Newark Educators Win Back Withheld Salary Increases After the State Commissioner Finds the District Skipped Required Notice
The Commissioner of Education ordered restoration of the remaining petitioners' increments with benefits, and recalculation of later salaries and pensionable earnings, after Newark admitted it never gave the required written notice within 10 days, NJ21st reported.
Newark school staff whose salary increases were withheld for the 2021-22 school year have won restoration of those increments in a decision by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education, NJ21st reported on Nov. 2 in a review of October education decisions. The district had withheld the increases based on staff evaluations it described as less than stellar.
The district admitted it did not provide a written notice of the withholding and its reasons within 10 days, as required, NJ21st reported. The district took the position that the performance ratings justified withholding the increases even though it did not follow that protocol — an argument the Commissioner did not accept.
In the Oct. 15 decision, the Commissioner ordered restoration of the remaining petitioners' increments with corresponding benefits, NJ21st reported. The decision also said restoration warranted recalculating salaries for subsequent years, affecting pensionable earnings and pension benefits.
Three petitioners were dismissed from the case — two had received their increments and one withdrew — while the remaining petitioners won, according to the report. The Newark case was one of three October Commissioner decisions NJ21st reviewed on evidence and procedure, alongside residency-tuition cases in Wood-Ridge and Elizabeth; only the Newark decision is reported here, as the other two districts are outside this station's coverage area.
