OAN Staff James Myers
12:57 PM – Friday, January 3, 2025
A New Jersey law that removes the requirement for teachers to pass reading, writing and math tests for certification went into effect on January 1st.cent2025.
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New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D.N.J.) signed the law into law in June 2024.
The legislation, Act 1669, passed the state Senate by a vote of 34-2 as part of the state's 2025 budget.
The law states: “The State Board of Education shall require candidates seeking a teaching certificate, except in the case of a limited credential certificate or a limited credential certificate with advanced qualifications, to apply for a shall not require completion of board of education examinations.” Basic reading, writing, and math skills, including but not limited to the Praxis Core Academic Skills test for educators to earn a teaching certificate. ”
Democratic lawmakers argued that removing barriers to teacher certification is the best way to address the Garden State's teacher shortage.
State Sen. Jim Beach (D.N.J.), the bill's sponsor, declared: This is the best way to get them. ”
Additionally, a teachers union called the New Jersey Education Association was a key factor behind the bill, arguing that the testing requirement was an “unnecessary barrier to entry into the profession.”
Teachers in New Jersey currently earn an average annual salary of $81,102, according to the National Education Association.
Other states, including Arizona and California, have similarly lowered standards for teacher certification. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, both states created rapid options for substitute teachers to become full-time educators and increased testing requirements to help fill teacher shortages affected by COVID-19. Abolished.
Additionally, Massachusetts has chosen to lower testing requirements for students in order to allow more students to pass rather than make up for lost education.
Additionally, only nearly half of New York State's third- through eighth-grade students were tested for proficiency in English and math in the 2022-2023 school year. This comes after the Empire State spent nearly twice the national average on education.
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