By Debra Bradley, Esq.
NJPSA Director of Government Relations
The halls of the State House are a bustle with ongoing committee hearings and pieces of legislation hurtling along in the legislative process before the holiday season begins.
The week of December 9th began on a high note with the long awaited passage of the “Freedom to Read Act”, S-2421/A-3446, which was drafted in response to a stream of book ban requests for books within a school or public library. In addition, there have been numerous instances of school librarians, media specialists and other library staff being harassed for simply doing the jobs they have been professionally trained to do. NJPSA worked actively with the bill sponsors Senator Andrew Zwicker, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz and Assemblywoman Michele Drulis and successfully achieved our association’s goals within this legislation. The law’s effective date is December 9, 2025.
As enacted, the new law establishes specific requirements for materials with school and public libraries. The Commissioner of Education will develop a model policy for school districts to consider in the development of their boards’ policies on the curation of library materials with certain mandatory components:
- A recognition that library material shall not be removed because of the origin, background or views of the material or those contributing to it;
- A recognition that library material should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all students and should present diverse points of view in the collection as a whole;
- A recognition of the importance of school libraries as centers for voluntary inquiry and the dissemination of information and ideas;
- Prohibit censorship;
- An acknowledgement of the professional training and expertise of school library media specialists; and
- The establishment of a procedure for a school library staff member to perform a continuous review of the collection for its relevance, the condition of the materials, the demand for the material and the availability of developmentally appropriate materials.
If a board of education’s current policy meets this standard, there is no other obligation on the board to act. The law specifically recognizes a boards’ discretion, in consultation with the school librarian, to select, purchase and acquire materials for the school library.
In addition, the law requires that boards of education must adopt policies and procedures for individuals “with a vested interest” (parents of a student in the district, students and teaching staff members), to request the potential removal of a book from the library. The removal policy must:
- Provide for the creation of a request for removal form, based on a model removal form developed by the New Jersey Department of Education.
- Removal requests will be submitted to the school principal who shall forward any request to the superintendent. The superintendent or designee will appoint a review committee consisting of the superintendent (or designee), the principal of the school (or designee), the school library media specialist or a school library staff member, a representative selected by the board of education, at least one grade-appropriate teacher familiar with the material and a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the district who did not file the request. At the discretion of the superintendent, in cases where a student enrolled in the district in grades nine through 12 filed the removal form, a student may volunteer to serve. The superintendent may also include any additional members deemed necessary.
- Require that the challenged material remain within the library until there is a final decision reached by the board of education on whether to remove it.
- Require the review committee to evaluate the request for removal form, review the challenged material and report its recommendations on whether to remove the library material to the board of education no later than 60 school days from the date of the next regularly scheduled board meeting.
- Require the board of education to review the report and make a final determination on whether the material is to be removed from the library or limited in use. The board shall provide a written statement of reasons for the removal, limitation, or nonremoval of a material, as well as any final determination that is contrary to the committee’s recommendations. This statement will be posted on the board’s website.
Any library material challenged under policy may not be subject to a subsequent challenge for at least one year. Districts will also be permitted to consolidate requests for removal of the same material. The form shall require the requestor to specify which sections of the material the individual objects to and an explanation of the reasons for the objection.
The law grants school library staff civil and criminal immunity so long as they perform their duties in good faith. Finally, the bill protects our students’ right to read by recognizing their right to check out any developmentally appropriate materials from the school library.
Assembly Education Committee Acts to Continue SGO Hiatus
An important NJPSA goal this week was to work with Assemblywoman Carmen Theresa Morales (D-34) on her legislation, A-5077, which extends the moratorium on the development of new teacher SGOs into the 2025-26 school year and beyond for tenured teachers, until the readoption of N.J.A.C. 6A:10, the state regulations implementing the TEACH NJ Act. This extension is necessary for the continuation of the work of the NJ Educator Evaluation Task Force. Governor Murphy has already adopted one of the Task Force’s recommendations to establish a NJDOE-led Working Group to further consider and work on the actualization of recommendations of the Task Force. This will take time, so the Legislature is being proactive in addressing the issue of SGOs and administrator goals for the upcoming school years. NJPSA strongly supports this approach.
NJPSA was successful in our effort to specifically include tenured principals, assistant principals and vice-principals in the moratorium. This means that if the bill is signed into law, tenured principals, assistant principals and vice-principals will not be required to collect new administrative goals data in support of their administrator goals in 2025-2026 and beyond until new administrative code is adopted. This gives administrators serving in the role of principal, assistant principals and vice principals the same treatment as their teachers concerning the setting of new administrator goals.
Please note that the bill does not currently mention the title of “supervisor” or “director” as the TEACH NJ statute’s provisions on educator evaluation do not specifically mention these job titles, only teachers, principals, assistant principals and vice principals. The administrative code on the evaluation of supervisor/ directors (N.J.A.C. 6A:10) leaves the decision-making about the components of supervisor/director evaluation to the local level. Additionally, as district practices vary on whether supervisors and directors are required to develop administrator goals in evaluation, individuals in supervisor and director positions are encouraged to discuss this issue locally with their superintendents if the bill is eventually signed into law. NJPSA will keep you advised of any developments in this area.
A-5077 also seeks to correct an oversight of P.L. 2024, Chapter 14 that has occurred in many districts, namely the situation where a tenured teacher is unhappy with the SGO score being utilized in the 2024-2025 summative evaluation process. A-5077 will allow teachers, principals, assistant principals and vice-principals who are unhappy with the use of a prior year’s SGO/Administrator goals score to do new goals and collect data in support of those goals through a new SGO or administrator goal. The educator would have to notify their direct supervisor and the school principal of this intent by September 30 of the school year the educator seeks to do a new SGO or administrator goal. In this case, the current rules for the submission of SGOs/administrator goals by October 31 will continue to be in place. Also, an educator’s ability to revise an SGO goal or administrator goal mid-year will continue to be an option.
This is the first step in the Legislature’s consideration of these issues. There is not yet a Senate version of this legislation. NJPSA will keep you informed of future developments.
Other Legislation Considered by the Assembly Education Committee
The Assembly Education Committee also favorably released the following bills on December 12, 2024:
A-1682 –Requires school districts to provide instruction on the labor movement as part of the NJ Student Learning Standards in Social Studies. NJPSA opposed this legislation as an unnecessary curriculum mandate that is already being effectively taught in our schools.
A-3864/S-2498/S2505 – Requires the Commissioner of Education to establish and maintain an educator common application and web portal to assist in districts hiring efforts. NJPSA Supports.
A-4563 – Directs NJDOE to create a New Jersey Education Funding Portal to provide financial information, funding formula components and state aid to school districts.
NJPSA Supports.
AJR-101 – Designates the second Friday of December of each year as “Paraprofessional and School-Related Personnel in our Schools Day” to recognize their contributions to the education of our students. NJPSA Supports.
A-1165 – Establishes a pilot program in the NJDOE to use therapy dogs in public elementary school wellness programs. NJPSA Supports.
For further information on any of these bills, please contact Debra Bradley or Jennie Lamon in the NJPSA Government Relations Department.