Teacher tenure overhaul in N.J.

MIDDLESEX, N.J. -- Tenure will be harder for New Jersey teachers to get and easier to lose under a law Gov. Chris Christie signed Monday after deciding he can live with a compromise that keeps seniority as the way to determine which educators lose their jobs in the case of layoffs.

Even as he signed the law -- a major one for advocates for improving New Jersey's public education system -- the Republican governor called for doing more.

"Now is the time to build on this record of cooperation and results to put in place further reforms focused on our students by ending the flawed practice of last in-first out," Christie said in a statement.

Nonetheless, this was a big win for Christie, who has been unable to get Democrats to buy into his other key education initiatives: merit pay for teachers and vouchers allowing children in failing public schools to attend classes elsewhere.

So, the governor also took a few moments to savor the bipartisan teacher tenure agreement, which took more than two years to broker and represents the first significant changes to the century-old job protection law.

"It's a great day," Christie said after signing the law at a middle school in Middlesex. "It's a great day for good teachers because good teachers will do well under this system."

The law has provisions designed to speed up the process of firing teachers who get poor marks, but it also has new methods to try to help those educators improve. It also leaves New Jersey as one of only 11 states with a last-in, first-out policy for educators in the face of layoffs.

Seniority is a major bugaboo for Christie. But neither the New Jersey Education Association nor the American Federation of Teachers would sign on to New Jersey's bill if it were eliminated. The unions believe they are sullied by low-performing teachers, and that fighting their dismissals can be too costly for them.