TRENTON- The Senate Education Committee advanced legislation sponsored by Senator Vin Gopal that would limit specific certification requirements for New Jersey Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers. The bill aims to improve recruitment and retention by streamlining the path to certification for skilled professionals seeking to enter the classroom.

“Across the state, schools are struggling to attract qualified career and technical educators due to rigid certification rules that often do more to hinder than to help,” said Senator Gopal (D-Monmouth). “This bill ensures that we keep high standards while making the process more practical for working professionals. If we want students to succeed in trades and technical fields, we must make teaching easier for experts in those areas. This is about aligning policy with reality. CTE teachers already bring deep subject-matter knowledge and undergo significant on-the-job training. It makes no sense to pile on extra requirements discouraging good educators from staying in the classroom.”

The bill, S-4515, would prohibit the State Board of Education from requiring a candidate for a certificate of eligibility in a CTE endorsement to complete an educator preparation program that exceeds 200 hours or one academic year. The current alternate route program, which offers a path to certification for individuals with occupational expertise without formal teacher training, has doubled its requirements since 2015, from one year and 200 hours to two years and 400 hours of instruction. Candidates also receive district-led training, often over 150 hours, which is not formally recognized in the certification process.

According to the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools, 90% of districts report that the expanded time and financial demands have become a significant obstacle to recruiting CTE teachers. Several districts noted that the additional training requirements had little value and contributed to candidate burnout and dropout, with no clear evidence that the added instruction improved teaching outcomes.