Once Known as 'Teacher's College' TCNJ Pivots To Health Care Programs While State Suffers Educator Shortage
How will NJ officials spend funds to best meet public needs?
The College Of New Jersey (TCNJ) announced a new health and wellness graduate certificate program offered through the School of Nursing, Health, and Exercise Science which appears to be an institutional solution ensuring the State is more well prepared to meet widespread mental health needs among its residents, many of which were exacerbated by the pandemic. Although the Murphy administration's pledge to increase State spending on children's mental health programs is likely part of what fueled the demand for this type of program targeted at a high-priority problem, it may be at odds with another critical issue the State has been chronically facing: a teacher shortage.
That problem has seemingly been made worse by the exodus of many experienced teachers from the profession in the wake of Governor Murphy's targeted August 2021 Executive Order 253 requiring Covid-19 vaccination and testing for school faculty and staff. When coupled with a decrease in new graduates prepared to fill teaching positions in NJ schools, this has effectively strained the delivery of taxpayer funded public education and leaves students already struggling with learning loss due to extended pandemic school closures with even less access to the teachers they need to achieve their best educational outcomes.
The new online graduate certificate program at the Trenton-area institution of higher education, formerly known as Trenton State College, historically characterized as a 'teachers' college' which has expanded its health care programs in recent decades following trends in higher education, is oriented toward meeting the mental health needs of the public, including students damaged by pandemic social and educational conditions. Meanwhile, a panelist during a recent hearing hosted by the state legislature's Joint Committee on Public Schools indicated that some of TCNJ's education related programs have been discontinued or suffered lower enrollment in recent years.
While New Jersey school districts struggle to find enough teachers to fill classrooms with some resorting to seeking qualified candidates outside the United States, the Murphy administration also has been compelled to invest federal relief funds in a student mental health problem that was doubtless made worse by NJEA-backed Covid-19 policies such as universal masking in schools. This chosen allocation of funds by the Murphy administration, along with challenging work conditions for teachers which don’t appear to be easing may function, in part, as a disincentive for college students electing to enter programs focused primarily on education.
Governor Murphy and members of his administration have repeatedly stated their commitment to providing for state-sponsored programs and support services addressing mental health issues among NJ school children. During a September 2021 NJ Covid-19 Briefing, the State's Commissioner of Children and Families, Christine Norbut Beyer, M.S.W. delivered an assessment of the mental health crisis among students. Plans unveiled during that briefing further detailed the Murphy administration's intent to utilize discretionary federal coronavirus relief funds to alleviate the problem through establishment and expansion of mental health crisis management and wellness programs focused on youth.
Few would argue against the assessment that mental health issues have risen dramatically among New Jerseyans in recent years. It seems likely that this problem was made significantly worse by lockdowns and other coronavirus mitigation measures imposed by Governor Murphy and his administration. Furthermore, children bore the brunt of many mandates and policies because they were often the segment of the population most affected by them for significant portions of their daily life.
Throughout human history, despots fixated on wielding power to shape a population under their control have often added to problems and later provided a remedy to them through programs and initiatives which further expanded their power and ability to influence future outcomes. Thinking critically about issues facing New Jerseyans may cause one to wonder how much these current challenges have been made worse by the emergency fueled impositions of State government under the banner of public health, safety and the greater good.
Without question, two of the most important spheres of influence over a population are education and health care (including mental health care.) Spending and determinations how to proceed in these areas by State government have a major impact on current and future generations. The process of decision making should not be sequestered in Trenton or corporate board rooms around the state, nation and world, but must be informed by discussions at every town hall, school board, county commission and kitchen table in New Jersey.
As school mask mandates end on March 7th and Governor Murphy delivers his March 8th State of New Jersey Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Address outlining his spending plans for the year ahead (FY23: July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023) all New Jerseyans - members of the legislature AND individual members of the public whom they represent - must hold the Murphy administration accountable for the outcomes of their decisions and actions; our future is counting on it.