Bill > A4595

Introduced Session

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 will select one or more senior public institutions of higher education, which offer educator preparation programs, and one or more school districts that each employ at least one male teacher of color, to participate in the pilot program. Under the pilot program, the commissioner will select 10 male students of color from among the senior public institutions of higher education selected for participation in the pilot program and 10 male teachers of color from the school districts selected for participation in the pilot program. To be eligible for the program, a student is required to be in his final year of an educator preparation program. The commissioner will then pair each selected student with a current teacher, who will serve as the student's mentor through the candidate's last year of his educator preparation program and the first two years of the student's teaching career. A school district participating in the pilot program will commit to hiring each student participating in the program, upon each candidate's graduation from an educator preparation program. Under the pilot program, a teacher will receive a stipend of $5,000 for each year of participation in the pilot program. Research has shown that, while about 50 percent of the student population in public schools across the United States is nonwhite, only 20 percent of teachers are nonwhite. In addition to the disparities seen in the existing teacher workforce, studies have shown that, relative to their white counterparts, larger percentages of teachers of color tend to leave the teaching profession. Partnering teacher candidates of color with experienced male teachers of color in a mentoring relationship, and providing the candidates with a job as a teacher after graduation, will not only offer those individuals a defined pathway to the teacher workforce but may also help to retain them in their positions as teachers.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Pam Lampitt (D)*,  Annette Quijano (D)*,  Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D)*,  Mila Jasey (D),  Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D), 

Reported out of Assembly Comm. with Amendments, 2nd Reading (on 12/09/2021)