ASSEMBLY COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 3945

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 22, 2023

      The Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 3945.

      This bill establishes the three-year “Male Teachers of Color Mentorship Pilot Program,” which is to be developed and operated by the Commissioner of Education.  The commissioner will select one or more senior public institutions of higher education, which offer educator preparation programs, and one or more school districts that each employ at least one male teacher of color to participate in the pilot program.

      Under the pilot program, the commissioner will select 10 male students of color from among the senior public institutions of higher education selected for participation in the pilot program and 10 male teachers of color from the school districts selected for participation in the pilot program.  To be eligible for the program, a student is required to be in his final year of an educator preparation program.

      The commissioner will then pair each selected student with a current teacher, who will serve as the student’s mentor through the candidate’s last year of his educator preparation program and, if the student is hired for employment in the participating district upon the student’s graduation from an educator preparation program, for the first two years of the student’s teaching career. 

      A school district that provides mentoring services under the provisions of the bill will conduct a review of the student’s performance under the pilot program following completion of the student’s final year in an educator preparation program.  A school district that provides mentoring services to a student under the pilot program is required to make a good faith effort to hire the student following the student’s graduation from an educator preparation program, if the student receives a favorable performance review under the review conducted by the school district. 

      Under the pilot program, a mentor will receive a stipend of $5,000 for each year of participation in the pilot program.

      At the conclusion of the pilot program, the commissioner will submit a report to the Governor and Legislature on the implementation
and effectiveness of the pilot program, including the commissioner’s recommendation on the advisability of the program’s continuation and expansion to additional school districts and senior public institutions of higher education in the State.

      The bill appropriates from the General Fund to the Department of Education $50,000 to establish the “Male Teachers of color Mentorship Pilot Program.”