Murphy orders review of sex ed standards

Your afternoon must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Jerseyans.

Apr 13, 2022 View in browser   By Jonathan Custodio Are you not entertained? Gov. Phil Murphy said today that he has ordered the state Department of Education to review New Jersey's sex education curriculum standards and "provide further clarification on what age-appropriate guidelines look like for our students," after saying Monday that he was "willing to entertain" their revision. "Unfortunately, our learning standards have been intentionally misrepresented by some politicians seeking to divide and score political points," Murphy said in a statement. "At the same time, we have seen a handful of sample lesson plans being circulated that have not been adopted in our school districts and do not accurately reflect the spirit of the standards. Any proposed educational content that is not age-appropriate should be immediately revised by local officials." Controversy over the Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Student Learning Standards, which were introduced in 2020 and due to take effect this fall, escalated after state Sen. Holly Schepisi, a Republican who represents portions of Bergen and Passaic counties, circulated a sample lesson touching on gender identity that an advocacy group submitted to the Westfield Board of Education. While Westfield Schools superintendent Raymond González said the lesson was not part of the district's curriculum, outrage spread across conservative national media. According to the state standards, students should be able to identify vaginal, oral and anal sex by eighth grade and differentiate between sexual orientation and gender identity by fifth grade. The standards generated some controversy during last year's gubernatorial race, but the issue has exploded in recent weeks. Murphy did not elaborate on what the Department of Education's review process would entail. POLITICO's Matt Friedman has more here. HAPPY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON — Hi there, I'm Jonathan Custodio, new Playbook PM author for the next few months . I've covered the 2021 race for mayor and comptroller in New York City, world and national security issues, and energy policy at POLITICO. I'm excited to helm this newsletter. You can send eastern goldfinch photos to jcustodio@politico.com. We're here with the latest from Trenton and elsewhere as New Jersey moves ahead in the budget process and the Legislature conducts hearings on Gov. Phil Murphy's spending plan. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY STAFFER EXIT —  Mahen Gunaratna, Murphy's communications director, will become chief public affairs officer and senior vice president at the gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety on June 1, POLITICO's Matt Friedmann reports. Gunaratna will also serve on the board of a PAC and nonprofit helmed by First Lady Tammy Murphy. Everytown for Gun Safety has been an ally of the Murphy administration in pushing gun control policies. ONLY A COURTESY — Senatorial courtesy is stalling the confirmation of top state officials nominated by Murphy, reports New Jersey Monitor's Nikita Biryukov. The rule permits state senators to block the appointments of nominees who reside in their district or are from the counties they represent without any explanation. Several of Murphy's nominations, including Tahesha Way for secretary of state, Acting Education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan, Matt Platkin for attorney general, and Rachel Wainer Apter for the New Jersey Supreme Court have seen little movement thus far because they are being blocked in the Senate. COVID NUMBERS — The state reported nine Covid-19 deaths and 1,844 confirmed cases today. Cases are up 35 percent from a week ago and 77 percent from a month ago as the Biden administration extended the nationwide mask mandate on public transit for two more weeks. ON THE BEATS ENERGY — The NJ Transit board held its first in-person meeting since the beginning of the pandemic — and it was a tumultuous one that lasted for more than three hours. For nearly two hours, members of the public blasted the board for talking about building a gas-fired power plant in the middle of a climate crisis, repeatedly delaying plans to hire a customer advocate and being a rubber stamp for Murphy. On top of that, the head of one of the state's largest environmental groups, Doug O'Malley, of Environment New Jersey, came out against Murphy's plans to replace board member James Adams. — Ry Rivard Around New Jersey "3 N.J. districts with 1 school each to study benefits of merging," by NJ Advance Media's Jackie Roman: "There may be a merger ahead for the Monmouth County school districts of Highlands, Atlantic Highlands, and Henry Hudson Regional as a study assessing the feasibility of their consolidation nears completion. The three school districts — among the state's smallest with approximately 740 students between them — have been engaged in discussions of regionalization for years, and after securing a state-funded grant last summer to study how merging might impact their communities and taxpayers, the Henry Hudson Tri-District (as it's referred to) is expected to present the results next month." "Rutgers 'created impression employment was virtually guaranteed,' MBA student alleges in lawsuit," by NJ Advance Media's Ted Sherman : "A Rutgers MBA student filed a federal class action suit against the university Tuesday, charging that its business school violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act by allegedly creating fake jobs for graduates simply to boost its U.S. News & World Report program rankings. The complaint comes days after a similar lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Rutgers administrator, who charged the university had fraudulently sought to punch up its national rankings by creating those bogus positions to show the success its business school graduates had in finding employment." "'COVID crushed us': Chronic absenteeism plagued N.J. schools during pandemic," by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Melanie Burney and John Duchneskie: "As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the 2020-21 school year, thousands of Camden students were chronically absent, either not showing up at buildings or failing to log in for remote learning, a state report shows. The number of students in the Camden City School District who missed 10 or more school days — the definition of chronically absent — jumped to 57% that year, up from 34% during the 2018-19 school year, the last full year held in person, according to the annual New Jersey School Performance Reports" "NJ opens 'disinformation portal' to fight deepfakes. Here's how to tell fact from fiction," by New Jersey Herald's Hannan Adely: "New Jersey unveiled a new 'disinformation portal' last week, hoping to help citizens fend off a torrent of falsehoods and deepfake videos that officials say are increasing 'exponentially.' The website offers tips for spotting deceptive information and links to fact-checking resources from the State Department, the FBI and other sources. The problem has gotten noticeably worse just in the last few weeks as perpetrators try to promote Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Laurie Doran, director of the state Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, said in an interview." Odds and ends — Should have gone for the bug spray: thieves used what police believe to be bug traps to swipe mail outside two South Brunswick post offices. — Two lottery tickets were sold in New Jersey for at least seven figures each. — Close to half of voters between the ages of 50 and 64 surveyed by AARP say they've contemplated moving out of New Jersey. — Newark is bringing back retired teachers to help fill 113 vacant positions. — The Dream Wheel has opened at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford.    Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  California Playbook PM  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  New York Playbook PM View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.