New Jersey has just lowered the bar for public school teachers. Thanks to a new law signed by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, teachers in the state are no longer required to pass a basic reading, writing, and mathematics test to become certified. Yes, you read that right—the people educating future generations no longer have to prove they can handle the basics.
The new law, Act 1669, went into effect at the start of the year. Its stated goal is to address teacher shortages in the state, but the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the state’s powerful teachers’ union, seems more interested in removing what they call “barriers” to certification. Apparently, ensuring teachers meet basic competency standards is too much to ask in today’s education system.
The law explicitly exempts teacher candidates from having to pass the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators test, which is widely used in over 40 states and territories. This test covers foundational skills in English, math, and other subject areas. But in New Jersey, those standards are now a thing of the past. Instead, the state will rely on vague requirements like a bachelor’s degree, field-specific credits, and a minimum GPA. Because nothing says “quality education” like ditching standardized benchmarks for unquantifiable measures.
Democratic state Sen. Jim Beach defended the law by saying, “We need more teachers. This is the best way to get them.” Really? The best way to address shortages is by lowering standards? How about addressing the reasons why qualified teachers are leaving the profession, like bureaucratic overreach and woke agendas hijacking the curriculum? But no, it’s easier to just flood the system with anyone who can fog a mirror.
This isn’t just a New Jersey problem. Across the country, states like California and Arizona are pulling similar stunts. California scrapped traditional credentials to let parents act as substitute teachers. Arizona allowed people to start teaching before even graduating from college. Lowering the bar has become the left’s go-to solution for everything from education to immigration—because who needs merit when you’ve got feelings?
Republicans have long warned about the dangers of unions and bureaucrats running the show, and this is a textbook example of what happens when they do. Instead of fixing the root causes of teacher shortages, Democrats are effectively saying, “Good enough is good enough.” The result will be predictable: a decline in educational quality and students who are ill-prepared for the future.
This is why America needs strong conservative leadership that prioritizes accountability, excellence, and results. The next generation deserves better than teachers who can’t pass a basic skills test. It’s time to stop lowering the bar and start raising expectations—because America’s future depends on it.
