Monmouth County calls for Parents’ Bill of Rights in light of ‘disturbing’ NJ sex education standards

The Monmouth County Board of Commissioners in New Jersey has unanimously approved a resolution to create a Parents’ Bill of Rights in response to what the commissioners described as "disturbing" new sex education standards approved by the state’s Department of Education.

New Jersey public school second-graders will be getting lessons related to gender identity this fall under state sex education guidelines that will take effect in September. The standards list "performance expectations" for second-graders, which include discussing "the range of ways people express their gender and how gender role stereotypes may limit behavior."

NEW JERSEY TO REQUIRE 2ND GRADERS LEARN ABOUT GENDER IDENTITY IN FALL, ALARMING PARENTS

The standards sparked a massive backlash in recent days, prompting New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, to order a review by his Department of Education, saying, "Any proposed educational content that is not age-appropriate should be immediately revised by local officials."

Last week, Monmouth County commissioners approved a resolution to create a Parents’ Bill of Rights, saying the state’s approved curriculum for kindergarten through second grade is "both disturbing and concerning to the parents and citizens here in Monmouth County and throughout the state of New Jersey."

The resolution states that county commissioners will work with parents, community leaders and professionals to develop the Parents' Bill of Rights, which will be used "as a model for our county schools, as well as our local school districts, that will, among other things, protect our children, notify our parents of the curricula being taught to their children in our schools, and allow them to make their own decisions regarding their child’s education and exposure to sensitive information."

The resolution also calls on Murphy, the New Jersey Legislature and the Department of Education to "ban such highly sensitive curricula for our young children."

Commissioner Director Thomas Arnone issued a statement Monday calling on Monmouth County parents and guardians to provide their input on what they believe should be included in the Parents’ Bill of Rights.

"I cannot stress enough how strongly we, as a Board, are opposed to the legislation that was passed, without adequate opportunity for public comment and parental input, regarding the deeply disturbing and highly sensitive content that will be taught to our young children," Arnone said.

"We believe that the decisions about discussions regarding these delicate topics should be made by a parent and not by the government, which is why we passed a resolution at the county level calling for the creation of a Parents' Bill of Rights to use as a model for our county schools, as well as our local school districts, that will protect our children, notify parents of the curricula being taught to their children in our schools, and allow them to make their own decisions regarding their child's education and exposure to sensitive material," he said.

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Parental rights bills have been cropping up in multiple states amid what Republicans argue is "woke" indoctrination of young children. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed his state's Parental Rights in Education bill into law. It bans teachers from giving classroom instruction on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" in kindergarten through third grade.