for corporate • Mandatory premium sharing for active
tax breaks; employees in the School Employees Health
Benefits Plan;
• An expansion of charter schools and the
creations of an interdistrict public school • Imposition of negotiated changes to the SHBP
choice plan; by state employees to school employees;
• Proposed changes to existing collective • Significant changes to the existing evaluation
bargaining laws to permit wage caps, imposed and tenure laws for teachers and principals,
“last best offers” and merit pay; tying educator evaluation to student
performance;
• Legislation granting Executive County
Superintendents the authority to hold contracted • New accountability systems for schools
compensation (salaries and benefits) within the and ways to measure school success as
2% property tax cap, set work rule requirements recommended by an Educator Transformation
for teachers, eliminate seniority as the sole basis Task Force established by Executive Order 58
for salary increases, and eliminate any clauses (2011), which reviewed all education statutes
that prevent subcontracting; on the books to determine what was working,
what was not, and recommended changes to
• Statutory limits on sick and vacation leave the education laws;
payouts at retirement despite existing contracts;
• Eventually, further recommendations on
• Significant reductions to public employee policy topics at the Legislature and NJDOE/
pensions and health benefits for new State Board of Education that included
employees entering public employment and tenure, educator evaluation, student learning
existing employees where the law permitted standards, the adoption of a controversial new
which included: state assessment system through PARCC
(the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness
• higher eligibility standards for pensions, for College and Careers), NJQSAC reforms,
providing a 401(K) plan for those working less and changes to staff certification/qualifications
than 32 hours a week; seeking to create new career ladders
for teachers and principals (Master level
• a less generous pension formula at positions), and the implementation of the
retirement; recommendations of the College and Career
Readiness Task Force concerning high school
• repeal of critical statutory language NJPSA, graduation requirements; and
NJEA, and other public employee unions had
achieved in recent legislation that provided • Proposed legislation to privatize educational
a nonforfeitable right to receive the pension services in our public schools.
benefits in place at a public employee’s five
year point of service, even if future reductions
were enacted in law;
