AN ACT concerning certain teaching paraprofessionals and
2 supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes
BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State
of New Jersey:
This Act Establishes measures to provide employment stability for
teaching paraprofessionals employed in school districts that receive federal funding under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
1. The Legislature finds and declares that as school districts that receive federal funding under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. s.6301 et seq.) come under greater pressure to meet standards and demonstrate higher student performance, teachers in those districts are being forced to focus more on curriculum and student test preparation. In response to this pressure, the paraprofessionals that assist teachers are assuming greater responsibility for supporting students in the classroom and the school environment. Paraprofessionals perform a critically important role in providing a thorough and efficient education to the State’s public school students. It is therefore fitting and proper to establish measures to enhance employment stability and promote professional development for these individuals.
2 a. As used in this section, “paraprofessional” means an individual who is employed in a school district as a school aide or classroom aide who assists a teaching staff member with the supervision of pupil activities.
b. On or before May 15 in each year, a paraprofessional continuously employed since the preceding September 30 in a school district that receives funding under Title I of the federal
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. s. 6301 et seq.) shall receive either:
(1) a written offer of a contract for employment from the board of education for the next succeeding year providing for at least the same terms and conditions of employment but with such increases
in salary as may be required by law or policies of the board of education; or
(2) a written notice from the chief school administrator that employment will not be offered.
b. A paraprofessional employed in a school district that receives funding under Title I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. s.6301 et seq.) shall be dismissed or reduced in compensation during the term of a contract only for just cause, and may not be dismissed for arbitrary or capricious reasons. A paraprofessional who is dismissed or reduced in compensation shall receive notice of the basis for the dismissal or reduction in compensation and have an opportunity to be heard.
b. Prior to the beginning of the first full academic year following the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a regionally-accredited institution of higher education offering coursework for a New Jersey instructional
certificate shall adopt policies and procedures to allow a student who is enrolled in a teacher preparation program offered by the institution and who is a paraprofessional employed in a school
district that receives funding under Title I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. s.6301 et seq.) to
perform his student teaching experience in the district in which he is employed. The institution shall enter into an agreement with the district in which the paraprofessional is employed to authorize the student teaching experience in the district..
Key figures...Now we need them again...enforce the law in Englewood...
Joan M. Voss (now Bergen County Freeholder)
Sandra Cunningham (D) State Senator
Shirley Turner (D) State Senator
Did these women of vision know what was coming?
The link below is to the full text of the law
ftp://www.njleg.state.nj.us/20082009/AL09/227_.PDF
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