The Senate Education Committee on Thursday advanced legislation supported by NJBIA that aims to improve recruitment and retention of career and technical education (CTE) teachers by streamlining the path to certification for skilled professionals seeking to enter the classroom.
The legislation, S-4515, is sponsored by Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11) who issued a statement after the vote noting the difficulty that schools are having in attracting qualified career and technical educators due to rigid certification rules that hinder more than help.
"This bill ensures that we keep high standards while making the process more practical for working professionals,” Gopal said. “If we want students to succeed in trades and technical fields, we must make teaching easier for experts in those areas,” Gopal said.
“This is about aligning policy with reality,” Gopal said. “CTE teachers already bring deep subject-matter knowledge and undergo significant on-the-job training. It makes no sense to pile on extra requirements discouraging good educators from staying in the classroom."
The bill would prohibit the State Board of Education from requiring a candidate for a certificate of eligibility in a CTE endorsement to complete an educator preparation program that exceeds 200 hours or one academic year.
The current alternate route program, which offers a path to certification for individuals with occupational expertise without formal teacher training, has doubled its requirements since 2015, from one year and 200 hours to two years and 400 hours of instruction. Candidates also receive district-led training, often over 150 hours, which is not formally recognized in the certification process.
According to the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools, 90% of districts report that the expanded time and financial demands have become a significant obstacle to recruiting CTE teachers. Several districts noted that the additional training requirements had little value and contributed to candidate burnout and dropout, with no clear evidence that the added instruction improved teaching outcomes.
"NJBIA supports efforts to remove barriers that prevent those with career and technical expertise from entering the teaching workforce," NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs Althea D. Ford said Thursday.
