'Red flag': New Jersey no longer requiring teachers to pass basic skills test for reading, math
Aspiring educators in New Jersey are no longer required to pass a basic skills test for reading, writing and math due to a new law intended to address the state's teacher shortage by lowering the requirements for certification.
New Jersey's Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed Act 1669 in June, with the law taking effect on New Year's Day. As a result, individuals seeking an instructional certification no longer need to pass the Praxis Core Test administered by the state's Commissioner of Education.
According to the law, "the State Board of Education shall not require a candidate seeking a certificate of eligibility, a certificate of eligibility with advanced standing, a provisional certificate, or a standard instructional certificate to complete a Commissioner of Education-approved test of basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills including, but not limited to, the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test, in order to obtain a certificate of eligibility, a certificate of eligibility with advanced standing, a provisional certificate, or a standard instructional certificate."
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While the bill eliminates the basic skills test, New Jersey will still require teachers to hold a bachelor's degree and pass specialized tests within their subject areas.
Erika Sanzi, the director of outreach for Parents Defending Education, a national organization that advocates for parents to have a voice regarding what their children learn, told The Christian Post that New Jersey eliminated a "very low rigor test."
The test's purpose, Sanzi added, is to screen out teachers who lack "basic competency in reading, writing and math."
"It is a major red flag that so many aspiring teachers fail that test — and it is indefensible that the teachers' union and state legislature decided that the solution to that problem was to eliminate the test altogether," Sanzi continued. "This decision to lower the most basic standards does not bode well for students but is a win for the unions. Just bad all around."
The change also drew criticism from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who commented in a Sunday X post.
"So teachers don't need to know how to read in New Jersey?" He asked. "Seems like that would make it challenging to teach kids how to read."
The New Jersey Department of Education did not immediately respond to CP's request for comment about the law.
In a statement to CP, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, stated that to become a teacher "candidates must complete extensive college coursework, graduate from an accredited teacher preparation program with at least a 3.0 GPA, successfully complete months of classroom teaching experience and pass a rigorous PRAXIS subject area test based on their particular area of certification."
"The additional requirement to pass the PRAXIS Basic Skills test did nothing to elevate standards and amounted to a corporate money grab from the pockets of successful college graduates trying to enter the teaching profession," the statement reads. "New Jersey has among the best public schools in America because we have talented, dedicated and successful teachers."
Citing the bipartisan support the bill received, the NJEA spokesperson further stated activists who reside in other states, such as Sanzi, don't "understand New Jersey’s very rigorous teacher certification standards or the consensus of New Jersey education policy experts and stakeholders around this uncontroversial change."
Act 1669 cleared the state Senate in a 34-2 vote in May 2024, with Democratic Sen. Jim Beach, who sponsored the bill, highlighting the need for more teachers.
"This is the best way to get them," Beach said at the time.
The law's passage in the state Senate came after New Jersey's governor signed Bill S1553 in November 2023. The measure allows teacher candidates who didn't take the Praxis test to obtain an alternative teaching certificate.
At the time, the NJEA celebrated Murphy's signing of the bill.
"At a time of acute educator shortages across the state, qualified candidates who have earned an accredited degree and successfully completed their student teaching should not be barred from our classrooms on the basis of a one-off standardized test that cannot effectively measure the knowledge or skills needed to be a great teacher," NJEA officials said in a statement.
New Jersey is not the only state that has attempted to address a shortage of teachers by changing its standards for educators, as a 2022 Gallup survey found that K-12 teachers have one of the highest burnout rates compared to other industries.
Some states also changed their standards for teachers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in various states seeking alternative ways to educate children.
For example, in 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the TK-12 Education Trailer Bill (AB 130). The bill eliminated two different exams for aspiring teachers so long as they could demonstrate basic skills and knowledge of the subject matter they intended to teach.
In 2022, Arizona passed a law that allowed aspiring educators to teach in the classroom while they are in the process of obtaining a degree.
Such changes have come as the congressionally mandated National Assessment of Educational Progress has shown dramatic declines in students' math and reading levels.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
