Bill Text: NJ A3768 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes pilot program to provide educational support for foster children; appropriates $900,000.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-07 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Women and Children Committee [A3768 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A3768-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes pilot program to provide educational support for foster children; appropriates $900,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An ACT establishing a pilot program to provide educational support for foster children and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Education.
"Pilot program" means the educational support pilot program established pursuant to this act.
"Portable computer" means a computer and video display greater than four inches in size that can be carried as one unit by a person, including a laptop computer.
2. a. The Commissioner of Education shall establish a three-year educational support pilot program to provide educational stability for, and maintain or improve the educational outcomes of, children who have been under the care and custody of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families pursuant to section 11 of P.L.1951, c.138 (C.30:4C-11).
b. The commissioner shall solicit proposals from school districts interested in participating in the pilot program. The commissioner shall review the proposals and select six school districts who submit proposals that best meet the objectives of the program, as follows: two school districts located in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, or Warren counties; two school districts located in Hunterdon, Middlesex. Mercer, Monmouth, Somerset, or Union counties; and two school districts located in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, or Salem counties.
3. a. The pilot program shall be designed to provide educational instruction or individualized tutoring to a child who meets the eligibility requirements provided in section 4 of this act, for the purpose of improving scores on the language arts or mathematics Statewide assessments.
b. The school districts that are selected by the commissioner to participate in the pilot program shall provide:
(1) the commissioner with a plan that sets forth measurable goals, objectives, and benchmarks for improving the scores of an eligible child on the language arts or mathematics Statewide assessments, and the educational instruction or tutoring activities necessary to achieve the stated goals and objectives; and
(2) each eligible child with a portable computer through which the child can receive the educational instruction or individualized tutoring necessary to improve the child's scores on the Statewide assessments.
4. a. A child shall be eligible to participate in the pilot program if the child meets the following requirements:
(1) the child is a student in grades 4 through 8;
(2) the child has been in the care and custody of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency for a period of at least 12 months prior to the effective date of this act;
(3) the child has scored in the partially proficient range on either the language arts or mathematics Statewide assessments in the prior school year; and
(4) the child does not have access to a portable computer while under the care and custody of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
b. The commissioner shall consult with the Commissioner of Children and Families to identify children who meet all the eligibility requirements provided in subsection a. of this section. The commissioners shall jointly select, from among the children identified, 100 students who would most likely benefit from educational instruction or individualized tutoring directed at improving the student's scores on the language arts or mathematics Statewide assessments. The selection of the children shall be based on criteria adopted by the commissioners.
c. Eligibility for the pilot program shall be limited to the school year next following the date on which the child was selected to participate in the program.
d. The commissioner shall apply for, and accept, any grant of money from the federal government, private foundations, or other sources, which may be available for programs related to the educational instruction or tutoring of children.
5. Within one year of the expiration date of this act, the commissioner shall submit a report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the effectiveness of the pilot program, including an analysis of the improvement in the academic achievement of the children participating in the program as indicated through the children's scores on the Statewide assessments, and make recommendations on how the program can be replicated throughout the State.
6. There is appropriated $900,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Education to be used to provide educational instruction or individualized tutoring and purchase portable computers for the children participating in the pilot program.
7. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment and shall expire three years thereafter. The commissioner may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance of the effective date as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a three-year educational support pilot program in the Department of Education to provide educational stability for, and maintain or improve the educational outcomes of, children who have been under the care and custody of the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) in the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
The bill directs the Commissioner of Education to solicit and review proposals from school districts interested in participating in the pilot program and select six school districts who submit proposals that best meet the objectives of the program. The commissioner would select two school districts located in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, or Warren counties; two school districts located in Hunterdon, Middlesex. Mercer, Monmouth, Somerset, or Union counties; and two school districts located in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, or Salem counties.
The program would be designed to provide a portable computer, as well as educational instruction or individualized tutoring, to a child who meets the eligibility requirements provided in the bill, for the purpose of improving scores on the language arts or mathematics Statewide assessments.
The school districts selected to participate in the pilot program would provide the commissioner with a plan that sets forth measurable goals, objectives, and benchmarks for improving the scores of an eligible child on the Statewide assessments, and the educational instruction or tutoring activities necessary to achieve the stated goals and objectives. The school districts would also provide a portable computer to each eligible child to receive educational instruction or individualized tutoring.
A child would be eligible to participate in the pilot program if the child is a student in grades 4 through 8, has been in the care and custody of DCPP for a period of at least 12 months prior to the effective date of bill, has scored in the partially proficient range on either the language arts or mathematics Statewide assessments in the prior school year, and does not have access to a portable computer while under the care and custody of DCPP.
The bill requires that the commissioner consult with the Commissioner of DCF to identify children who meet all of the eligibility requirements and jointly select, based on criteria adopted by the commissioners, 100 students who would most likely benefit from educational instruction or individualized tutoring. Eligibility is limited to the school year next following the child's selection into the program. The commissioner would also be required to apply for, and accept, any grant of money from the federal government, private foundations, or other sources, which may be available for programs related to the educational instruction or tutoring of children.
The bill requires the commissioner, within one year of the expiration date of the bill, to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on the effectiveness of the program, and to make recommendations on how the program can be replicated Statewide.
Finally, the bill appropriates $900,000 to provide educational instruction or individualized tutoring and purchase portable computers for the children participating in the pilot program.
