New Jersey Gov. Murphy has signed a bill eliminating a requirement for teachers to pass a basic skills test as part of a broader effort to alleviate the state’s educators shortage.
The new law allows prospective teachers who don’t take the so-called Praxis test to get an “alternate teaching certificate” that can become a standard teaching certificate after four years of continuous employment as a teacher at a public school, charter school or private school for students with disabilities.
The New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union which pushed for the law, praised its approval and said it would help put more teachers in classrooms across the state amid a record educator shortage.