Education Bills Pass Assembly

Education Bills Pass Assembly

Several education-related bills passed the Assembly on Monday, June 16.

Education Commissioner Authority Expanded A-2965 (Moriarty/Wolfe), passed 64-12, with four abstentions. The bill grants the commissioner of education the authority to unilaterally create regulations concerning recent legislation, including the School District Accountability Act, the property-tax levy cap law and the CORE reform act. Under the bill, the Commissioner of Education shall have the authority to bypass the normal regulatory process before the state board of education and immediately adopt regulations which shall be effective for one year. It does not require any notice to the public or the education community, nor does it require the Commissioner to gather comments on the proposed regulations. After one year, the regulations must be readopted through the normal code adoption process.

The Senate version of A-2965, S-1911, was released by the Senate Education Committee on June 4. At this time, the legislation has not been scheduled for a full Senate vote.

NJSBA opposes this bill and urges members to contact their state senators to voice their concerns. NJSBA has posted talking points about this legislation.

Superintendent Contract Notice Change A-1113, which reduces the notice that a school board is required to give a superintendent of schools if the district decides not to reappoint the official, also passed the state Assembly, by a vote of 80 to 0. Previously, a superintendent had to be given a year’s notice if a contract were not to be renewed; under A-1113, the notice is reduced to 30 days for each year in the term of the current contract. The bill was sponsored by Assembly representatives Joseph Cryan, John Burzichelli and Joan Voss, and was supported by NJSBA. A-1113 now goes to the Senate, where education committee chair Sen. Shirley Turner introduced a Senate version, S-1898, on June 5.

GED Oversight A-2895/S-1910 provides the Department of Education with the statutory authority to regulate state-issued high school diplomas and with rulemaking authority over not-for-profit parties that administer General Educational Development (GED) testing. It passed the assembly by a margin of 79-0 with one abstention. The Senate passed its version on June 12. The governor is expected to sign the measure into law shortly.