On June 27th, NJPSA Executive Director Karen Bingert joined New Jersey Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (D-11) as she unveiled her new legislation that would provide paid tutors in public schools nationwide.
Under the bill, the Expanding Access to High-Impact Tutoring Act of 2023, school districts throughout the country would be able to apply for grants to pay tutors to meet three times a week with up to three students at a time, for at least 30 minutes, the kind of intensive interactions that studies have shown to be particularly effective.
Joining the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, the New Jersey Education Association, the National Education Association, and NJDOE Acting Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan, NJPSA Executive Director Karen Bingert endorsed the bill, stating, “The New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association extends its gratitude to Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill for bringing ongoing learning support to all students nationally through the “Expanding Access to High-Impact Tutoring Act of 2023.” With a thoughtful plan, financial support to make it possible, and by creating a tutoring routine for students that will become a reliable and relied upon resource, this bill keeps the focus on supporting students who need it, including our very own here in New Jersey, and keeping the momentum going for their success. A supported student is a better student, a better student is a confident student, and a confident student is limitless.” Read Bingert’s full remarks below:
Good afternoon. My name is Karen Bingert, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association. I spent my nearly 30-year career in NJ’s public schools teaching high school English, serving as a vice principal, and culminating in 15 years as a high school principal prior to coming on board at NJPSA. Why do I tell you this? I say it because I take education very seriously and have committed my career and my energy to supporting NJ’s students. This is also why I am so appreciative that Congresswoman Sherrill has championed the cause of continuing and enhancing learning opportunities for students through creation of the “Expanding Access to High-Impact Tutoring Act of 2023.”
We all wish that the pandemic was solidly behind us, with no ripple effects or lingering issues. But in our schools, our students and the dedicated staff members who support them continue to overcome the impact this had on our youngest citizens. What better way to bolster the learning that happens in our schools than to give students a routine system of support in the form of regularly scheduled tutoring that is immediately responsive to new content and that can help our learners identify and overcome any gaps in their understanding that may remain from the interruptions caused by the pandemic. Face it, if you do anything that is good for you for 30 minutes at a time, 3 times a week, it makes you better (exercise, for example!). When you pair that routine with personal trainers – in the form of trained and vetted educators and volunteers – who work with you and 1 or 2 others at most, the impact of that time grows exponentially.
Congresswoman Sherrill has recognized that the funds that enabled schools to expand their offerings in response to the pandemic are facing that terrifying funding cliff that once seemed so far away but is now upon us.
Rather than allow important support services to disappear just when students are getting back on track, this bill keeps the focus on supporting students who need it and keeping the momentum going for their success.
A supported student is a better student.
A better student is a more confident student.
A confident student… is limitless.
Thank you, Congresswoman Sherrill. NJPSA and I look forward to continuing to work with you to support New Jersey’s students.