Bill Text: NJ AJR18 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "Teacher Professional Development Task Force."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [AJR18 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-AJR18-Introduced.html
No. 18
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen McClellan and Simonsen
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "Teacher Professional Development Task Force."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
A Joint Resolution establishing a temporary task force to examine professional development requirements for public school teachers and school leaders.
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is created the "Teacher Professional Development Task Force." The purpose of the task force shall be to examine, evaluate, and make recommendations regarding the current professional development requirements for public school teachers and school leaders as established pursuant to State statutes and State Board of Education rules and regulations.
b. The task force shall consist of the following 11 members:
(1) the Commissioner of Education, ex officio, or a designee;
(2) six members appointed by the Governor, who shall include: one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey School Boards Association; one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association; one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators; one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Education Association; one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association; and one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools; and
(3) four members of the public, each of whom has specialized knowledge or expertise in issues related to the work of the task force. One of the public members shall be appointed by the Senate President, one shall be appointed by the Senate Minority Leader, one shall be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, and one shall be appointed by the Assembly Minority Leader.
Members appointed pursuant to this subsection, where applicable, shall be individuals who are subject to the State professional development requirements for public school teachers or school leaders.
c. Appointments to the task force shall be made within 30 days of the effective date of this resolution. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made.
d. Members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the task force within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its purposes.
2. a. The task force shall organize as soon as practicable, but no later than 30 days following the appointment of its members. The task force shall choose a chairperson from among its members and shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force.
b. The Department of Education shall provide stenographic, clerical, and other administrative assistants, and professional staff as the task force requires to carry out its work. The task force also shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.
3. It shall be the duty of the task force to study, evaluate, and make recommendations regarding the State-mandated professional development requirements for public school teachers and school leaders in New Jersey. The task force shall:
a. study the current professional development requirements for public school teachers and school leaders established pursuant to State statutes and State Board of Education rules and regulations;
b. evaluate the scope of the current professional development requirements including, but not limited to, an assessment of the particular topics covered, the overall number of requirements, and the hours and frequency of the requirements; and
c. make recommendations concerning professional development for public school teachers and school leaders including, but not limited to, recommendations regarding the necessity and relevance of the trainings currently required, whether the requirements may be overly burdensome in number or frequency, whether more or less time should be devoted to particular subject matters, and topics not covered that may be advisable to include in the requirements.
4. The task force shall issue a final report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than 12 months after the task force organizes.
5. This resolution shall take effect immediately, and the task force shall expire upon issuance of its final report.
STATEMENT
This resolution establishes the "Teacher Professional Development Task Force." This eleven-member task force will examine, evaluate, and make recommendations regarding the current professional development requirements for public school teachers and school leaders in New Jersey.
The task force will consist of the Commissioner of Education or a designee; six members appointed by the Governor, who will include one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey School Boards Association, one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Education Association, one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association, and one member upon the recommendation of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools; and four members of the public who have specialized knowledge or expertise in issues related to the work of the task force. The Senate President, the Senate Minority Leader, the Speaker of the General Assembly, and the Assembly Minority Leader will each appoint one of the public members. The public members will be individuals who are subject to the State professional development requirements for public school teachers or school leaders.
Under the resolution, the task force is charged with studying, evaluating, and making recommendations regarding the State-mandated professional development requirements for public school teachers and school leaders in New Jersey. The task force shall make recommendations that include, but are not limited to, the trainings required for school teachers and school leaders, the time devoted to each subject, and whether additional topics should be included in the requirements.
The task force is required to issue a final report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature within 12 months of its organization.
