Trenton – To help alleviate the teacher shortage impacting districts around the state, the Senate today advanced legislation sponsored by Senator M. Teresa Ruiz which would remove the state residency requirement for public school employees.
“Teacher shortages have been a growing issue in New Jersey and around the country for the past several years, an issue which has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Senator Ruiz (D-Essex). “While we have enacted various measures to try and address it, it is clear more needs to be done to ensure our schools have adequate staff to meet the needs of our students. By removing the residency requirement we can open the door for professionals from surrounding states to join our teaching workforce.”
The bill, S-4203, would eliminate the state residency requirement for all public school employees for a three year period. Under the bill, schools would be required to make a good faith effort to hire New Jersey residents first.
The residency requirement was initially instituted in 2011.
The bill was released from the Senate by a vote of 39-0.