Requires governing board of public school to verify employment eligibility of teaching staff members and school employees.

A1849

ASSEMBLY, No. 1849

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman GREGORY E. MYHRE

District 9 (Ocean)

Assemblyman PAUL KANITRA

District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Clifton, Rumpf, Scharfenberger, Assemblywoman
Flynn, Assemblymen Azzariti Jr., Simonsen and Auth

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires governing board of public school to verify
employment eligibility of teaching staff members and school employees.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning employment eligibility verification
for public school employees and supplementing chapter 27 of Title 18A of the
New Jersey Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� �E-Verify program� means the
electronic verification of work authorization program of the federal �Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996,� Pub.L. 104-208 (8
U.S.C. s.1324a), jointly operated by the United States Department of Homeland
Security and the Social Security Administration or is successor program.

���� �Governing body� means the
board of education of a school district and the board of trustees of a charter
school or renaissance school project.

���� �Public school� means a
school, under college grade, that is operated by the governing body of a school
district, charter school, or renaissance school project.

���� �School employee� means an
employee of the governing body of a public school.

���� �Teaching staff member
� means a member of the professional staff of any public
school holding office, position, or employment of such character that the
qualifications, for such office, position or employment, require the member to
hold a valid and effective standard, provisional, or emergency certificate,
appropriate to the member�s office, position or employment, issued by the State
Board of Examiners. Teaching staff member includes a school nurse and a school
athletic trainer.

���� 2.��� Beginning
with teaching staff members hired for the first full school year next following
the date of enactment of this act, the governing body of a public school shall,
upon hiring a teaching staff member or school employee, verify the employment
eligibility of the teaching staff member through the E-Verify program.

���� 3.��� Beginning
with the first full school year next following the date of enactment of this
act, the governing body of a public school shall annually verify the employment
eligibility of all teaching staff members and school employees through the
E-Verify program.

���� 4.��� The Commissioner of
Education shall provide information regarding the requirements of this act and
the requirements of federal law governing the use of the E-Verify program to
the governing body of each public school and shall make the information available
on the Department of Education�s Internet website.

���� 5.��� This act shall not be
construed to prohibit the governing body of a public school from hiring a
teaching staff member who holds a valid limited certificate for noncitizen
teachers issued by the State Board of Examiners pursuant to N.J.S.18A:26-1 and
N.J.S.18A:26-8.1.

���� 6.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the
governing body of each public school to verify the employment eligibility of
teaching staff members and school employees.

���� Under the bill, beginning with
teaching staff members and school employees hired for the first full school
year next following the date of enactment of the bill, the governing body of
each public school is required to, upon hiring a teaching staff member or
school employee, verify the employment eligibility of the teaching staff member
or school employee through the E-Verify program. E-Verify is an electronic
verification of work authorization program jointly operated by the United
States Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.

���� The governing body of each
public school is also required to annually verify the employment eligibility of
all teaching staff members and school employees through the E-Verify program.

���� The bill directs the
Commissioner of Education to provide information regarding the requirements of
the bill and the requirements of federal law governing the use of the E-Verify
program to the governing body of each public school. The bill requires the commissioner
make the information available on the Department of Education�s Internet
website.

���� The bill stipulates that the
provisions of the bill are not to be construed to prohibit the governing body
of a public school from hiring a teaching staff member who holds a valid
limited certificate for noncitizen teachers issued by the State Board of Examiners
pursuant to current State law.