Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
Senator NILSA I. CRUZ-PEREZ
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Expands eligibility for NJCLASS Teacher Loan Redemption Program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Teacher Loan Redemption Program and amending and supplementing P.L.2021, c.384.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2021, c.384 (C.18A:71C-83) is amended to read as follows:
1. As used in [this act] P.L.2021, c.384 (C.18A:71C-83 et seq.) and P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Authority" means the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71A-3.
"High-need field" means a subject area or field of expertise in which there is a shortage of qualified teachers in the State as determined by the Department of Education. The department shall reassess its designation of high-need fields at least every two years.
"Low-performing school" means any public school that meets the criteria of paragraph (1) or paragraph (2):
(1) among all students in that school to whom a State assessment was administered, the sum of the percent of students scoring in the not-yet-meeting expectations and partially meeting expectations categories in both the language arts and mathematics subject areas of the State assessments exceeded 40[%] percent in each of the prior two school years; or
(2) among all students in that school to whom a State assessment was administered, the sum of the percent of students scoring in the not-yet-meeting expectations and partially meeting expectations categories in either the language arts or mathematics subject areas of the State assessment exceeded 65[%] percent in each of the prior two school years.
(3) A school shall continue to be designated a low-performing school until such time that the sum of the percent of students scoring in the not-yet-meeting expectations and partially meeting expectations categories in both the language arts and mathematics subject areas of the State assessments is less than or equal to the sum of the Statewide percent of students scoring in the not-yet-meeting expectations and partially meeting expectations categories on the corresponding Statewide assessments.
["High-need field" means a subject area or field of expertise in which there is a shortage of qualified teachers in the State as determined by the Department of Education. The department shall reassess its designation of high-need fields at least every five years.]
Program participant means a tier 1 program participant, tier 2 program participant, or tier 3 program participant as defined pursuant to this section. A program participant shall be a certified teacher and resident of New Jersey.
"[Program] Tier 1 program participant" means an undergraduate or graduate student borrower under the New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Loan Program established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71C-21 who, following the effective date of [this act] P.L.2021, c.384 (C.18A:71C-83 et seq.), is initially hired by a school district to work as a teacher in a high-need field in a low-performing school, and who has executed a contract with the authority for participation in the loan redemption program. [A program participant shall be a certified teacher and a resident of New Jersey.]
Tier 2 program participant means an undergraduate or graduate student borrower under the New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Loan Program established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71C-21 who, following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), is initially hired by a school district to work as a teacher in a high-need field in a school other than a low-performing school, and who has executed a contract with the authority for participation in the loan redemption program.
Tier 3 program participant means an undergraduate or graduate student borrower under the New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Loan Program established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71C-21 who, following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), is initially hired by a school district to work as a teacher and who does not meet the criteria to qualify as a tier 1 or tier 2 program participant, and who has executed a contract with the authority for participation in the loan redemption program.
(cf: P.L.2021, c.384, s.1)
2. Section 2 of P.L.2021, c.384 (C.18A:71C-84) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. There is established in the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority a loan redemption program for teachers [in high-need fields who are] employed in [low-performing] public schools. The program shall provide for the redemption of a portion of the loans a program participant receives under the NJCLASS Loan Program pursuant to article 2 of chapter 71C of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes for service as a teacher [in a high-need field] in a [low-performing] public school in New Jersey. The annual amount of State funds appropriated to the loan redemption program shall not exceed $1,000,000. The authority shall notify the Legislature when the funds have been fully expended or committed.
b. A program participant may redeem [his] the participants NJCLASS loan amounts upon execution of a contract between the program participant and the authority. The contract shall be for up to four one-year periods of service. The contract shall specify the total amount of debt, up to 100[%] percent, to be redeemed by the State in return for service pursuant to subsection d. of this section.
c. A program participant who has entered into a contract with the authority shall remain eligible for loan redemption under the contract in the event that:
(1) the public school in which the teacher is employed loses its designation as a low-performing school or the teacher is transferred to a school in the district that is not a low-performing school; or
(2) the high-need field in which the program participant is teaching pursuant to his service obligation subsequently loses its designation as a high-need field, and the program participant continues to teach in the same field in accordance with his contractual agreement with the authority.
d. (1) The redemption of loans under the loan redemption program for a tier 1 program participant shall amount to 25[%] percent of principal and interest of a tier 1 program participant's NJCLASS loan amounts, up to $5,000, in return for each consecutive full year of service. The total amount of NJCLASS loan amounts which may be redeeme