Space, Fantasia, Inganamort oppose bills allowing distribution of obscene materials to children
Senate Bill 2421, Assembly Bill 3446 Strip Local Control from School Boards
NEW JERSEY – Senator Parker Space, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, and Assemblyman Michael Inganamort (all R-Sussex, Morris, Warren) Wednesday voiced their strong opposition to Senate Bill 2421 and Assembly Bill 3446.
The new legislation gives an “affirmative defense to a prosecution” for distributing obscene material to minors if the person distributing the obscene material is a teacher, teaching staff member, school librarian, or staff member of a public library performing their job duties.
“This bill is nothing more than big government mandating an ideological agenda into our schools,” said Space, who is both a parent and grandparent, served for over 10 years in the Assembly before his election to the Senate last year. “We should respect parents and local school officials enough for them to decide what is appropriate when deciding what educational materials should be available to students. Period.”
The bill includes eight new mandates that strip School Boards of their decision-making power in favor of the State government.
“First and foremost, this legislation is an affront to parents and taxpayers by usurping more control away from local education and giving it to faceless bureaucrats in Trenton,” said Fantasia, a professional educator and mother of three adult children. “Provisions in the bill silence the public into submission and handcuff local school boards by the special legal protection afforded certain educators and librarians if they decide to keep obscene material on bookshelves.”
Since the shutdowns of our public schools due to the pandemic, concerned parents have been advocating for more transparency and more oversight in what educational materials are being disseminated to their children. This has sparked statewide outrage at the severe inappropriateness of some of the curriculum and material being used in our schools and libraries.
“There is no place for obscene, sexually-explicit material in classrooms, no matter who is distributing it,” said Inganamort, a father of three. “Let’s also remember that most teachers and librarians don’t want to be put in this position in the first place. We’ll strongly oppose this legislation to protect our kids, first and foremost, and to defend the integrity of the teaching profession, too.”
S2421 and A3446 have been referred to the respective Education Committees in the Senate and General Assembly. Although no further legislative action has been taken to date, the legislators expressed their vigilance in keeping on top of this issue to fight for the interests of parents and their community.
