State officials to review sex education standards

Controversy over what's being taught at issue

By Dustin Racioppi
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... New Jersey will review its sex education standards after severe backlash in conservative ranks that the state and some school districts are foisting inappropriate and extreme views of sex and gender on young students.
..... At the same time, Governor Phil Murphy said Wednesday [04/13/2022] that his administration's standards "have been intentionally misrepresented by some politicians seeking to divide and score political points."
..... Beyond the recrimination, the push for a law similar to Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill and a fundraising appeal to "stop the indoctrination of our children," the controversy over what's being taught seems to have bred confusion more than anything else.
..... "When there's something that's been absolutely bono-controveresial for a long period of time and all of a sudden it is, you have to look at what's changed," said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.
..... "When cooler heads prevail and you look at what's actually in the standards, there's not a whole lot of room for controversy," he added. "Is there going to be room for disagreement in a sample lesson plan? Yeah."
..... Senator Vin Gopal, a Monmouth county Democrat who chairs the education committee, said he'd like to see more engagement between school districts and residents about curriculum and a brief document from the Education Department laying out the sex education standards.
..... "There's a lot of misinformation out there," Gopal said.
..... Some district leaders are taking steps to assure parents that the state's standards are simply broad guidelines that will be used to craft curriculum that will differ by district.
..... A draft lesson plan in Westfield and language changes in the state's guidelines on sex and health education are at the heart of the uproar, Senator Holly Schepist, R-Bergen, shared lesson plans last week [[04/07/2022] that she said "go too far" by teaching young students about gender issues and sexual acts like masturbation. The state's guidelines issued in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 "created a lot of confusion" to districts, she said.
..... "What we need right now is just transparency and openness," Schepist said.
..... Here is what the laws and guidelines say, and what families need to know.

New LGBTO instruction

..... Murphy signed a law in 2019 requiring schools with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people "in an appropriat4e place" in middle school and high school.
..... That has stirred some controversy, with some critics saying the mandate erodes parental rights on a gender identity discussion some consider sensitive. Murphy and advocates have said the requirements make schools more inclusive.

Updated sex education standards

..... Separately, the state Department of Education revised the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in June 2020 that changed some language around gender and sex instruction. The standard cover many more topics, including fitness, nutrition and substance abuse.
..... Critics point to the changes in sex and health education, which take effect later this year, [2022] as evidence of a new "woke" curriculum surrounding gender stereo-types and graphic details on intercourse.
..... As a result, lawmakers of the 10th legislative district in Ocean County said, "students as young as kindergarten will role play about gender types and pressure to conform, and by eighth grade they will learn about vaginal, oral and anal sex."
..... But some of the new standards are similar to those that were in place since 2014, when Republican Governor Chris Christie was in office.
..... Take the 10th district Republicans; argument about gender and sex, for example

By second grade

* The 2014 standards say that by the end of second grade students should be able to "compare and contrast the physical differences and similarities of the genders."
* The new standards say second-grade students should "discuss how individuals make their own choices about how to express themselves" and "discuss the range of ways people express their gender and how gender-role stereotypes may limit behavior."

By fourth and fifth grade

* By the end of fourth grade, according to the 2014 standards, students should have been able to "differential the physical, social and emotional changes occurring at puberty and explain hwy puberty begins and ends at different ages."
* In the 2020 standards, students by the end of fifth grade should be able to explain the changes during puberty, common sexual development and the role of hormones, such as masturbation and sexual feelings. They must also understand the relationship between intercourse and reproduction and explain the different ways someone can get pregnant.
* The new standard also say by the end of fifth grade students should be able to describe gender-role stereotypes; differentiate between sexual orientation and gender identity; and show ways to "Promote dignity and respect for all people."

By eight grade

* The previous standard said that by the end of eighth grade students should, among other things, "discuss topics regarding gender identity, sexual orientation, and cultural stereotyping." By 12th grade they had to "compare and contrast attitudes and beliefs about gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender equity across cultures."
* Under the 2020 standards, eight graders must :differentiat4e between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation."
* However, the new standards also say students should be able to "define vaginal, oral, and anal sex" by eight grade something that was not explicitly laid out in the 2014 standards.

District plan riles Republicans

..... A draft instructional plan in the Westfield school district drew the most outrage, as well as coverage from Fox News and the Daily Mail in London.
..... The plan, citing the state's standard that second graders be able to identify body parts, details suggestions to teach students about genitalia. But it also says "there are some body parts that mostly just girls have and some parts that mostly just boys have. Being a boy or a girl doesn't have to mean you have those parts."
..... Republican Senator Jon Brannick, who lives in Westfield, said first- and second-grade students shouldn't have a course on gender identity because it;s "a complicated subject that would be confusing to very young children."
..... The plan for fifth graders includes links to an educational website Amaze.org , that features dozens of animated videos teaching young people about a range of topics, from gender identity to reproductive health to relationships.
..... Raymond A. Gonzales, superintendent of Westfield schools, said in a statement that the district is :in the midst" of developing its curriculum for the school year beginning in September [2022]
..... The state's learning standards set "the basic framework" but it's up to districts to decide when and how students learn, he said.
..... "Any resources that are available through the NJDOE or a third party are exactly that, resources to be considered, but not mandated to be used," he said.

What's going on in other schools?

...... New Jersey has about 600 school districts, so it's difficult to get a comprehensive view of sex education throughout the state.
..... Without naming districts, Murphy said Wednesday [04/13/2022] that "We have 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 revise by local officials," he said.
..... The sudden attention on sex education has lit up the phone lines of lawmakers and some school districts, they said. It's causing "a lot of parent concern and confusion" in Old Bridge, superintendent David Cittadino said. In Sayreville, superintendent Richard S. Labbe addressed it in his newsletter after "multiple" parents asked "due to some inflammatory postings on social medial last week." [04/07/2022]
..... He told parents the district will share tis new curriculum with the community this summer. [2022]
..... "We can assure you that despite what the standards may state, the district and board of education will not subject our students to any content that we determine to be profane or inappropriate in accordance with their age and/or grade-level," Labbe said.
..... Other school districts have not even begun to think about the 2020 update to the state standards. They have more pressing issues right now, said Hoboken superintendent Christine Johnson.
..... To illustrate how districts use the state's broad standards to develop their own detailed instruction plans, Johnson pointed to how the Holocaust is tonight in Hoboken.
.... A middle school will host a program in the evening that includes a Holocaust survivor to speak to students, she said. Parents can log in to the session but the school also reaches out to the families that choose not to attend, and provides them with alternative resources.
..... Hoboken plans a similar approach to health and physical education, Johnson said, with a discussion on social and sexual health for students in the fifth to seven grades. Parents will be invited to attend and are provided with reference materials prior to the session, Johnson said.
..... "We've always been able to do that," Johnson said. "Never, really, have we been told how to deliver materials."
..... In Mount Holly, teachers will start revising curricular in May and June, [2022] followed by community meetings in the late sumer and early fall [2022] to inform families of sensitive topics, superintendent Robert Mungo said.
..... "We understand that sensitivity is a priority because some changes may not appeal to everyone," he said.
..... A spokeswoman for the Cherry hill school district said it plans to ensure age-appropriate material is taught to students because "the parental perspective has been heard and will be considered as we plan for revisions."
..... The law also allows parents and guardians to opt out o parts of "health, family life education, or sex education that conflicts with their conscience or moral or religious beliefs," said Michael Yaple, an education department spokesman. "Parents deserve, absolutely, to have a say in this sort of stuff," Murphy said earlier in the week. [04/12/2022]

Staff writer Mary Ann Koruth, Cheryl Makin and Aedy Miller contributed to this article.

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