The first week of June is already in the books, and the Statehouse is as busy as ever as we advance toward our constitutionally mandated June 30th deadline to pass a balanced budget. Much of the focus this week was on how to resolve a projected 1.8 billion dollar shortfall. Also this week in Trenton, the Senate Education Committee met to receive testimony from invited speakers regarding preschool mixed-delivery systems. The Committee members heard testimony on how to best deliver preschool in the state from advocates on both sides of a model that uses a combination of public and private programs to provide publicly funded preschool slots. The Assembly Education Committee considered a number of bills relating to K-12 public education in our state, including a bill entitled the “Freedom to Read Act,” that would establish certain policy-making requirements for boards of education to consider regarding resources and materials in public school libraries and public libraries. The bill also contained immunity protections for school library media specialists and librarians who have been experiencing harassment in some New Jersey communities. At the NJ Department of Education, the State Board of Education met for their monthly meeting. During the meeting the State Board heard at Discussion Level a Resolution to amend the 2023 New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) Mathematics Curriculum Implementation Schedule. Your NJPSA GR team was there, covering it all!
A-3446 would require local school boards and governing bodies of public libraries to establish policies for curation of library materials, with support from the Department of Education, the State Librarian, the NJ Association of School Librarians, and the NJ School Boards Association. Libraries play a unique role in promoting intellectual freedom, providing equitable access to learning resources, and promoting democracy by providing services to all regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, age, ability, gender, or socio-economic status. The bill would also require boards of education and governing boards of public libraries to include diverse and inclusive materials within their respective libraries. The bill defines “diverse and inclusive materials” as any material that reflects any protected class as defined in the Law Against Discrimination (LAD). The bill would provide for a fair system of review for any concerned parent, teaching staff member, student or actual community member to seek the review or removal of materials from a library. However, it would also protect librarians from legal action if they engaged in good faith actions in the performance of their duties to curate the library collection.The testimony on this bill was heated, with dozens of advocates on both sides of the issue packing the committee room. Ultimately, the Committee voted to advance the Committee Substitute (7-1) with one abstention. NJPSA was able to negotiate important amendments to the bill during the legislative process. The bill has been second-referenced to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it awaits a second hearing. NJPSA supports this Committee Substitute. Read NJPSA’s testimony here.
A-1675 would extend the length of time a member of the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) can discontinue their service and still maintain their membership in the TPAF. Under current law, membership in the TPAF ceases if an individual discontinues service for more than two years. This bill extends the period of discontinuance to seven years. This bill also extends the length of time a member who left service for certain qualifying reasons may return to service and includes among the qualifying reasons those who voluntarily left service with 10 or more years of service credit. Under current law, membership in the TPAF may continue if the member returns to service within a period of 10 years from the date of discontinuance from service. This bill extends the period of discontinuance to 25 years. Under this bill, a person who returns to service with an employer within the time period of seven or 25 years will be eligible for enrollment in the fund based on the eligibility requirements for enrollment for the member’s tier at the time of the member’s termination of service prior to the return. This bill requires that a person who returned to service with an employer prior to the effective date of this bill within the time period of seven or 25 years will be enrolled in the fund and will be placed in the member’s tier at the time of the member’s termination of service prior to the return. There will be no additional contributions imposed on the member or the member’s employer. This bill requires the Division of Pensions and Benefits to make such adjustments and transfers as will be necessary to ensure the enrollment of the member in the fund and placement in the same tier pursuant to this bill. The Assembly Education Committee unanimously voted in favor of this bill, and the bill moves on. NJPSA Supports this bill.
Read NJPSA’s testimony here.
A-4307 would establish an exemption to the State residency requirement for certain public school teachers. An appropriately certified teacher hired through the exemption has two years to establish New Jersey residency. The State residency requirement was expanded in 2011 to apply to, with limited exceptions, all public officers and employees in the State, including employees of a school district, or an authority, board, body, agency, commission, or instrumentality of the district. Under the bill, a school district may request an exemption on the basis of an inability to hire an appropriately certified teacher for a vacant teaching position who complies with the State residency requirement. A school district requesting an exemption is required to: certify that the vacant teaching position has been advertised for at least six months; demonstrate the district’s good faith efforts to fill the position with a teacher who maintains a principal residence in this State; and submit documentation that the person the district seeks to hire is appropriately certified as a teacher in the State. If a school district is granted an exemption, the district is then permitted to hire the appropriately certified teacher. The bill provides that the person hired is not required to request the exemption. Additionally, the bill stipulates that any person hired through this exemption is required to establish New Jersey residency within two years of the date of the person’s initial employment. If the person fails to establish New Jersey residency, the school district is required to terminate the person’s employment, advertise the vacant teaching position, and seek to hire an appropriately certified teacher who maintains a principal residence in this State. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Community Affairs, to develop and implement a program to assist teachers hired through this exemption to establish State residency within two years of the date of the person’s initial employment. The Assembly Education Committee unanimously voted in favor of this bill, and the bill moves on. NJPSA Supports this bill as a first step, and appreciates the Sponsor for bringing the issue to the forefront, but advocated instead for a pilot program that would temporarily remove the residency requirement for educators with no obligation to relocate to New Jersey.
Provides that State pay high school equivalency exam fees for low-income individuals
A-2425 requires that the State Board of Education, within six months of the bill’s effective date, establish a program to pay the high school equivalency exam fees on behalf of low-income individuals. The bill defines a low-income individual as one who lives in a household in which the household income is not greater than 185 percent of the most recent federal poverty guidelines. The program would not provide payment for more than one exam for an individual. The State cost of the fees would be paid from the portion of the Workforce Development Partnership Fund that is currently used to fund, at the discretion of the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, the purposes enumerated in subsection a. of section 4 of P.L.1992, c.43 (C.34:15D-4). The State board currently accepts three exams as the basis for awarding a State-issued high school diploma to an individual: 1) the GED, which costs $120; 2) Hi-SET, which costs $90; and TASC, which costs $92. The Assembly Education Committee unanimously voted in favor of this bill, and the bill moves on. NJPSA Supports this bill.
A-3416 would provide a gross income tax deduction to eligible educators and paraprofessionals employed by a New Jersey elementary or secondary school for certain expenses incurred by the educator or paraprofessional for classroom supplies during the taxable year. This New Jersey gross income tax deduction is modeled on the federal income tax deduction for educator expenses allowed under section 62 of the federal Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. s.62). The bill defines an “eligible educator” as an individual who is employed as a kindergarten through grade 12 teacher, instructor, counselor, speech language specialist, or principal by a public or private school located in this State for at least 900 hours during a school year. The bill defines a “paraprofessional” as an individual who is employed as a school aide or classroom aide who assists a teaching staff member with the supervision of pupil activities by a public or private school located in the State that provides elementary education or secondary education. The bill also allows the deduction of unreimbursed expenditures by an eligible educator or paraprofessional for supplies (other than nonathletic supplies for courses of instruction in health or physical education), books, computer equipment, including related software and services, and other equipment and supplementary materials used by the eligible educator or paraprofessional in the classroom. The Assembly Education Committee unanimously voted in favor of this bill, and the bill moves on. NJPSA Supports this bill.
S-2837/A-4084 would authorize school districts without a board of school estimate to submit to the voters of the district at a special school election a separate proposal or proposals for permission to raise additional funds for the subsequent school budget year beyond the district’s authorized tax levy for that year. Under current law, a school district may submit to the voters at the annual school election, a separate question or proposal for permission to raise additional funds for the budget year beyond the district’s authorized tax levy. This bill would allow districts to submit proposals to voters at a special school election to raise such additional funds for the subsequent school budget year. Special school elections may occur in January, March, September, and December. A separate proposal or proposals may only be submitted on a date of a special election once during a school year. Nothing in the bill is to be construed to prohibit the submission to the voters of a question for the approval of capital projects on the same special election date as the submission of a separate proposal for additional funds. The Assembly Education Committee unanimously voted in favor of this bill, and the bill moves on. NJPSA Supports this bill.
A-1677 would authorize a board of education to use competitive contracting and enter into extended contracts and lease terms for electric school buses. The bill also permits the New Jersey School Boards Association to serve as a government aggregator to obtain electric school buses and related goods and services. Under current law a school district may utilize competitive contracting in lieu of public bidding for the procurement of certain listed specialized goods and services that exceed the bid threshold. This bill authorizes a board of education to utilize competitive contracting for the purchase of electric school buses, on-site charging infrastructure for electric school buses, and on-site or off-site related electric school bus and charging infrastructure operation and maintenance services, or any combination thereof. Current law permits a school district to enter into a contract for the leasing of school buses for a term not exceeding in the aggregate 10 years. The bill provides that a school district may enter into a contract for the leasing of electric school buses and related charging equipment and services for a term not in excess of the service life of the electric school bus. The bill also clarifies that the 10-year contract term limit continues to apply to fossil fuel school buses. Also under existing law, a school district may enter into a lease purchase agreement for the acquisition of a school bus for a term not in excess of 10 years. This bill extends the term of a lease purchase agreement in the case of electric school buses and related charging equipment and services to the service life of the electric school bus. The bill also clarifies that the 10-year lease purchase agreement term limit continues to apply to fossil fuel school buses. Finally, the bill amends the “Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act,” P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-49 et al), to provide that the New Jersey School Boards Association may serve as a government aggregator to obtain electric school buses and related goods and services, including construction projects directly related to those goods and services either individually or in combination. The Assembly Education Committee unanimously voted in favor of this bill, and the bill moves on. NJPSA is Neutral on this bill.
If you have any questions about anything that happened in Trenton this week, please contact your Government Relations team of Debbie Bradley and Jennie Lamon at any time. Thank you for your advocacy, and for all that you do!
–Jennie Lamon, Assistant Director of Government Relations