NJ drops basic skills test for teachers
Teachers in New Jersey are no longer required to pass a test to assess their basic skills in reading, writing, and math.
Act 1669, which took effect January 1st, prohibits the New Jersey Department of Education from requiring teachers to pass a basic skills test before receiving a teaching certificate. It also blocks the Department of Education from requiring teachers to participate in a basic skills study course. The law was passed in June supposedly to help ease a statewide teacher shortage, particularly in science and math, according to the Daily Caller. Teachers in New Jersey make $81,102 a year on average.
New Jersey is following New York, which eliminated basic skills requirements for teachers in 2017 for “diversity.” Other states like California and Arizona have significantly lowered requirements.
The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the local chapter of the National Education Association (NEA), has been driving legislation to remove basic skills requirements for teachers in The Garden State. It was one of the most powerful driving forces behind S1553, a bill passed in November 2023 allowing teachers to sidestep prerequisites in reading, writing, and math.
“New Jersey enacting policies to turn teachers into glorified baby sitters pushing propaganda verbatim from a manual,” New Jersey Trump delegate Mike Crispi commented on Monday. “They will hire the DUMBEST, most COMPLIANT drones who will teach kids the destabilizing DEI and Sex Ed content they want them to know above all. SICKENING!”
The NEA's impact on schools
The NEA has vowed to “transform” the education system into a hotbed of controversial ideologies like transgenderism and DEI. It promotes Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools, which teaches that White children are natural oppressors while others are perpetual victims. When parents pushed back on the indoctrination, the NEA begged social media platforms to censor such “violent group[s] of radicalized parents.” The union also fought rabidly for school closures during the pandemic, a move that devastated children. In 2022, journalist Christopher Rufo reported that the NEA had equipped its teachers with “safe space” badges that read “I’m here” and featured a QR code for students to scan. The code took them to the website of the NEA’s “LGBTQ+ Caucus,” which provided instructions on a wide range of sex acts.
