First Task for the School Board: Update All Job Descriptions and a Checklist

As time goes by and one reads more documents one realizes that we, parents and the community, need to make a list of the things we need the school board to do to ensure that improvement of our city's public schools district doesn't get stalled by uninformed school board members. While the school board can't take the updating of the job descriptions to themselves, they certainly can request the superintendent to bring the district up to date and up to code.

School board members can also request copies of all currently existing job descriptions that the Plainfield school district has (school board members can use OPRA if needed be). Unsolicited advise: Put all those jobs in a binder/electronic folder separated by area, that is, administrative, teaching, non-teaching etc.)

Take for example the last job description adopted by the school board: Supervisor, Content Area. The list of qualifications calls for "Posses or be eligible to obtain a New Jersey Principal or Supervisor Certificate".

Well, today we know that there is no such a thing as Certificate of Eligibility (CE) for Supervisor. One either gets a Supervisor's Standard Certification or you don't. One way to correct this could be by simply updating those job descriptions that call for a Supervisor Certificate to read:

*Posses a Supervisor's Certificate or,
*Posses a Principal's Certificate of Eligibility (CE)

A Certificate for Eligibility (CE) for Principal is still possible, but is it desirable for all positions of a school district that has a large body of students with many needs? An employee with a CE means that the person will have to divide their time between their mandatory 2 year mentoring program and the hardships of dealing with a new position that most likely will demand much work.

What is more, why not look around to see what districts require of their Content Supervisors? For example, South Orange requires that their Content Supervisors already posses their certifications, these could be: Supervisor, Principal or School Administrator, no CEs there.

But let's not get too complicated. The first task for the school board really needs to be to request a copy of all job descriptions and sort out the following:

--Which ones are recognized job titles and which ones are not
---do these non-recognized job titles have current state approval, in writing?
HERE is the list of all State recognized job titles, certification requirements is HERE.

--What job descriptions need their qualifications to be updated to at least reflect current minimum mandated certification (please, no more "eligible to obtain a Supervisor Certificate")

--Do applicants/hired people posses the correct Content Areas endorsements/certifications to their area of employment? Here is a list of all teacher recognized certifications.


We probably also need to create a "Checklist" for the school board so when they get a hiring recommendation from the superintendent they know what to request and what to look for. Hmmm.

What could this checklist look like and what should it include to make sure our school board has all the proper and meaningful information before they vote on the next hiring?

Want to help to create such a checklist for our Plainfield school board? Use the Comments' Box to send your ideas and suggestions. The school board needs our help!