Take ACTION: Say No to Bill Requiring Child "Health and Wellness Check"
The Center for Garden State Families notified our readers and activists regarding S1796, which was to implement an authoritarian mandate of homeschool registration to the state government. This bill was to be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Thursday, June 5. An impact room close to 130 homeschool parents appeared at the committee hearing, only to be told that the bill had been pulled by the sponsor, Sen. Angela McKnight, who wanted to meet with the stakeholders before any further action was taken.
Curiously, on the same day as the committee, June 5, another bill was introduced into the legislature. Sen. John Burzichelli and Sen. Paul Moriarty introduced S4589. This bill is even worse than S1796. This bill requires child in-home education programs and parents to meet annually with a representative of the resident school district.
We at the Center for Garden State Families believe the reason Sen. McKnight pulled her bill was because of S4589—just more shenanigans by the anti-family leadership of the New Jersey legislature.
S4589 is not merely an affront to homeschooling families. It raises privacy concerns and undermines the fundamental principle of American jurisprudence, which holds that individuals are presumed innocent unless there is proof that they have committed a crime.
Just how bad is S4589?
The Barna Group anonymously questioned a nationally representative sample of adults in detail about their experiences with child abuse and neglect while growing up. The study, as published in the Journal of School Choice, 2023, concluded that the type of school attended—home school or public school—was not a significant factor in the frequency of childhood abuse.
This bill can only encourage discrimination, prejudice, and suspicion towards parents merely because they exercise their constitutional right to homeschool their children. Should S4589/A5796 be implemented, the exact requirement must be imposed on all government school students and parents as well. That is the equitable thing to do.
The details of the bill are astonishingly problematic as well. The bill does not define what a general health and wellness check is. Nor does any New Jersey statute or regulation define it.
So, what is a health and wellness check? An independent source describes it like this:
“A wellness check, often known as a wellness exam, is a preventive service that focuses on maintaining your current state of health and preventing future health issues. It's different from a regular medical appointment with your primary care doctor, which typically addresses specific health concerns or symptoms. During a wellness check, a healthcare provider, usually a primary care physician (PCP), reviews your general health status. This includes a physical exam, discussions about lifestyle and behavioral factors, family history, and potential risk factors for diseases.”
With such troubling vagueness in the bill, we would expect a massive variation in how the “general health and wellness check” is administered locally. The law provides no guidance on how it should be implemented, so officials will flounder, create their own policies and rules, and essentially do as they please. We would also expect them to want to question homeschooled children separately from their parents.
This is simply outrageous, not to mention a massive invasion of privacy. Health information is confidential. S4589/A5796 violates federal HIPAA laws. School officials do not have a free pass to feast their eyes on my family’s private health information.
This bill, with its assumptions, clearly violates and denies homeschool parents due process protections under the 14th Amendment.
Finally, if this bill becomes law, there would likely be a demand that homeschoolers register annually, and we would expect additional laws to be enacted setting up punishment for those who don’t comply.
Take Action
Please call, email, or visit
Senator John Burzichelli (District 3, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem),
711 North Main Street
Glassboro, New Jersey 08028
Fax: (856) 243-2830
Senator Paul Moriarty (District 4, Atlantic, Camden, and Gloucester),
129 Johnson Road, Suite 1
Turnersville, New Jersey 08012
Senator Benjie Wimberly (District 35, Bergen County and Passaic County)
301 Main Street, Suite 360
Paterson, New Jersey 07505
If any one of them is your own senator. These three are the sponsors and cosponsors of the bill. Suppose you are not in these senators’ districts. Should they ask you if you live in the district, say this:
You have introduced and supported a bill that directly affects every family, every parent, and every child in the state of New Jersey. I am a registered voter and taxpayer in New Jersey, and I am respectfully expressing my objections to S4589 to your office.
Remember to be courteous. Your message can also be as simple as: “Please withdraw S4589. It presumes that homeschooling parents are failing to care for children properly.” Or you can use information in the “Just how bad is S4589” section above to form your own message.