[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 3270

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

215th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  CELESTE M. RILEY

District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)

Assemblywoman  CONNIE WAGNER

District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblyman  CHARLES MAINOR

District 31 (Hudson)

Assemblyman  THOMAS P. GIBLIN

District 34 (Essex and Passaic)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywomen Watson Coleman, Mosquera, Lampitt and Assemblyman Wimberly

SYNOPSIS

     Requires Commissioner of Education to develop career exploration report for students in grades 7 through 12.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Assembly Budget Committee on December 13, 2012, with amendments.

An Act concerning employment information provided to certain students and supplementing chapter 54E of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    a.  The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, shall develop a career exploration report that provides students enrolled in grades ¹[8] 7¹ through 12 with information concerning employment in high-demand industries. The report shall include, but need not be limited to:

     (1)   a list of the fastest growing industries in the country and the State and the projected growth rates of those industries for the next 10 years, as determined by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics;

     (2)   information on professional and occupational employment opportunities in those industries and on the educational background and training required to pursue those careers, including the courses designed to prepare students for employment in those careers;

     (3)   employment rates and salary information for persons employed in those professions and occupations; and

     (4)   information on where to find the employment data compiled by four-year public institutions of higher education pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2009, c.197 (C.18A:3B-44).

     b.    ¹[The commissioner shall annually distribute the report, at no charge, to each school district, which shall distribute the report to each student and to the parents or guardians of each student enrolled in grades 8 through 12.]¹ The commissioner shall update the report as necessary.

     c.     The commissioner shall make the report available ¹online through a link prominently displayed on the homepage of the Department of Education’s Internet website, and shall, within 30 days of the date the report is first made available on the homepage of the department’s Internet website, provide written notification¹ to each school district and nonpublic schools that enroll students in grades ¹[8] 7¹ through 12, or any combination thereof ¹, to inform each school district and nonpublic schools of the report’s availability online¹. ¹Each school district shall notify the parents or guardians of each student enrolled in grades 7 through 12 of the report’s availability online, and shall distribute a copy of the report to a parent or guardian of a student in grades 7 through 12 who requests a hard copy of the report.¹ Nonpublic schools are
encouraged to ¹[distribute the report to each student and to the] notify the¹ parents or guardians of each student enrolled in grades ¹[8] 7¹ through 12 ¹of the report’s availability online, and are encouraged to distribute a copy of the report to a parent or guardian of a student in grades 7 through 12 who requests a hard copy of the report ¹; however, nothing in this section shall be construed to require a nonpublic school to ¹notify the parents or guardians of students of the report’s availability online or to¹ distribute the report.

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.