Sponsored by:
Senator ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires candidate for teacher certification to complete course or training on anti-racism in education.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning teaching certificates and supplementing chapter 26 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Beginning in the first full school year beginning after the effective date of this act, all candidates for teaching certification who have completed an educator preparation program at a commissioner-approved educator preparation program provider shall have satisfactorily completed a mandatory course or training on anti-racism in education.
b. All commissioner-approved educator preparation program providers shall review and update their educator preparation programs to implement the requirements of this section and submit the revisions to the Department of Education for approval.
The program provider shall provide to the department copies of any syllabi developed for a course or training on anti-racism in education and the titles of any texts that will be required of students for completion of the course or training. The program provider shall also post the syllabi and titles of course texts on its website. Syllabi and course texts shall not require approval from the department.
c. Beginning in the first full school year beginning after the effective date of this act, any person seeking certification through the alternate route shall, within one year of being employed, satisfactorily complete a course or training on anti-racism in education.
d. As used in this section, "course or training on anti-racism in education" means a course or training that:
(1) recognizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in teaching effectiveness;
(2) develops the racial literacy of an educator, which includes the skills and practices by which educators can probe the existence of racism and examine the effects of race and institutionalized systems on their experiences and representation in society;
(3) encourages teachers to examine their own biases, assumptions, values and expectations of students and those embedded in course design, pedagogy, and course content; and
(4) offers an explanation of how race, racism, and the particular racial formations that develop in and around the classroom and school affect grading, teacher feedback, student discipline, and school decisions on student admissions and placements.
2. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that, beginning in the first full school year beginning after the bill's effective date, all candidates for teaching certification who have completed an educator preparation program at a commissioner-approved educator preparation program provider will be required to satisfactorily complete a course or training on anti-racism in education.
The bill also directs all commissioner-approved educator preparation program providers to review and update their educator preparation programs to implement the bill's requirements and submit the revisions to the Department of Education for approval.
Under the bill, the program provider will be required to provide to the department copies of any syllabi developed for a course or training on anti-racism in education and the titles of any texts that will be required of students for completion of the course or training. The program provider will also be required to post the syllabi and titles of course texts on its website. The bill does not require syllabi and course texts to be approved by the department.
Under the bill, and beginning in the first full school year beginning after the bill's effective date, any person seeking certification through the alternate route will be required to, within one year of being employed, satisfactorily complete a course or training on anti-racism in education.
As used in the bill, "course or training on anti-racism in education" means a course or training that:
(1) recognizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in teaching effectiveness;
(2) develops the racial literacy of an educator, which includes the skills and practices by which educators can probe the existence of racism and examine the effects of race and institutionalized systems on their experiences and representation in society;
(3) encourages teachers to examine their own biases, assumptions, values and expectations of students and those embedded in course design, pedagogy, and course content; and
(4) offers an explanation of how race, racism, and the particular racial formations that develop in and around the classroom and school affect grading, teacher feedback, student discipline, and school decisions on student admissions and placements.