Aspiring educators in New Jersey are no longer required to pass a basic skills test in reading, writing, and math due to a new law aimed at addressing the state’s teacher shortage by lowering certification requirements.
New Jersey’s Democratic Governor, Phil Murphy, signed Act 1669 in June, with the law taking effect on New Year’s Day. Consequently, individuals seeking an instructional certification will no longer need to pass the Praxis Core Test, which is administered by the state’s Commissioner of Education.
According to the law, “the State Board of Education shall not require a candidate seeking a certificate of eligibility, a certificate of eligibility with advanced standing, a provisional certificate, or a standard instructional certificate to complete a Commissioner of Education-approved test of basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills, including but not limited to the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test.”
While the law eliminates the basic skills test, New Jersey will still mandate that teachers hold a bachelor’s degree and pass specialized tests within their subject areas.
Erika Sanzi, the director of outreach for Parents Defending Education—an organization advocating for parental involvement in educational content—expressed concern to The Christian Post, stating that New Jersey has eliminated a “very low rigor test.” She noted that the purpose of the test was to screen out teachers who lacked “basic competency in reading, writing, and math.”
Sanzi remarked, “It is a major red flag that so many aspiring teachers fail that test—and it is indefensible that the teachers’ union and state legislature decided that the solution to that problem was to eliminate the test altogether. This decision to lower the most basic standards does not bode well for students but is a win for the unions. Just bad all around.”
The change also drew criticism from Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who commented in a post on X. He asked, “So teachers don’t need to know how to read in New Jersey? Seems like that would make it challenging to teach kids how to read.”
The New Jersey Department of Education and the New Jersey Education Association did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment regarding the law.
Act 1669 passed the state Senate with a 34-2 vote in May 2024, with Democratic Senator Jim Beach, who sponsored the bill, emphasizing the urgent need for more teachers.
