Official Site of The State of New Jersey

New Jersey’s international teacher programs strengthen the Department’s mission to support schools:

• To ensure all students have equitable access to high quality world language education and opportunities to develop multilingualism and multiliteracy; and
• To implement the 2020 New Jersey Student Learning Standards for world languages.

Local educational agencies (LEAs) in need of multilingual teachers have an opportunity to hire language teachers under N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-5.14 “Limited certificate for noncitizen teachers” through the programs listed below. Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-5.14 ‘Limited certificate for noncitizen teachers’, LEAs who would like to hire candidates from these programs must demonstrate to the Executive County Superintendent an inability to locate a qualified teacher with the required certification for the position and indicate which sponsor or agency, including name of contact and address, they would like to work with to hire an international teacher. For more information, please reach out to your local County Office of Education. 

• Taiwan Mandarin Chinese Language Teachers Program provides New Jersey LEAs highly qualified teachers of Mandarin Chinese (simplified and traditional). New Jersey LEAs should submit an official request letter and an Employing Mandarin Teacher from Taiwan - Information Form (located at the bottom of the page) to the Education Division of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York at newyork@mail.moe.gov.tw by March 31 of each year.
• Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP), a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, enables elementary and secondary schools to strengthen their teaching of Mandarin and Arabic by bringing teachers to the U.S. to teach their native languages and culture for an academic year.

• BridgeUSA supports exchange programs for teachers in the United States. The program, established by the Fulbright-Hays Act, provides resources around the J1 visa process for participants, program sponsors and hosts.
• To request a letter of no contest or no objection, LEAs must demonstrate to the Executive County Superintendent an inability to locate a qualified teacher with the required certification for the position and indicate to the Executive County Superintendent which sponsor, including name of contact and address, they would like to work with to hire an international teacher.
• Guidance: Hosting an International Teacher on a J-1 Visa.