America's parents aren't 'woke' but they are awake to gender ideology education plans
Categories: US Education News
In urban areas such as Newark, New Jersey, mid-year reading test scores paint a grim picture. Students started the school year alarmingly behind, and the Newark Public School system predicts that fewer than 10% of students in second grade will meet state English standards this year.
Only 6% of fifth graders will be proficient readers by the end of the school year.Almost all students are failing to learn math in Newark schools. Only 1.9% of fourth graders are expected to master math state standards this year, and fewer than 6% of the district’s students from grades three to seven will be considered math proficient.
Newark is a famously failing school system, despite the millions donated to the system over the years. Before COVID-era policies closed school doors, however, a quarter of the students were meeting standards.
The state’s academic crisis extends beyond Newark, despite the $6 billion in emergency federal education funding funneled into the state. Across the state, Strong Start testing in fall 2021 revealed that 49% of fourth grade students — 74% for Black students and 70% for Hispanic students — received the lowest possible score in math.
The testing found that 42% of New Jersey fourth graders tested at the lowest level in reading.New Jersey elementary students cannot read well, but the state board of education expects seven-year-olds to, "list medically accurate names for body parts, including the genitals," as part of the new health and physical education curriculum standards. The standards will go into effect this fall, and school districts are identifying curriculum aligned to the standards.
Parents and state legislators are understandably questioning the rationale for these state standards and recommended lessons. During the pandemic, parents discovered the extent that activism distracts from academics. They are eager to reorient schools back to what matters. They want their children to learn to read and acquire math skills, rather than be drilled on gender ideology terms and concepts.
State and local school boards in New Jersey and beyond should listen to parents and stop sacrificing children's interests to their political agenda. Schools must focus on the academic and learning loss crisis they have created. State standards and recommended lesson plans should prioritize accurate academic instruction, rather than proselytize gender ideology.