State Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz this week introduced a package of bills aimed at improving New Jersey’s students literacy rates and closing achievement gaps, especially at the early ages of school.
The influential legislator’s four bills come amid worries of extensive learning loss brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning.
“What we’ve been doing hasn’t been working,” said Ruiz, formerly chair of the Senate’s education committee. “Let’s get away from the cycle of insanity of doing things the same way, with the same outcome.”
The proposed legislation has support from several education organizations, including JerseyCAN, but some educators and their advocates have also raised questions and concerns. The New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, for one, said its leaders “believe this legislation is well-intentioned. However, it does not seem to recognize much of what is already going on in classrooms across New Jersey.”
“We also have some concerns that it will impose a one-size-fits-all approach that does not meet the unique needs and challenges of every different classroom,” the union said, adding the state needs to focus on the teacher shortage before mandating more programs and training.
