Parental Involvement in classrooms

In order to continue my link with education, schools, and students, I inquired in some NJ schools regarding volunteer opportunities. I was looking to be in the classroom with the teacher, helping as an instructional assistant, but only FREE OF COST! I figured with my teaching background and qualifications, I would have no problem and I was also willing to go through a background check. To my surprise, the schools do not have any volunteers in classrooms.

As a former teacher, I was not only provided a teacher's assistant, but I also invited parents to become classroom helpers whenever it was feasible for them. There is so much research that states parental involvement in the classroom not only improves school-home relations, but also improves student achievement.

I was quite shocked that not a single helping hand is available to these teachers. Moreover, a bit disheartening was that I didn't get a response back from a couple of my inquiries.

Why not have parent or other volunteers in classrooms to lend a helping hand??

Teacher certification issues when moving to a different state.

When moving from CA to NJ, I didn't really think that there would be much of a problem with getting started with a teaching job. Boy was I in for a rude awakening. Not only am I to re-take a qualifying test called the PRAXIS, but I also learned from various employees of school districts in NJ that NJ moves at a snail's pace when it comes to processing the application for certification.

I have three-years of teaching experience and an MS in Education and I can't get started with teaching in NJ - does this seem odd to you??