ASSEMBLY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 3413
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MARCH 4, 2024
The Assembly Education committee reports favorably Assembly
Bill No. 3413 with committee amendments.
As amended, this bill 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 13 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 is 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;
(8) one representative appointed by the Garden State Coalition
of Schools; and
(9) one representative appointed by the American Federation of
Teachers.
The task force is to consider the TEACHNJ Act in the current
context of the State’s schools, identify areas for improvement, and
make any recommendations regarding any appropriate changes or 2
updates to the law or regulations implementing the law. The task
force shall issue a final report of its findings and recommendations
to the Governor and the Legislature no later than September 30,
2024. The department shall make the final report available to the
public on its Internet website.
Additionally, the amended bill 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 bill, 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.
As amended and reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No.
3413 is identical to Senate Bill No. 2082 (SCS), which was also
amended and reported by the committee on this date.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS :
The committee amended the bill to increase the membership of the
task force to 13 members and include a representative appointed by the
American Federation of Teachers. Additionally, the committee
amended the bill to change deadlines for appointing members to the
task force and for the first meeting of the task force.