These Education Issues Face NJ Legislators In Lame Duck Session

NEW JERSEY —Now that Election Night is over, Patch is looking ahead to the New Jersey legislature’s scheduled return to session in Trenton later this month and some of the school-focused pieces of legislation that have been on the back burner for months.

New Jersey Democrats kept control of their legislative majorities on Tuesday, holding the line against Republican challengers and flipping seats in pivotal Senate races and Assembly contests.

With campaign season finished, current members of the legislature are preparing to head back to the statehouse: The latest legislative calendar shows Assembly committees will begin meeting on Nov. 20, and the Senate will call committees back into session on Nov. 27.

Republican legislators had been calling for an earlier return to work on issues such as parental rights in New Jersey, investigating the state's veterans homes, and allegations that U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D) tried to influence the state Attorney General's office.

Garden State senators and assembly members began their summer recess in July, leaving a number of bills in limbo that they can pick up in the "lame duck" session before the legislative calendar ends in December. A number of these bills deal with education: Eliminating the state's high school graduation test, supporting community schools, boosting school safety, and addressing the teacher shortage.

Here's a look at some of the education bills still on the docket:

Two bills sponsored by Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) focus on community schools, which connect students and families with social services and support based on each community’s individual needs. Community schools partner with nonprofit organizations and local governments to provide a tailored focus on academics, health, social services, youth and community development, and more.

The bills to create a state Office of Community Schools, and to establish a five-year pilot program for up to 21 community schools, made some advances before the summer session ended but did not clear the full legislature.

A bill creating a School Safety and Security Task Force passed the Senate on June 20, but the Assembly did not hear it before the summer recess.

This legislation, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex), would focus on recommendations for a more safe learning environment at schools, such as stationing school resource officers in each school building or using biometric, retinal, or other advanced systems for authorized entry into buildings. The task force would be made up of 15 members.

Another bill, which would eliminate New Jersey’s high school graduation test, passed the Assembly but has yet to reach the Senate floor.

Only 11 states maintain a testing requirement for high school graduation, bill sponsors wrote, while saying standardized tests can be inconsistent and biased.

And, a bill allowing teachers and other school employees from neighboring New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware to work in New Jersey cleared the Senate but still has to get out of Assembly committee.

Several measures in a 12-bill package introduced by Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden) to address the teacher shortage have passed the Assembly, including one assigned to the Senate Education Committee that would remove the requirement that a teacher candidate complete a basic skills test.