With most of New Jersey’s public schools days from reopening, Gov. Phil Murphy visited the White House Wednesday to take part in a meeting on possible solutions to the growing teacher shortage nationwide. The meeting, which Murphy attended in his capacity as chairman of the National Governors Association, included the first lady Jill Biden, the U.S. secretaries of education and labor, along with the leaders of the country’s two largest teachers unions. The group is looking at ways to strengthen the teaching profession and help K-12 school districts recruit talent to fill vacancies while keeping educators in the pipeline.
It’s unclear how many teaching positions are empty in New Jersey, but government data shows about 300,000 teachers across the U.S. have left the workforce since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocates say a bill awaiting Murphy’s signature could be one answer to the problem in New Jersey — by eliminating a required test for teaching candidates that some say has added to the crisis.
