New Jersey Drops Basic Skills Requirement for Aspiring Teachers
A new law signed by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on Monday is ditching the basic skills exam for new teachers which tests their ability to read, write, and complete math problems.
Previously, aspiring educators who did not score in the top one-third percentile of the SAT, ACT, or GRE, needed to pass the exam to become certified teachers in the state. Now, under S1556, the State Board of Education will authorize the issuance of an “alternative certificate of eligibility to a teacher candidate” who meets all eligibility requirements but wants to skip the “Commissioner of Education-approved test of basic reading, writing, and mathematical skills.”
Candidates with the alternative certificate will need to acquire four years of teaching experience at a state-approved public, charter, or private school to receive a standard teaching certificate. This means that teachers will not need to exhibit proficiency in comprehending the basic aspects of the material they are teaching to students.
The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), a “justice-centered” teachers’ union, has been a proponent of removing the exam requirement, calling it an “unnecessary barrier” to becoming an educator in the state. The progressive National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the U.S., also said that all licensure tests “create barriers” particularly “for candidates of color.”
The assertion that standardized testing creates racial disparities between candidates and must be eliminated to encourage minorities to pursue a career in education, has been widely criticized by parents and political commentators around the country.
“Seems like this eliminates a barrier for mediocre candidates. It’s not that challenging,” one X user said in response to NJEA’s announcement of the new law. “I can’t understand why parents allow this,” another said.
Angela Morabito, a spokesperson for the Defense of Freedom Institute and former press secretary at the U.S. Department of Education told Crisis in the Classroom that the push from the teachers’ union “fits perfectly with the theme we’ve seen nationwide of teachers’ unions fighting to drive down standards at every level.”
“It’s bad enough when they’re trying to get rid of standardized testing for their students — it’s extra terrible when they’re trying to get rid of the standards for themselves,” she added.
