Bill Text: NJ S1766 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits State Board of Education from limiting number of certain two-year college credits that may be applied towards meeting teacher certification requirements.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-11 - Substituted by A1849 [S1766 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S1766-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator RONALD L. RICE
District 28 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits State Board of Education from limiting number of certain two-year college credits that may be applied towards meeting teacher certification requirements.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning teacher certification and supplementing chapter 26 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The State Board of Education shall not adopt any regulation or policy which restricts the number of semester-hour credits earned in the field of professional education at a regionally accredited two-year college that may be accepted toward meeting the requirements for teacher certification, provided that the credits are accepted by a State-approved college professional education preparation program.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits the State Board of Education from limiting the number of professional education credits earned at a regionally accredited two-year college that may be applied towards meeting the requirements for teacher certification, provided that the credits are accepted by a State-approved college professional education preparation program.
Current State board regulations provide that, for most candidates for teacher certification, no more than six credits earned in the field of professional education at a regionally accredited two-year college can be applied towards meeting the requirements for teacher certification. As a result, a student who has completed more than six credits in the field of professional education at a regionally accredited two-year college prior to his enrollment in a bachelor's degree program at a four-year institution of higher education will have to repeat some of his coursework, resulting in increased education costs and a delay in program completion. It is the sponsor's belief that the current State board regulations in this area pose an impediment to the full implementation of P.L.2007, c.175, which seeks to foster a seamless transfer process and the academic success of transfer students at senior institutions of higher education.
