Recent comments from tech mogul Elon Musk have shined a spotlight on the new law, which supporters say adds an extra, unneeded expense for would-be teachers. (Courtesy of the New Jersey Governor’s Office)
The new year brought changes to requirements for New Jersey teachers, including a new law eliminating a basic skills test that lawmakers overwhelmingly advanced in both houses.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bipartisan bill eliminating the Praxis basic skills test for people seeking teaching certifications in June, and it went into effect Jan. 1. Lawmakers said the legislation aimed to address a long-standing teacher shortage and remove duplicative, costly tests that create barriers to pursuing a career in education.
At the time, it faced little controversy. Just three Republicans voted against it.
But recent comments from tech mogul Elon Musk have shined a spotlight on the new law. Musk, who owns social media platform X, this week posted a screenshot of an article about the change and questioned if teachers in New Jersey need to “know how to read.” The post has been viewed nearly 20 million times.
Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R-Sussex), who supported the bill, said the change to teacher certification requirements has been taken entirely out of context and does not lower the bar for would-be teachers.
“My largest concern was it was an extra expense for teachers just starting out, and for taking a test, actually, that is much easier than the current tests you already have to take,” said Fantasia, who obtained her teaching certificate in 2008 and now works as an administrator at a charter school.
She explained that for teachers to receive certification in New Jersey, they must first graduate from an accredited teacher preparation program with at least a 3.0 grade point average, complete months of student teaching, and pass several exams, depending on the grade level and subject matter being taught.
Those tests can easily amount to hundreds of dollars, and by the time a potential teacher takes the Praxis exam, they’ve already proved their capabilities, she said.
States across the country have removed similar exams in an effort to ease shortages plaguing schools, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Oklahoma enacted a law in 2022 removing the requirement for a general education exam, and Arizona implemented a law allowing educators to begin teaching before graduating from college.
Fantasia did not fault Musk for his confusion about the law and placed some blame on the media — fringe and mainstream — for irresponsible headlines and missing context. The knee-jerk reaction from the public is to be “completely expected,” she said.
And while she noted she’s the loudest Republican voice supporting the legislation, she slammed Democrats for remaining “radio silent” on a bill they supported. The bill sponsors did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
“The teachers of New Jersey are made to look across this country like the village idiots because the Democrat Party who sponsored this bill and the governor who signed it don’t feel it necessary to defend them when the headlines are extraordinarily misleading,” Fantasia said.
Murphy’s office defended the law in a statement to the New Jersey Monitor.
“The Praxis Core requirement was redundant to New Jersey’s other requirements for teacher certification that remain in place, and its removal was a recommendation of our public school staff shortage task force, a group of experts who know more about New Jersey’s education needs than Elon Musk,” said Natalie Hamilton, a Murphy spokeswoman. “The bipartisan legislation that the Governor signed passed by overwhelming margins and we are disappointed by out-of-state agitators that want more red tape.”
Steven Baker, spokesman for teachers union the New Jersey Education Association, said “right-wing blog sites trying to push this story don’t understand the law and definitely do not understand New Jersey’s very rigorous teacher certification standards.”
He stressed that the additional requirement to pass the Praxis following years of other coursework did nothing to elevate the standards and “amounted to a corporate money grab” from college students.
Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris), who voted against the bill, said he thinks it has indeed lowered standards.
“I think these are the days of dumbing down, and somebody’s got to put their foot down and say, ‘Absolutely not,’” he said. “We should expect more from these kids, not less, and we certainly should expect no less from the teachers that are teaching them.”
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