Minority Men Teacher Recruitment Bill Moves Forward as Legislature Returns Post Election

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The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee moved several pieces of legislation November 20, including a bill to create a pilot program to recruit minority men to the profession.  The day’s committees were the first post election.

Minority Male Recruitment

Senate bill S-1472 directs the Commissioner of Education to establish a pilot program to recruit male residents of the State who are from disadvantaged or minority backgrounds to enroll in the alternate route teacher preparation program and to match them with teaching opportunities in a chronically failing school.

The legislation defines a chronically failing school as one in which in each of the prior two school years:

  1. the sum of the percentages of students scoring in the not yet meeting expectation and partially meeting expectations categories in each of the language arts and mathematics subject areas exceeded 40 percent; or
  2. the sum of the percentages of students scoring in the not yet meeting expectations and partially meeting expectations categories in either the language arts or mathematics subject areas exceeded 65 percent.

The Commissioner of Education would select six such schools to participate in the program.  Two years after the establishment of the program, the commissioner would submit a report to the Governor and Legislature regarding the implementation of the pilot program, including a recommendation on the advisability of continuing and expanding the program.  NJPSA supports the legislation as amended.