NEW JERSEY—A new curriculum to help educators include contributions from LGBTQ individuals and people with disabilities will be piloted by 12 schools throughout New Jersey beginning January 2020 with an official kickoff event Jan. 7 at Union County College in Cranford.
All public school districts and charter schools statewide must begin LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in September 2020.
Of 12 pilot schools, the one Bergen County school selected to participate is Bergen Arts & Science Charter High School in Hackensack.
In May 2019, the school—which rents out its facilities from the Archdiocese of Newark—was the focus of controversy when Catholic Church officials had a pro-LGBTQ mural painted over.
The mural, which depicted arrow symbols for the male gender and an interlocking circle with a rainbow heart, was labeled “obscene” by Church officials who ordered it painted over.
A spokesman for Garden State Equality, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, said 200 schools had applied to be part of the new curriculum pilot program, and Bergen Arts & Sciences was one of the first to be approved.
Of the 200 who applied, 50 continued on with a multi-step process to be selected as a “pilot school” and 12 of those were successful.
12 schools selected
Spokesman Jon Oliveira told Northern Valley Press that although only 12 schools are piloting the new LGBTQ curriculum, many of the 200 schools who initially applied to participate have come on board to informally give the curriculum a tryout, although they are not part of the official pilot program.
The curriculum was developed by Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, with financial assistance from The Braitmayer Association, PSEG Foundation, and state education department, said Oliveira.
All schools, whether an official pilot or volunteer, will have access to the LGBTQ curriculum materials posted online Jan. 7 for grades 6–12.
He said pilot schools will test the curriculum in two grades to see how effective the lesson plans are and participate in a pre- and post-implementation survey that will be conducted by Stockton University to determine the curriculum’s effects and impacts.
NJ second for LGBTQ ed
The law to integrate LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum was signed in late January 2019, making New Jersey the second state in the nation to mandate such curriculum, behind California.
Before Murphy signed the LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum law, it reached his desk after passing with a 52-vote majority in the Assembly and a 27-vote majority in the Senate, drawing wide bipartisan support from state legislators.
Beginning in September 2020, the law requires New Jersey grades 6-12 to teach about social, political and economic contributions of LGBTQ individuals and people with disabilities to middle school and high school students.
The law protects local control of curriculum content and implementation, said Oliveira, with local administrators, educators and parents ultimately responsible for meeting state LGBTQ curriculum guidelines.
Negative comments
Earlier this summer, negative comments from a Hackensack school trustee and Barnegat mayor about the new LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum put a spotlight on the law and incensed one of its primary sponsors, state Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-37), who defended the need for the law.
“We’re not promoting one way or lifestyle over another… we’re just being factual” about LGBTQ contributions, Huttle told Northern Valley Press in August. “We can’t taint this generation moving forward and we don’t need another layer of hate, intolerance and bigotry as a legacy,” Huttle said.
She said negative comments come from people “who are either misinformed or leading with ignorance.”
Huttle said the LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum will be designed to integrate age-appropriate content on LGBTQ individuals into every subject and each school district can customize local lesson plans.
More information about curriculum specifics will be released Jan. 7, said Oliveira, who noted the new curriculum should put New Jersey in the lead nationwide in educating students about current and historical LGBTQ individuals’ contributions.
He said California’s LGBTQ law only integrates such lessons into the social science curriculum.
Oliveira previously cited British scientist Alan Turing, poet Walt Whitman, and late New Jersey transgender activist Babs Siperstein—to highlight the significant contributions made by LGBTQ individuals.
“The way the law is written is local school boards can select and adapt what local curriculum they want to implement,” said Oliveira.
He said he anticipates the state education department may eventually issue recommendations for LGBTQ content to be included.
