Designates accounting as STEM subject for various educational and other programs.
What changed between versions
New definition of 'eligible retired teacher' allowing individuals receiving a Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund retirement allowance (for reasons other than disability) with a valid STEM certificate to participate in the grant program and receive renumeration.
New definition of 'eligible county college faculty member' allowing current county college faculty teaching STEM subjects who participate in a collective bargaining agreement to participate in the program and receive renumeration.
New definition of 'valid objection' giving school districts a formal mechanism to disapprove a teacher's partnership with a nonpublic school, limited to two specific grounds: (a) teaching hours conflict with public school responsibilities with no resolution found, or (b) the partnership would substantially impact the quality of student instruction in the district.
The grant program was expanded from covering only current public school teachers receiving 'additional remuneration' to also covering eligible retired teachers and eligible county college faculty members receiving 'renumeration,' with the latter governed by P.L.2025, c.317.
A new subsection (b) explicitly states the program's purposes: incentivize current teachers to obtain STEM qualifications, attract new educators to STEM fields, address difficulties in attracting qualified STEM educators, increase earning potential of public school teachers, improve retention, and improve statewide access to STEM education to meet workforce demands.
The definition of 'eligible teacher' was rewritten to explicitly include accounting within the list of STEM subjects (alongside science, mathematics, technology education, computer science education, and other STEM subject or area), and added a fourth criterion for teachers currently employed in STEM fields who will teach a subject and grade level in the nonpublic school for which they hold appropriate certification.
The bill's explanatory statement (which argued that modern accounting leverages science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) was removed from the reprint version.
