Bill Text: NJ A5233 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires school districts to include instruction on public health as part of implementation of New Jersey Student Learning Standards.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-01-11 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A5233 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A5233-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Requires school districts to include instruction on public health as part of implementation of New Jersey Student Learning Standards.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning public health instruction in school districts and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A board of education shall include age-appropriate instruction on public health in an appropriate place in the curriculum of middle school and high school students as part of the district's implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. The instruction shall include, but need not be limited to information on:
(1) the social determinants of health;
(2) the evolution of public health over the course of American history, including exploration of such public health atrocities as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study;
(3) health disparities and health inequities;
(4) the development and effectiveness of different classes of medicine; and
(5) the history and effectiveness of vaccines.
b. The Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Health, public health experts, and advocacy organizations representing various areas of public health shall develop a model curriculum for the implementation of the instructional requirement.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the 2021-2022 school year.
STATEMENT
Under this bill, a board of education will include age-appropriate instruction on public health in an appropriate place in the curriculum of middle school and high school students as part of the district's implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. The instruction will include, at a minimum, information on: (1) the social determinants of health; (2) the evolution of public health over the course of American history, including exploration of such public health atrocities as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study; (3) health disparities and health inequities; (4) the development and effectiveness of different classes of medicine; and (5) the history and effectiveness of vaccines.
The bill requires the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Health, public health experts, and advocacy organizations representing various areas of public health to develop a model curriculum that will be used for the implementation of the instructional requirement.
