GOP lawmakers press state education officials to expand public input on learning standards
TRENTON, N.J. — A group of Republican lawmakers is calling on the New Jersey Department of Education and the State Board of Education to broaden public participation in upcoming hearings on proposed revisions to statewide learning standards, warning that failure to do so could prompt increased legislative scrutiny.
In a letter sent to Diane Shoener, director of the state Board of Education office, the lawmakers criticized the board’s plan to hold only three in-person public hearings, all in urban or central locations, on changes to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in five subject areas.
“Public hearings on statewide learning standards must be structured to encourage broad participation. Limiting every in-person hearing to a small number of urban locations with a similar ideological base creates both a practical barrier and a reasonable perception that dissenting viewpoints are being filtered out,” the lawmakers wrote.
The state Board of Education is considering revisions to standards in career readiness, life literacies and key skills; science; computer science and design thinking; world languages; and visual and performing arts. Public hearings are scheduled for Jan. 13 at Camden County College in Blackwood, Jan. 28 at a school in Newark, and Feb. 4 at the Department of Education building in Trenton.
Assemblyman Paul Kanitra, R-Ocean, one of the letter’s authors, said the limited schedule restricts access for families across the state.
“The limited public hearings by the state board charged with overseeing the public education of New Jersey’s nearly 1.4 million schoolchildren seem both intentional and calculated. Parents from every part of the state deserve to have a say in changes that will impact their child’s curriculum,” Kanitra said. “Unfortunately, the board is no better today than when they rammed through controversial changes to the health standards during Covid – a time when the governor conveniently outlawed public gatherings.”
The lawmakers referenced a June 2020 vote by the State Board of Education that expanded health standards to include instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation, a move that passed on an 8-4 vote and drew criticism from conservatives.
In their letter, the lawmakers warned that the current approach could damage public trust in the standards revision process.
“If the department proceeds under this structure, it risks undermining public confidence in the legitimacy of the standards revision process and invites avoidable controversy over whether public input was genuinely sought,” they wrote. “We urge the Department of Education and the State Board of Education to promptly reconsider and restructure these hearings to ensure fair, geographically balanced and meaningful access for all New Jerseyans. Absent corrective action, the department should expect continued legislative scrutiny of both the process and the decisions that follow.”
The letter was signed by Sens. Carmen Amato Jr., Jim Holzapfel, Parker Space and Michael Testa; Assemblymen Michael Inganamort, Paul Kanitra, Antwan McClellan, Greg McGuckin, Gregory Myhre, Brian Rumpf and Erik Simonsen; and Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia.
