Statement From New Jersey Tutoring Corps Chief Executive Officer Katherine Bassett Regarding The 2026 Appropriations Act

by    NJTC   

on    July 1, 2025

[New Jersey – July 1, 2025] Governor Phil Murphy signed the Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Act on Monday evening, June 30th. The FY26 Budget includes a $1 million appropriation to the New Jersey Tutoring Corps, Inc. (NJTC).

The following is a statement from NJTC CEO Katherine Bassett:

“We know through national data that high-impact tutoring works, and investing in tutoring brings dramatic results for our public school scholars. This year’s budget demonstrates to all New Jerseyans firsthand that our legislative and executive branches have remained steadfast and committed to providing tutoring to as many public school scholars as possible.

“Because of the tireless support and leadership of the State legislature, specifically, Senate Education Committee Chair Vin Gopal and Assemblywoman Andrea Katz as well as the ongoing support of Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin, and Senator Linda Greenstein, NJTC has been able to create a paradigm-changing national model for tutoring, the strongest statewide tutoring initiative in the country, and has established a much-needed focal point for tutoring that serves school districts across the state. In addition, with their support, NJTC will continue to serve public school scholars through our programs this summer and into the new school year.

“In the short time since we launched, NJTC has recruited, hired, and trained an army of tutors who are serving thousands of public school scholars across New Jersey and has collaborated with local school districts to establish the necessary tutoring infrastructure and pedagogy for our public school scholars. We are sincerely grateful to be provided with the support and this statewide responsibility and will continue doing all we can to bring scholars the educational support needed to thrive.” NJTC co-designs tutoring programs with schools and districts, ensuring that its research-based, evidence-rich program specifically meets the needs of individual partners. NJTC staff members provide responsive, personalized, hands-on instruction aligned to New Jersey state standards. School partners co-design each implementation. Tutors are often embedded throughout classrooms during the school day and receive support from instructional coaches and site coordinators. Tutors may also serve scholars in 30 to 60-minute sessions after school two to three times per week. In addition, NJTC provides summer programming. The program provides a 1:1 to 1:3 tutor-to-scholar ratio for each tutoring session, with sessions held two to three times a week for 30 to 60 minutes - with the same tutor working with the same scholars throughout a program cycle. Initially established by First Lady Tammy Murphy and anchor institutions such as the Overdeck Family Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, and joined by partners the New Jersey Children's Foundation, the Prudential Foundation, The Carlson Family Foundation, and the Debra and Kenneth Caplan Foundation, The Stone Foundation NJTC serves as a needed corrective response to the state's dramatic learning gaps exacerbated by the pandemic. Launched during the 2022-23 school year, NJTC initially served approximately 500 scholars. Since then, it has become a needed focal point for advocating and expanding tutoring in New Jersey. Over the last three budget cycles, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz and Senate Education Committee Chair Vin Gopal have been instrumental in supporting NJTC, and with their assistance, the organization has scaled to serve over 14,000 scholars in 247 locations, creating 740 jobs for residents. The most recent independent third-party evaluation showed that NJTC scholars' grade-level performance jumped by 550% in math and 150% in literacy after just one year of NJTC tutoring. Last Fall, the National Student Support Accelerator (NSSA) at Stanford University announced that NJTC had received its prestigious national "Tutoring Program Design Badge," formally indicating that NJTC meets the highest tutoring standards and aligns with the national principles of all Tutoring Quality Standards.