STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Turner, Greenstein, O'Scanlon, Pou and Ruiz
SYNOPSIS
Requires State Board of Education to permit candidates awaiting teacher certification to submit affidavit to hiring school district affirming certificate requirements have been met.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning teacher certification 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. The State Board of Education shall authorize an alternative means for teaching candidates to secure employment as a teacher with a school district while awaiting the issuance of a certificate of eligibility or certificate of eligibility with advanced standing from the Department of Education. The board shall allow a candidate for a certificate to submit to a hiring district a signed affidavit affirming that, to the candidate's knowledge, all applicable certification requirements have been met as part of the candidate's application for employment with the hiring district. In the event that a candidate submits a signed affidavit in good faith and subsequently learns that the certification application is incomplete, the candidate shall not be liable to reimburse the district for salary or benefits received.
b. A candidate who submits an affidavit pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall provide accompanying documentation demonstrating that the candidate has applied for a certificate with the department.
c. Within 90 days from the date an affidavit has been submitted to a hiring district, a candidate shall provide confirmation to the hiring district that a certificate has been issued by the department. A hiring district shall terminate the employment of a teaching candidate if the candidate does not provide confirmation to the district that a certificate has been issued or has been found to have knowingly misrepresented information provided on the affidavit. The school district may continue to employ the candidate in other positions in the district that do not require a teaching certificate.
2. This act shall take effect on the 30th day after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the State Board of Education to authorize an alternative means for teaching candidates to secure employment as a teacher with a school district while awaiting the issuance of a certificate of eligibility or certificate of eligibility with advanced standing from the Department of Education.
The board would be required to allow a candidate for a certificate to submit to a hiring district a signed affidavit affirming that applicable certification requirements have been met as part of the candidate's application for employment with the hiring district. A candidate who submits an affidavit pursuant to this bill would be required to provide accompanying documentation demonstrating that the candidate has applied for a certificate with the department. In the event that a candidate submits a signed affidavit in good faith and subsequently learned that the certification process is incomplete, the candidate will not be liable to reimburse the district for salary or benefits received.
Within 90 days from the date an affidavit has been submitted to a hiring district, a candidate would be required to provide confirmation to the hiring district that a certificate has been issued by the department. A hiring district would be required to terminate a candidate who does not provide confirmation to the district that a certificate has been issued or has been found to have misrepresented information provided on the affidavit.