State School Board Erases Equality
NJ State Board of Education has some explaining to do!
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August 2, 2023, the State of New Jersey School Board of Education (NJSBA) voted to PASS amendments to Chapter 7 of the NJ Administrative Code, “Managing for Equality and Equity in Education”, with controversial updates directed by Governor Murphy. The original purpose of the chapter is to ensure that all students, regardless of race, creed, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. are provided equal access to educational programs and services by all NJ government school districts and boards of education.
The New Jersey State Board of Education is an unelected and unaccountable body of bureaucrats appointed by the Governor of NJ—the nation's most dictatorial and empowered governor of all 50 states. The following is our analysis of Chapter 7 of the NJ Administrative Code, which is not "law" but the directives of the State Board of Education through the NJ Department of Education. Funding may be connected to implementing these guidelines as stated on page 20 of the Notice of Proposal for N.J.A.C. 6A: 7, Managing for Equality and Equity in Education. "the regulation also states that sanctions may include action to suspend, terminate, or refuse to award continued Federal or State financial assistance, pursuant to N.J.S.A.18 A: 55 – 2.
One would hope that our leaders have the intention of leading citizens toward the common good. As people of principles and morals, leaders guide us toward a society where justice is the fundamental virtue. I remind you though that we live in New Jersey, so it would be wise to leave wishful thinking to our dreams. To discover the true intention of NJ’s current governor, and specifically the State Board of Education, all you have to do is read the NJ Administrative Code.
Their latest amendment to Chapter 7 titled “Managing for Equality and Equity in Education” is one more testimony to the destructive and ideological intentions of these administrators. Although many items they advocate in this text are blatantly egregious, some subtle play of words require careful disentangling to view just how far the BOE is committed to politicizing education. The amendment begins by declaring the twofold purpose of chapter 7: first, “to guarantee each student equal access to all education programs…” and second, to “provide an objective basis for evaluating a school district’s progress toward equality and equity in education programs,” (pg. 2).
For a first-time reader, what follows may seem like a promising guideline for obtaining these reasonable goals, but the document has merely created a “justifiable” framework to impose an agenda of destructive policies. The document continues by guaranteeing “evidence-based practices regarding equity in education,” (pg. 2). It is a relief to know that what follows is supported by evidence. In fact, the document repeats this same affirmation 5 times throughout the text! So, although we are never actually presented this evidence, we can rest assured it must exist... somewhere.
The text shows its true colors when it proposes to add the following labels as “protected categories or classes”: “civil union status, domestic partnership status, genetic information, pregnancy or breastfeeding, sex, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait of any individual, the nationality of any individual, liability for service in the United States Armed Forces, and the nationality of any individual,” (pg. 3). Why we might need so many labels, no one is sure. Nevertheless, the usefulness is evident when one realizes just how racist you might actually be without knowing it. For example, I have identified as an O blood type my whole life, but now I am slow to say so publicly in case I offend the AB blood type minority.
The new label of “genetic information” as a group of people is another brilliant idea. With it we can avoid the uncomfortable and personal question of asking for a child’s sex when they register to a new school. We wouldn’t want to misgender them on the first day; besides, they might be gender fluid. Therefore, it is so much smoother to ask parents to write down their child’s “genetic information” instead. In other words, XX for females assigned at birth and XY for males assigned at birth. This way, we can separate the medical technicalities like a student’s allergies, emergency medication, or sex, from their true inner identity.
The amendment is followed by another daunting sentence. It intends to eliminate the requirement of “high teacher expectations for student learning,” (pg. 3). As a former middle school teacher, I was initially shocked by such a thought. The high expectations of teachers and parents of their students are one of the main motivators for students to succeed in their studies. If a student is ignored to do whatever they feel, they will very happily do just that. Unfortunately, though, this rarely involves working hard and studying. Nevertheless, we can rest assured that the elimination of this phrase is for a good reason. The amendment intends to replace N.J.A.C.6a:7-1.1(a), with the requirement that “educational programs include the professional standards for teachers and school leaders to align to the chapter’s purpose with N.J.AC.6A:9,” Professional Standards, and 6A:10, Educator Effectiveness (pg. 3-4). So, as we can see, our bureaucrats are not necessarily ignoring a good and healthy work ethic for our students, but they are focusing on the greater good of implementing their own policies, which as we have stated from the start, are absolutely trustworthy because of “evidence-based practices regarding equity in education.”
The amendment continues with its lofty goal of defending social equity by confronting one of the most difficult issues: sexual education. The amendment makes the bold decision of allowing “portions of classes that deal exclusively with human sexuality to be conducted in separate developmentally appropriate sessions based on gender identity of the students” (pg. 16). No longer will boys and girls receive separate instruction when learning about the corresponding realities of puberty for their own bodies. Menstruating teen girls may have to learn about these delicate topics next to a wide-shouldered XY teen with facial hair. Is this the intended “educational environment that is fair, just, and impartial to all individuals,” (pg. 8)? The evidence to support this decision must be truly spectacular and revolutionary.
Another decision that may seem puzzling to an unprofessional mind (unlike that of our bureaucrats) consists in “removing gender-specific language,” (pg. 16). At first glance, one might think that this is counter-productive: it underrepresents the large group of people that use the pronouns he or she. However, what we don’t understand, and has been proven by identity politics, is that equality and justice can only be obtained by discriminating against the former racist groups. Therefore, we must avoid the use of commonly used racist pronouns such as he, she, his, her and replace them by always using the gender-neutral pronouns we, woo, wiz, wa. Right! The list of new pronouns may be subject to change due to trends on Tik Tok, but the important point is that New Jersey schools will have an equitable environment.
Perhaps the most revolutionary change by the amendment has still gone unmentioned. In regards to sports, boys, and girls will not be separated to play on different teams because it would not be equitable to do so. Instead, “a school district may choose to operate separate teams [for the two sexes] based on sex in one or more sports or single teams open competitively to members of [both] all sexes…” (pg. 39). Therefore, the possibilities of team sports are endless, just like the number of sexual identities among students. After reading through the 41 pages of this document we are still left with our question: what are the intentions of the people who wrote this document? As a Christian, I firmly believe that only God judges hearts. Yet, this is not an excuse for us to blindly place our children in harm's way. I trust in our Lord Jesus Christ because He proved to us His divinity through various signs, including His Resurrection. But why should I trust public schools or bureaucrats? Where is the evidence that they claim supports their bizarre theories about human nature and biology? Until I see this supposed evidence, I can’t help but repeat the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits” (Mt. 7:20).
Here are the NJBOE members and how the voted. Yes is to remove male & female, replace Equality with Equity. No was to defend reality and NJ children.
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