State legislators who want to enact a law that lays out how a school district employeemay be reimbursed for the cost of tuition for ongoing education will make that attempt in the first days of the new legislative session.
Proponents of such a law believed they were on the right track in the waning days of the term of Gov. Jon Corzine, but the bill never got to the governor’s desk for his signature.
The sponsors of the tuition reimbursement bill include the members of the 12th District legislative team, state Sen. Jennifer Beck, state Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande and state Assemblyman Declan J. O’Scanlon Jr. (all R-Monmouth and Mercer).
The bill was passed in the state Senate on Oct. 23, 2008, and in the state Assembly on Jan. 11, 2010, just days before the end of the Legislative session and the Corzine administration.
However, because the bill had been amended by the Assembly Education Committee, it had to be sent back to the Senate for another vote on Jan. 11 before being sent to Corzine to be signed into law or vetoed, Casagrande said.
One amendment had to do with what qualifies as a certified university from which tuition reimbursement may be sought, the assemblywoman said. Certain concerns with the bill had been raised by the New Jersey EducationAssociation in January, she added.
The amended bill was never sent back to the Senate for a new vote on Jan. 11 and died with the end of the Legislative session later that week.
The good news for the supporters of the bill is that is has been reintroduced by Sen. Richard Codey and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan and will be placed before the Senate and Assembly for a second reading and floor vote without having to repeat the committee procedure, Casagrande said.
The new Legislature’s first voting session is scheduled for Feb. 25 although it is not certain if the bill will be voted on that day, she said.
As to whether Gov. Chris Christie will sign the bill if it reaches his desk, Casagrande said she does not envision that the governor will have a problem with the provisions of the law.
“It was not not passed because anyone had a substantive problem with the bill. The issues were technical in nature,” she said.
Under the terms of the legislation all degrees awarded to a school district employee would have to have been verified as coming from an accredited institution, among other requirements regarding tuition reimbursement.
The issue of advanced degrees and the institutions from which they may be sought by a school employee has been an issue in the Freehold Regional High School District for two years. The issue surrounded the receipt of advanced degrees by the superintendent, a retired assistant superintendent, a current assistant superintendent and other employees from Breyer State University, a discredited online institution.
The employees received tuition reimbursement and increases in their salaries as a result of obtaining the advanced degrees. The employees were later directed to stop using the title of doctor that the advanced degrees had conferred upon them.
Breyer State University was subsequently booted from operating in various states across the country after being named an apparent diploma mill.
Following an investigation by the state Department of Education a report was released which stated that due to contractual language, the administrators broke no laws in obtaining degrees from Breyer State, which was accredited, but not by an entity that was recognized as a bona fide accrediting agency.
In a separate investigation, New Jersey Commission on Higher Education Executive Director Jane Oates determined that the individuals had to cease their use of the doctoral title because Breyer State was not considered a duly authorized institution, lacking accreditation from an agency recognized by the Department of Education.