Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday he ordered the state Department of Education to review sex education standards New Jersey adopted two years ago after the guidelines sparked an uproar among numerous Republican officials and some parents in recent days.
The Democratic governor said he wants the department to “provide further clarification on what age-appropriate guidelines look like for our students.”
“My administration is committed to ensuring that all of our students are equipped to lead healthy, productive lives now and in the future,” Murphy added.
But Murphy lashed out at critics he said have distorted what is actually included in the guidelines as New Jersey has become latest battleground over a national cultural debate over what students should be taught in classrooms.
“Unfortunately, our learning standards have been intentionally misrepresented by some politicians seeking to divide and score political points,” Murphy said in a statement.
Murphy also said the state has “seen a handful of sample lesson plans being circulated that have not been adopted in our school districts and do not accurately reflect the spirit of the standards.”
“Any proposed educational content that is not age-appropriate should be immediately revised by local officials,” he added.
The governor didn’t say how long the department’s review of standards would take.
The guidelines outline when New Jersey students should learn about topics such as sexual orientation, gender identity, and anatomy. They were adopted by the state Board of Education in 2020 and are set to take effect in the fall.
Murphy said in his statement Wednesday the standards were “crafted over five months” in collaboration parents, experts, and teachers “to ensure that our students receive age-appropriate and inclusive health education, which is critical for their physical, mental, and emotional development and well-being.”
“At a time when we must prioritize student mental health and academic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is paramount that our standards also promote inclusivity and respect for every child, including LGBTQ youth,” the governor said.
But the issue gained new attention in recent weeks after the Westfield school board shared model resources educators could use as districts prepare to implement the standards. Officials said the documents were merely a samples provided by the state, aren’t mandated by the state, and won’t specifically be part of the district’s curriculum.
Over the last week, a Republican lawmaker and conservative media have been circulating the documents. Opponents say the sample materials are too graphic and warn the state’s incoming standards will lead to children being taught sensitive subjects at too young an age, undermining the rights of parents.
Top Republicans in the state Senate on Monday sent letters to Murphy and Senate President Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, urging the state to delay implementing the standards and hold public hearings on them — even though they were publicly available online before the state Board of Education approved them at a public meeting in June 2020.
The Republicans argue the state adopted the standards at a time when people were in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic and they now have heard from “a rapidly growing number of parents who are extremely concerned” after learning about changes “they believe are inappropriate for their children or in conflict with their values.”
Meanwhile, state Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, chairman of the Senate’s education committee, on Tuesday called on Murphy’s office and the state Department of Education to “provide clarity” on the guidelines because of “the amount of misinformation out there and questions coming from parents.”
The state Department of Education said in a statement Wednesday the standards are “designed to ensure that all students acquire the health and physical literacy skills needed to pursue a life of wellness at developmentally appropriate ages, including knowledge and skills related to sexual health.”
“Any allegations to the contrary misrepresent the guidelines,” the department said.
The department stressed it “does not mandate specific curriculum” and that it’s up to local school districts to “create curriculum, tailored to and in consultation with their communities, in order to implement standards within the understanding of local setting and context.”
Under the state’s previous standards, set in 2014, students had to learn by second grade to “use correct terminology to identify body parts and explain how body parts work together to support wellness.”
By fourth grade, students needed to be taught to “determine the relationship of personal health practices and behaviors on an individual’s body systems” and they needed to know “respect and acceptance for individuals regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, religion, and/or culture and provide a foundation for the prevention and resolution of conflict” by sixth grade.
The updated standards say by the end of fifth grade, “all individuals should feel welcome and included regardless of their gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation.”
They also say by second grade, teachers should “discuss the range of ways people express their gender and how gender-role stereotypes may limit behavior.”
By fifth grade, they should “describe gender-role stereotypes and their potential impact on self and others,” be able to “differentiate (for students) between sexual orientation and gender identity” and “demonstrate ways to promote dignity and respect for all people.” They should also “explain common human sexual development and the role of hormones,” such as “romantic and sexual feelings, masturbation, mood swings, timing of pubertal onset.”
By eighth grade, students should be able to “differentiate between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation” and teachers should “develop a plan for the school to promote dignity and respect for people of all genders, gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations in the school community.”
The sample lessons shared by the Westfield school board in Westfield last month discuss a variety of issues related to the standards — including bullying, diverse families, and gender identity — across various grade levels. The models were drafted by a progressive group called Advocates for Youth.
“You might feel like you’re a boy even if you have body parts that some people might tell you are ‘girl’ parts,” one of the documents says. “You might feel like you’re a girl even if you have body parts that some people might tell you are ‘boy’ parts. And you might not feel like you’re a boy or a girl, but you’re a little bit of both. No matter how you feel, you’re perfectly normal!”
State Sen. Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen, shared the materials online last week, saying “I truly think New Jersey has lost its damn mind.”
Schepisi said “the most outrageous part” is the resources include a cartoon video series called “Amaze” produced by the Rutgers University group Answer and Advocates for Youth and Youth Tech Health. One clip, designed for children 10-14, says it’s “normal” to watch pornography, but it’s “exaggerated” from reality.
The state Department of Education includes a link to the series among a group of resources on its website for health and physical education.
Westfield schools superintendent Raymond González told The Washington Post “the sample plans were part of a website that was included as a link to illustrate the type of possible resources for school districts shared by the N.J. Department of Education.”
“We have said repeatedly that these are resources only and that they are not state-mandated,” he added.
Still, Alex Wilkes, a spokeswomen for the state Republican Party, said the state standards are “extremely broad” and “seem to set more of a floor than a ceiling, meaning that parents are looking at Pandora’s box for what is to come in the fall.”
Schepisi said Wednesday that school districts seeking to comply with the standards will “likely feel compelled to pick from the limited menu of (resource) options that are currently available, which parents are now learning contains extreme material.”
Tom Szymanski, executive director of the state Republican party, called Murphy’s call to review the guidelines is “a victory for all the common-sense School Board members, parents and concerned citizens who wrote letters, made phone calls and made their voices heard in this fight for our kids’ education.”
“But this fight is not done, Governor Murphy has only merely signaled an intent to ‘review’ the standards, and we must remain vigilant so that he does not force his radical agenda on us once the pressure is off,’“ Szymanski said. “End these standards once and for all, or we’ll see to it that the voters end your political careers at the ballot box in 2022 and 2023.”
This all comes amid a growing national debate over sex education in schools as acceptance for gay and trans people has increased across America. It reached a fever pitch last month in Florida, when Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis faced criticism for signing a law critics dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay bill,” which bans schools in the state from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in pre-school through third grade.
About a dozen other states controlled by Republicans have since proposed similar legislation or signaled they would follow suit.
There have been similar arguments over how race is taught in school, with warnings about “critical race theory” becoming a flashpoint in recent years.
The sex-ed debate also comes just months before the closely watched mid-term elections, as Republicans seek to gain back control of Congress. It also comes months after a contentious election in New Jersey, as Murphy won a second term by a closer-than-expected margin and Democrats kept control of the state Legislature but Republicans gained seven seats.
All 120 seats in the Legislature are on the ballot again next year.
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