Op-Ed / Streamlining the Path for Career and Technical Education Teachers

By Vin Gopal

Addressing the shortage of career and technical education teachers will better prepare students for success in college and good-paying STEM careers, and help keep New Jersey’s economy competitive.

The NJ Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools reports that 90 percent of school districts said that the expanded time and financial demands of earning CTE certification have become a significant obstacle to recruiting CTE teachers.

While the state’s teacher workforce has grown slightly, there were increases to the student-teacher ratio with fewer teachers in high-demand core subject areas, including mathematics and science, between the 2013–2014 and 2020–2021 school years. The shortage puts New Jersey, the birthplace of the light bulb, air conditioning, bubble wrap, radar, and the Pfizer vaccine, at risk of losing its status as a national leader in technical innovation.

As chair of the Senate Education Committee, it’s gratifying to report that the Committee advanced our legislation to limit specific certification requirements for Career and Technical Education teachers. Our bill would improve recruitment and retention by streamlining the requirement of a candidate for a certificate of eligibility in a CTE endorsement.

The alternate route program requirements for certification for individuals with occupational expertise, but without formal teacher training, has doubled since 2015 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.

Several districts in the Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools report 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. Our bill limits the CTE certification requirement to no more than 200 hours and one academic year of instruction.

High school CTE programs prepare students to enter college, training, and employment in high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand occupations. These rigid requirements are costing our students access to talented teachers who are opting out of CTE certificate programs and dissuading highly skilled people working in technical fields from becoming teachers and bringing their skills to the classroom. This bill ensures that we keep high standards while making the process more practical for working professionals. 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 that discourage good educators from staying in the classroom.

The legislation has garnered support from educators and businesses, including the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, which supports efforts to remove barriers that prevent professionals with career and technical expertise from entering the teaching workforce.

In an unrelated matter, the Senate Labor Committee passed our legislation to update New Jersey’s child labor laws for minors working in theatrical productions. Modeled after best practices from California and New York, the two largest entertainment markets in the country, the bill aligns New Jersey’s labor protections with nationally recognized standards.

With New Jersey quickly becoming a destination for film and television production, our labor laws must reflect the realities of the industry while protecting young performers.