the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, to tackle the ongoing teacher shortage crisis, the New Jersey Education Association is actively advocating for the elimination of a basic skills test for teachers. In a statement released on Wednesday, the union outlined its goal to lower entry requirements for aspiring teachers, stating that such a move would help address the state’s urgent shortage of educators. The NJEA is encouraging supporters to express their endorsement of Bill S1553 by writing letters to Gov. Phil Murphy.
If enacted, this legislation would eliminate the current requirement for teachers to undergo a basic skills test. The union believes that this measure is crucial in attracting more individuals to the teaching profession and alleviating the scarcity of qualified educators in New Jersey. ” Basic skills” are not essential to becoming a qualified teacher. Especially when you focus on indoctrination and not education.
Last year, Murphy signed a bill eliminating the Education Teacher Performance Assessment for aspiring teachers, and the NJEA is now pushing for the removal of the basic skills requirement test.
The union argues that the current “basic skills requirement” test creates an unnecessary barrier to entering the profession. Critics, however, raise concerns about potential compromises in the quality of education if entry standards are lowered, intensifying the debate over the balance between accessibility and maintaining educational standards.
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If the NJEA wants it…………………………. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Expect new billboards
WHY would you need to have basic skills to teach basic skills??????
There are at least 3 families in Ridgewood not sending their children to school. More will reject the tradition of excellence in 2024.
Whenever I see the word “Excellence,” I want to reach for my………….
Let me translate this. They want more teachers and they don’t care if they’re qualified for the job. Why? Union membership.
I am teacher in another district and strongly disagree with much of what and who the union pushes for, including this idea (and I despise tenure). If a young adult or someone later in life is turned off to this profession b/c of the basic skills test then good!! That is not who should be teaching our children. Just the publicity of this issue further diminishes how many feel about the profession, which is truly unfortunate.
That said, there is a major shortage of staff at all levels and it is only getting worse. And sadly this is only going to hurt the children. Districts need to be more creative to attract and retain staff.
Well, if we are heading towards dropping proficiency exams for hs students (as Oregon[?] is doing), why do we need teachers that can teach?
Even if they can, the kids won’t have to learn.
Soon NJEA can drop the E.
I remember a few years ago when Bayonne dropped the test score needed to get a passing grade.
It was criticized.
The then Superintendent countered, “Success breeds success.”
They should just change the name to NJ$A
One of our children was unfortunately exposed to a teacher who obviously did not take or pass a basic skills test. She was actually teaching the children to misspell words. We had to go to the Principal to make her understand how incorrect she was. She was absolutely determined that gnat was spelled nat and other such errors. Is this what you want for your children? She was a graduate of a decent college and presumably her teaching preparation was adequate BUT somehow she managed to graduate without learning to spell. She was also a product of Ridgewood High School. I know a few years ago it was the ideas that the child wrote about and spelling was not essential. With computers correcting everything now- a -days, maybe the basic skill tests are no longer necessary but I really would like any grandchild of mine to learn to spell–and to add and subtract without a calculator. We’ve been in places where the power failed and the employees couldn’t add or subtract without the cash register. I guess robots will do better. P.S. spelling of my name is deliberate.
It’s ok to drop the g in gnat. Language evolves this way.
” BUT somehow she managed to graduate without learning to spell. She was also a product of Ridgewood High School.”
LOL , best comment yet!
Dan Quayle couldn’t spell “potato”
The dumbing down of America. We just keep lowering the bar.
I have friend named Nat and he don’t spell it with a “g”. Art Carney.
If only we stayed with Ebonics, we’d be so much further along!
Maybe if they took some of the lard from administration and paid it to the teachers, we could hire a better product.
A DUMB population is EASIER TO CONTROL.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Ridgewood has a tradition to hire ‘known’ candidates to the administrators. ‘Administrators’ make phone calls to their friends when a position is available and hire them. The job posting and interview process is a sham. These proficiency tests would not matter when it comes to Ridgewood. You need to know the admins here to get hired!