Bill Text: NJ S709 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes teacher recruitment grant program in DOE; appropriates $6 million to DOE.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-12 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S709 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S709-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
217th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2016 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes teacher recruitment grant program in DOE; appropriates $6 million to DOE.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act establishing a competitive grant program for teacher recruitment organizations, supplementing chapter 6 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Education shall establish a competitive grant program to provide funding, over a period of three school years, to an eligible organization that recruits, trains, and places new teachers in one or more high poverty school districts in the State. To be eligible to receive a grant under this program, an organization shall:
(1) qualify as a tax-exempt organization pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of section 501 of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. s.501);
(2) place newly-trained teachers in high poverty school districts; and
(3) have a previously existing partnership with at least one high poverty school district in the State, as defined by the school district.
In awarding a grant to an organization, the commissioner shall consider factors including, but not limited to, the merits of the program proposed by the organization, the potential to improve student outcomes, and the potential for the program to be implemented successfully.
b. The commissioner shall award a grant to the selected organization in an amount equal to any private contributions raised by the organization for the purpose of recruiting, training, and placing new teachers in one or more high poverty school districts in the State, not to exceed $2,000,000 per year, in each of three consecutive school years. The first grant shall be provided no later than May 1, 2014.
c. As used in this section, "high poverty school district," means a school district in which the percent of students who are at-risk pupils, as defined pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-45), is equal to or greater than 40%.
2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Education the sum of $6,000,000 to effectuate the provisions of this act. The appropriation shall be deposited into a non-lapsing fund.
3. This act shall take effect immediately
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a competitive grant program in the Department of Education to provide funding to an organization that recruits, trains, and places new teachers in high poverty school districts. The selected organization would receive a grant equal to the amount of private contributions that the organization receives, not to exceed $2 million each year, for three years. For the purposes of the grant program, a high poverty school district is one in which at least 40 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price school meals.
