NJ Teachers May No Longer Be Required To Live In New Jersey

NEW JERSEY — There is a bipartisan movement underway to allow New Jersey public schoolteachers to live out of state.

A bill is currently making its way through the Statehouse that will allow New Jersey schoolteachers to live out of state but still work in New Jersey public schools. The bill, called S4203, is proposed by state Senator Teresa Ruiz, an Essex County Democrat, and state Senator Steve Oroho, a Northwest New Jersey Republican.

The bill is also co-sponsored by state Senator Tom Kean, another Republican, so it has broad bipartisan support.

The bill just cleared the state Senate Education Committee last Thursday.

The bill would repeal a restriction put in place 10 years ago by then-Gov. Chris Christie: Christie signed the New Jersey First Act in 2011, which required that all public employees — from police officers to municipal clerks, librarians and teachers — live in New Jersey. Christie signed it because New Jersey's state workers and public school teachers are well paid, compared to neighboring states, and Christie said he wanted them to pay New Jersey property taxes.

But Sen. Ruiz and the bill's other sponsors say this requirement should now be waived because of school staffing shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, the state teachers union, said the union very much supports the requirement being ended or phased out.

"We opposed that bill when it was passed 10 years ago and we support its repeal now," said Steven Baker, a spokesman for the NJEA. "We live in a region where people cross state lines for work all the time. There are plenty of people who live in New Jersey but teach at schools out of state."

Baker said the Christie law only made it more difficult for New Jersey schools to hire teachers.

"We think New Jersey public schools ought to hire the very best and the brightest. It doesn't make sense to put artificial limits on hiring the very best."

The state Department of Education has not provided any data that show high numbers of teachers who quit or took early retirement in the past year.

Baker said he actually thinks the idea of a massive statewide teacher shortage due to coronavirus is somewhat inflated.

"There was this theory that we would be seeing a mass of early retirements due to COVID," said Baker. "But from reviews I've done in the past year, looking at the numbers of teachers who've accessed the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF), retirement numbers are actually in line with what they were three, five years ago."

Debra Bradley, director of government relations for the New Jersey Principals and Supervisor Association, told the Senate Education committee Thursday that staffing shortage are one of the biggest problems in New Jersey schools right now, according to NJ.com.

“Our members have reported to us that they have had much fewer individuals applying for positions, and in some cases they come from out of state and when told about our residency law, they remove their applications,” Bradley said, according to NJ.com.

State Sen. Ruiz said New Jersey schools have always struggled to find enough math and science teachers, and that New Jersey has a high demand for special-education teachers.

The bill would have to pass both the Senate and the Assembly, and then head to Gov. Murphy's desk for his signature.

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