While New Jersey schools grapple with a shortage of teachers, the Legislature failed before its summer recess to advance several bills aimed at attracting new educators, expediting some certifications, and doing away with fees and testing that critics say create barriers to the profession.

With the Legislature  until the fall, none of these measures will make it to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk until after the next school year starts, raising fears among supporters of the bill that the state’s teacher shortage will worsen.

One of those  would have temporarily lifted the requirement for teachers to live in the Garden State. The state Senate passed the bill unanimously last month, but it remains stalled in the Assembly, where it has yet to make it to a committee vote.

Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden), a prime sponsor of the bill, said passing it will be a priority for her when the Legislature returns. When asked why the bill hasn’t advanced in her chamber, Lampitt said it needs more support from lawmakers.

“We want to support our schools, but we’re waiting for more support on the bill to keep moving it forward,” she said.

Since 2011, New Jersey teachers and nearly all public employers have been required to live in the state. The law was  under then-Gov. Chris Christie, and officials at the time said the mandate would “put our own residents first.”

Under the bill, school districts could ignore the residency requirement for three years, though they would be required to make a “good faith” effort to hire New Jersey residents. After the three-period, state education officials would evaluate the residency requirement and make recommendations to the Legislature. Any out-of-state resident hired during the prior three years would not be required to move to New Jersey.

Steve Baker, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said it strongly supports removing the residency requirement. He noted that districts in neighboring states hire New Jersey educators.

“At a time when we have a shortage of teachers and other essential school personnel, we should be doing everything we can to deepen and widen our pool of potential educators,” he said.

When the pandemic exacerbated a nationwide shortage of educators — teachers felt overburdened and underappreciated, Baker said — lawmakers began considering lifting the requirement and exploring other ways to fill the increasing number of vacancies.

A  on public school staffing shortages convened by Murphy recommended eliminating the residency requirement, along with other initiatives like programs to convince students to pursue education as a career and a teacher apprenticeship program.

“Especially for school districts that border other states, the residency requirement significantly restricts the recruiting pool for educators,” the task force wrote in its February .

According to the , New Jersey suffers shortages in science, math, special education, world languages, English as a second language, and career and technical education. The average pay for starting teachers is around $56,000, according to the 

Lampitt is also sponsoring several other bills aimed at alleviating the teacher shortage.

A bill introduced in January would require the Department of Education to conduct a study on  in districts with teacher shortfalls.  she co-sponsored to require the state Board of Education to create an expedited teacher certification path for paraprofessionals advanced out of the Assembly but is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Education Committee. A bill to  passed in the Assembly but also stalled in the Senate.

Several of these bills are part of a  that was drafted with state and local education officials.

Baker said while the state has taken steps to address its teacher shortage, more needs to be done to address the “economics and sustainability of the profession,” he said. He pointed to reducing “bureaucratic paperwork” that pulls educators away from their teaching responsibilities.

“We should be focusing our resources on ensuring we have enough qualified educators so that every New Jersey student in every New Jersey public school gets the in-person instruction that we know is most effective,” he said.

Other bills to address the teacher shortage that did not make it to the governor’s desk before the Legislature’s summer recess include:

• , which would reduce student teaching requirements from two semesters to one.
• , which would allow students to more easily apply county college credits to teacher certification.
• , which would create a state fund to reimburse certification costs for new teachers, or for teachers who want to teach another grade or subject.
• , which would offer a stipend of up to $7,200 per semester for two semesters to college students who are student teaching.
• , which would direct the state Board of Education to create rules to expand the grades and schools that teachers for students with disabilities or bilingual students can work in, rather than limiting them to only elementary school and middle school.
• , which would establish a program within the Department of Education aimed at increasing the ranks of teachers of students with disabilities.

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Teaching residencies have exploded in popularity in recent years, with the National Center for Teacher Residencies’ network nearly since 2018. Nationwide, at least 2,025 candidates are enrolled in residencies this school year, a sharp increase from the 792 four years ago — with 57% of candidates being people of color. By comparison, just of the nation’s teaching staff is made up of educators who are not white.   

Maryland, Texas, Missouri, Nevada, Georgia and Tennessee are among states using federal funds to boost recruitment via community-focused grow-your-own programs, according to a from the Education Trust. 

The residencies and grow your own models are and advocates as promising ways to recruit and retain teaching candidates and lower financial barriers to enter the profession as some regions are urgently looking to fill vacancies. The models are considered a far cry from other certification programs run by organizations which sometimes provide just weeks of training before new teachers are responsible for their own classrooms, and often result in higher turnover.

A 2019 report from the Learning Policy Institute and UCLA found the residency model, “holds promise for both recruiting diverse individuals and retaining effective teachers.” 

Grow-your-own programs in particular target staff already working in schools, a more diverse group than current teachers, who often have a . This includes individuals such as parent volunteers or paraprofessionals, said Meg Caven, an education sociologist with the Education Development Center, a global health and education nonprofit.

“How do you create a career ladder for the adults who are more likely to be folks of color,” said Caven, “from those uncertified positions into the classroom?” 

Some may have had years of experience with students as education assistants, as is the case with many of . The 300-plus cohort now in the two-year program receive paid leave to complete bachelor’s degree coursework and coaching to pursue licensure. Currently, 17 are building experience as instructional aids in Zuni Public schools.

“And the majority of those are local individuals who are part of the Zuni Pueblo, and so that is a move to begin to have more representation in our classrooms,” said Amber Romero, program director. , though at least of public students statewide are Native American.

The efforts come at a critical moment, particularly as rural and urban districts face acute shortages in special education, math, foreign language and English language learner positions. Early analysis of states’ American Rescue Plan funding revealed staffing to be a priority nationwide. 

are among the 27 nationally utilizing a State Department program to welcome foreign language exchange teachers this fall, sponsoring teachers’ travel, salary, and living expenses. 

South Carolina and Iowa are looking to another force already entrenched in classrooms: . South Carolina’s Teaching Fellows Program, funded by $1.2 million in relief aid, provides up to $6,000 in annual scholarships for young people pursuing teaching careers. Nineteen in Iowa will support high school students and existing paraeducators in earning credentials through the state’s “Earn & Learn” Registered Apprenticeship. 

The strategy — recruiting younger adults to stay in their community — is appealing for states with large rural populations, where shortages are even more severe. Roughly said too few candidates applied to vacancies for the 2022-23 school year. 

“Part of the problem in Pennsylvania is we have teacher preparation program deserts, where it might be four counties over to the nearest college, so if you send somebody to college, they may never come back,” said Ed Fuller, education and professor at Pennsylvania State University. “They may want to stay near their college, so [districts] have been trying to recruit their own K-12 students. But that’s a long-term solution.” 

In California’s rural central valley, serving many students in poverty has seemingly combined approaches — seeding interest among high schoolers, launching a grow-your-own program for staff and a residency program for recent grads. Lindsay Unified’s yearlong residency supports educators to complete a master’s in teaching and full credential.

Staff and students can have their loans forgiven after teaching in Lindsay for 5 years; 120 have taken them up on the offer. 

Apart from encouraging growth in the pipeline, the interpersonal benefits of residencies have impacted communities for years. 

CREATE, a three-year residency hosted by Georgia State University since 2015, has seen of new Black teachers stay in the profession by their fifth year, the point at which .

Because residencies are grounded in their specific local context, programs can dig deep to understand what priorities are for families and schools in the district as opposed to a whole state. Seattle, for instance, hones elementary teachers to support Title I schools serving high proportions of students in poverty. 

“Providing a fellowship and stipend to these future educators opens doors to teachers who would not have been able to acquire the appropriate classroom credentials otherwise,” said founding director of the Seattle Teacher Residency Marisa Bier. “This work has proven imperative in bridging the demographic divide between teachers and students by recruiting and retaining BIPOC educators in the Seattle community.”

New York University’s one-year residency, which has grown from about 12 prospective educators in 2016 to now 160, similarly stays focused on districts’ and families’ priorities. About half of their current cohort are specializing in special education and many more are seeking TESOL certification because of NYC’s student population and priorities.  

“It’s sort of a needs-based shuffle,” said professor and residency co-director Frank Pignatosi. At NYU, as with many higher-ed housed residencies, there is no GRE requirement for applicants. The decision is intentional, an acknowledgement of the resources, financial and otherwise, involved. 

The reality is not lost on New Mexico’s Romero, who supports educator assistants exceptional at their work, eager to become teachers, yet navigating economic and family realities. 

“Many of them are women of color. Many of them are mothers and so they don’t have the luxury of not working and going to school. They have to have this job for the benefits,” she said. “And then they can only take one or two classes at night while they’re trying to raise a family.” 

Stipends, personalized professional development, and social support can make all the difference for prospective educators looking for a way in, and for the districts eager to receive them. 

“It doesn’t make it easy,” Romero said, “but it certainly makes it possible.”