By Kate Okeson and Amy Moran, Ph. D.
A common thread woven through Rainbow Connection articles is highlighting what educators have done and can do in classrooms across New Jersey to make and sustain safe, equitable and affirming school spaces for LGBTQIA+ youth, and the positive impacts that approach has on all students in our spaces. Because of the challenges we’ve seen across the nation and at home in New Jersey, this month’s key abbreviations to know are:
- AG – Attorney General (njoag.gov)
- DCR – New Jersey’s Division on Civil Rights
- LAD – New Jersey Law Against Discrimination
We’ve noticed that actions and efforts to increase visibility are invaluable support to students in schools, but they upset some residents in and beyond New Jersey. Many educators are being met with loud, angry, and, at times, dangerous rhetoric and actions: banning books, restricting access to art and culture, curtailing speech and access to truthful accounts in history, fabricating common and important topics as “controversial,” and not least, rescinding policies that create safer school environments for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students.
Because of these unfortunate developments, NJEA members and leadership met on June 9 with New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and his associates to discuss our concerns and the troublesome impacts that those challenges to policy, guidance, curricula and library resources have on our students. Our voices were united in solidarity, and the result is powerful.
One of the many actions now being taken by the AG’s office with respect to maintaining safe and affirming schools for all students was a Joint Statement from Division on Civil Rights and Department of Education on School-Based Anti-Bias Initiatives and the Law Against Discrimination from Attorney General Platkin and Acting Commissioner of Education Dr. Angelica Allen-McMillan. It includes a clear outline of what actions are not acceptable and a direct line for reporting discriminatory practices with specific attention to race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
This excerpt demonstrates their clarity of purpose:
To address the rising tide of bias and hate, many schools across our State have adopted anti-bias initiatives, policies, and curricula that recognize and value the identities and experiences of students from historically excluded communities. In general, these measures are consistent with the goals of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD)—to prevent and eliminate discrimination. To that end, DCR and DOE encourage all New Jersey schools, school boards, and administrators to continue to develop and implement initiatives to counter bias; to continue to display inclusive markers, flags, and symbols in and around their buildings; to continue to ensure students have access to books representing a diversity of experiences and identities; and to continue to implement and comply with the state’s anti-bias curricula requirements regarding race, gender, LGBTQIA+, disability, and diversity. It is consistent with the LAD, for example, for classroom curricula to intentionally highlight Black history, for a teacher to display a LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual) safe zone sticker, or for a school library to include books and other materials that reflect the experiences and identities of children and families of all races, sexual orientations, and gender identities.
As the new school year begins and we work to create safer spaces for students, colleagues, and ourselves, the AG’s office invites us to alert DCR to a district that has or is considering a discriminatory policy here: schooldiscrimination@njcivilrights.gov.
Read the full letter, which is linked in this QR code, and share the information with your colleagues. Let’s remember: We are the front lines of keeping schools and students safe.