NJ senator urges action on stalled bills addressing ‘woke agenda’ – New Jersey 101.5 FM

TRENTON – A Republican state senator is highlighting a package of bills he has introduced seeking to reverse what he criticizes as a “woke agenda” in New Jersey schools.

Only one of the four bills sponsored by Sen. Joseph Pennacchio, R-Morris, is new. Two were first introduced 10 months ago and haven’t gotten a hearing, and one has been dormant since it debuted more than 10 years ago.

The goals of the bills generally are in the spirit of ones conservative lawmakers in other states have been pursuing and enacting, and Pennacchio said they are timely given changes to how diversity and gender are taught in New Jersey.

“The woke agenda wielded by Murphy Democrats is a full-scale attack on families,” Pennacchio said. “State government has a role in all of our lives, but it should be to support our security and freedoms, not to dictate how mothers and fathers raise their children or reprogram the way kids think.”

Pennacchio wants the Legislature to act on four bills he says would empower parents:

S1571: Requires public schools to post curriculum plans online; requires school districts to make textbooks or other materials used in implementing curriculum plans available for inspection by parents and legal guardians.

S1570: Requires board of education to publicly post full meeting agenda 48 hours prior to meeting.

S2385: Remove the requirement that instruction on diversity and inclusion be provided in grades kindergarten through eight, and remove the requirement that unconscious bias be examined in any grade. Pennacchio says it would prevent concepts related to critical race theory before high school.

S302: Require counties, municipalities, school districts and other local governments that receive funds from the state to establish a public finance website similar to the state’s transparency site.

“Residents will not quietly tolerate government attempts to hijack the minds of their children,” Pennacchio said.

Republicans hold 16 seats in the Senate to 24 for the Democrats, so Pennacchio and his party have limited influence on what bills are heard. The ones he is highlighting aren’t likely to make the agenda when the Legislature returns from its budget break in May.

Michael Symons is the Statehouse bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at michael.symons@townsquaremedia.com

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