SENATE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 969

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED:  JANUARY 30, 2020

 

     The Senate Higher Education Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 969.

     This bill establishes a loan redemption program in the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) to allow a teacher to redeem a portion of his NJCLASS loan amounts for service as a teacher in a high-need field in a low performing school in New Jersey. 

      The bill defines a “low performing school” as any public school that: (1) among all students in that school to whom a State assessment was administered, the sum of the percent of students scoring in the not yet meeting expectations and partially meeting expectations categories in both the language arts and mathematics subject areas of the State assessments exceeded 40% in each of the prior two school years; or (2) among all students in that school to whom a State assessment was administered, the sum of the percent of students scoring in the not yet meeting expectations and partially meeting expectations categories in either the language arts or mathematics subject areas of the State assessment exceeded 65% in each of the prior two school years.  The bill defines a “high-need field” as a subject area or field of expertise in which there is a shortage of qualified teachers in the State as determined by the Department of Education.

      Under the bill, in order to participate in the loan redemption program, a person must have been an undergraduate student borrower in the NJCLASS Loan Program.  A participant must also be a resident of New Jersey and a certified teacher who obtained initial employment to teach in a high-need field in a low performing school after the effective date of the bill.  A participant in the program must execute a contract with HESAA that specifies a number of one-year periods of service and the total amount of debt to be redeemed by the State in return for the service.  The redemption of loans under the program would amount to 15% of principal and interest of a participant’s NJCLASS loan amounts in return for each of the first and second full years of service; 20% of principal and interest for each of the third and fourth full years of service; and 30% of principal and interest for the fifth full year of service.

      The annual amount of State funds appropriated to the loan redemption program will not exceed $1,000,000.

      Under the bill, the authority will submit an annual report to the Governor and Legislature on the program. The bill specifies the information to be included in the report.