NJ Vows To Discipline Schools That Don't Teach New Sex-Ed Curriculum

NEW JERSEY — School districts will be disciplined if they don't implement the state's new health- and sex-education curriculum, the New Jersey Department of Education told districts in a recent memo.

Districts that don't comply with the educational standards, established in 2020, may face loss of local control, monitoring from the state and, in extreme cases, loss of state aid. The State Board of Education approved of the sex education curriculum changes in 2020, but they went into effect this school year and have received public scrutiny in recent months.

Several districts have attempted workarounds to the new standards, which have been a flashpoint for criticism from Republican lawmakers and some parents around the state.

Some of those workarounds include forcing parents to opt their students into the lessons, instead of following the state's protocol of allowing parents to opt their children out. Some school boards throughout the state have members who vocally opposed the changes but told constituents that the punishments for noncompliance aren't worth it.

The Department of Education tracks how well school districts meet educational requirements through the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC). Districts evaluate themselves before the state verifies the information they provide. Districts that score lower than 80 percent in any of five NJQSAC areas must create a plan for improving performance. That could include additional monitoring from the state and determining whether further action is necessary.

Criticisms of the new curriculum center around lessons on sexual health, sexual orientation and gender identity. Opposition to the standards has sparked contentious school board meetings throughout the state, while Republican leaders have recently ramped up attacks against the New Jersey Education Association — state's largest teacher's union, which has defended the health curriculum. Read more: GOP Attacks On NJ Teachers Ramp Up As New Sex Ed Classes Begin

The Assembly Republican Office even released a "parody ad" attacking the NJEA, with a spoofed voiceover saying, "Stop resisting our agenda and accept that you have no control over your children’s education."

NJEA leadership says it has expressed openness toward talking to parents about concerns. But they've pushed back against people and politicians who they say have misrepresented the curriculum.

"We are very concerned by the small but very loud group of people who are doing dishonest and dangerous things," said NJEA spokesperson Steve Baker, "like calling educators pedophiles and racists simply because those educators are teaching appropriate in accordance with the state’s approved, age-appropriate standards."

The vast majority of the state's public school districts have adopted lessons that meet the state's protocols. State officials also re-iterated that parents have the option to pull their students out of the lessons, but they must write a formal letter to their principal detailing how the subject matter "conflicts with their conscience or sincerely held moral or religious beliefs."

The standards represent minimum expectations. The Department of Education doesn't require specific lesson plans, and districts have some freedom in how they teach the minimum standards. But some districts have implemented policies to have parents opt their children into the lessons, instead of opting them out.

The Lakewood School District adopted an opt-in policy. School officials told parents Aug. 24 that they must opt in if they'd like their children to participate in the "Social and Sexual Health" and "Pregnancy and Parenting" components of the curriculum. Students would get excluded from the classes unless their parents completed "opt-in" forms. The Middletown Township School District implemented a similar opt-in policy. But it's unclear whether the state will let the opt-in policies stand.

The Garwood School District passed a resolution in May preventing the district from implementing the updated curriculum. In late August, Warren Township School District hit a stalemate when they couldn't come to an agreement causing the new curriculum to fail to pass.

Certain aspects of the curriculum have raised concerns among parents, such as the expectation that schools teach children by the end of fifth grade about the physical, social and emotional changes brought on by puberty, including "the role of hormones (e.g., romantic and sexual feelings, masturbation, mood swings, timing of pubertal onset)."

A majority of New Jersey residents support having health and sexual education in middle school (71 percent) and high school (88 percent), according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Wednesday. But a slight majority opposed in elementary schools (46 percent in favor, 51 percent opposed and 3 percent don't know). The poll questions, however, do not specify what New Jersey's curriculum entails.

Sixty-three percent also said the content of health and sexual education courses should be the same throughout the state, while 33 percent felt each district should be allowed to decide the content of their courses.

"Sex-ed has become a major flashpoint this year in New Jersey, especially now as midterm elections approach," said Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling. "Within the state, the issue is echoing the broader, national narrative of sharp partisan division over things like sex, gender and reproductive rights. Yet, according to these numbers, those who have been most vocal in New Jersey do not necessarily reflect a majority of residents’ — or even parents’ — views."

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-26) blasted Gov. Phil Murphy's administration for the memo about abiding by the new standards.

"Parents and local communities deserve to know if Governor Murphy is going to send the sex police into their school districts to punish those who stand in opposition to the concerning state mandates," Pennacchio said. "It’s absolutely obscene that elected local school boards that are accountable to parents, voters and their communities could be replaced for not complying with inappropriate standards imposed by the unelected State Board of Education."