Includes retired teachers and county college faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teacher grant program.*

This bill expands New Jersey's existing STEM teacher grant program to include retired teachers receiving retirement benefits from the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund. It allows these retired teachers, as well as current teachers, to teach STEM classes at nonpublic schools and receive direct payments calculated using the statewide average teacher salary (adjusted by 1.25). The program, funded with $3.5 million, also broadens eligible STEM subjects to include areas beyond traditional science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This change modifies a 2019 program that previously only covered active teachers and required school district payments.