Bill Text: NJ S2556 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires boards of education to include instruction, and adopt instructional materials, that accurately portray political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-10-27 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S2556 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S2556-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LORETTA WEINBERG
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Requires boards of education to include instruction, and adopt instructional materials, that accurately portray political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning instruction and instructional materials in public schools 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 board of education shall include instruction on the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, in an appropriate place in the curriculum of middle school and high school students as part of the district's implementation of the Core Curriculum Content Standards in Social Studies.
2. When adopting instructional materials for use in the schools of the district, a board of education shall only adopt instructional materials which, in its determination, accurately portray the cultural and economic diversity of society including the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the 2015-2016 school year.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each board of education to provide instruction on the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in an appropriate place in the curriculum of middle school and high school students as part of the district's implementation of the Core Curriculum Content Standards in Social Studies.
The bill also provides that when adopting instructional materials for use in the schools of the district, a board of education may only adopt instructional materials that accurately portray the cultural and economic diversity of society including the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
This bill is modeled on a law adopted in California, the "Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful Education (FAIR) Act," which took effect on January 1, 2012. The State of California is currently engaged in developing textbooks and other instructional materials that incorporate information on the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Upon their completion, these materials will be available to assist school districts in New Jersey in meeting the requirements of the bill.
