Establishes "Male Teachers of Color Mentorship Pilot Program"; appropriates $95,000.

A1979

ASSEMBLY, No. 1979

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO

District 20 (Union)

Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Assemblywoman� VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman McCoy and Assemblyman Rodriguez

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes "Male Teachers of Color Mentorship
Pilot Program"; appropriates $95,000.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act
establishing a �Male Teachers of Color Mentorship Pilot
Program� and making an appropriation.

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

����� 1.�� a.�
The Commissioner of Education shall establish a three-year �Male Teachers of
Color Mentorship Pilot Program.�� The purpose of the program is to create
mentoring relationships between male students of color, who are enrolled in
educator preparation programs at institutions of higher education in the State,
and male teachers of color currently employed by a school district, charter
school, or renaissance school project.� The commissioner shall select to
participate in the pilot program one or more institutions of higher education
in the State, which offer an educator preparation program, and one or more
school districts, charter schools, or renaissance school projects that each
employ at least one male teacher of color.�

����� b.�� The
commissioner shall, based on a competitive application process, select 19 male
students of color enrolled in an educator preparation program at the
institutions of higher education selected for participation in the pilot
program and 19 male teachers of color from the school districts, charter
schools, or renaissance school projects selected for participation in the pilot
program.� A student shall be eligible for the pilot program if he is enrolled
in the final year of an educator preparation program at a participating
institution.�

����� c.�� The
commissioner shall pair each participating male student of color with a
participating male teacher of color.� The teacher shall serve as the student�s
mentor through the student�s final year of the educator preparation program in
which he is enrolled and the first two years of his employment as a teacher, if
the student is hired for employment in the participating district, charter
school, or renaissance school project upon graduation from an educator
preparation program.�

����� d.�� A
school district, charter school, or renaissance school project providing
mentoring services under the provisions of this act shall conduct a review of
the student�s performance under the �Male Teachers of Color Mentorship Pilot
Program� following completion of the student�s final year in an educator
preparation program.� A school district, charter school, or renaissance school
project that provides mentoring services to a student pursuant to the
provisions of this section shall make a good faith effort

to hire a
student who receives a favorable

review pursuant to the provisions of
this subsection following the student�s graduation from an educator preparation
program.

����� e.�� A
male teacher of color participating as a mentor in the pilot program shall
receive a stipend of $5,000 for each year in which he participates in the pilot
program.�

����� f.��� At
the conclusion of the pilot program, the commissioner shall submit a report to
the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164
(C.52:14-19.1), on the implementation and effectiveness of the pilot program.�
The report shall include the commissioner�s recommendation on the advisability
of the program�s continuation and expansion to additional school districts,
charter schools, and renaissance school projects, and institutions of higher
education in the State.�

����� 2.�� There
is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Education
$95,000
to establish the �Male Teachers of Color Mentorship
Pilot Program.�

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

STATEMENT

����� This bill establishes the three-year �Male Teachers
of Color Mentorship Pilot Program,� which is to be developed and operated by
the Commissioner of Education.� The commissioner is to select one or more
institutions of higher education that offers an educator preparation program,
and one or more school districts, charter schools, or renaissance school
projects that each employ at least one male teacher of color to participate in
the pilot program.

����� Under the pilot program, the commissioner is to
select 19 male students of color from among the institutions of higher
education selected for participation in the pilot program and 19 male teachers
of color from the school districts, charter schools, or renaissance school
projects selected for participation in the pilot program.� To be eligible for
the program, a student is required to be in the final year of an educator
preparation program.

����� The commissioner is required to pair each selected
student with a current teacher, who is to serve as the student�s mentor through
the candidate�s last year of the educator preparation program and, if the
student is hired for employment in the participating district, charter school,
or renaissance school project upon the student�s graduation from an educator
preparation program, for the first two years of the student�s teaching career.�

����� A school district, charter school, or renaissance
school project that provides mentoring services under the provisions of the
amended bill is to conduct a review of the student�s performance under the
pilot program following completion of the student�s final year in an educator
preparation program.� A school district, charter school, or renaissance school
project that provides mentoring services to a student under the pilot program
is required to make a good faith effort to hire the student following the student�s
graduation from an educator preparation program, if the student receives a
favorable performance review under the review conducted by the school district,
charter school, or renaissance school project.

����� Under the pilot program, a mentor is to receive a
stipend of $5,000 for each year of participation in the pilot program.

����� At the conclusion of the pilot program, the
commissioner is to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature on the
implementation and effectiveness of the pilot program, including the
commissioner�s recommendation on the advisability of the program�s continuation
and expansion to additional school districts, charter schools or renaissance
school projects, and institutions of higher education in the State.

����� The bill appropriates from the General Fund to the
Department of Education $95,000 to establish the �Male Teachers of Color
Mentorship Pilot Program.�