Wayne Public Schools criticized for implementing some curriculum changes

[ad_1]

Nov 18, 2021, 10:50 Updated 12 minutes ago

By: News 12 Staff

Curriculum mandates became a point of contention at Board of Education meetings in a Passaic County school district, even prompting some to take legal action.

The Wayne Education Association, the union that represents teachers and district secretaries, says not only members of the Board of Education are being verbally assaulted because of changes to the curriculum, but so are teachers.

“We are seeing a lot of reluctance on the part of certain members of the community who are not satisfied with the proposed changes”, explains Eda Ferrante, of the association.

Gov. Phil Murphy enacted a measure in 2019 requiring the state’s Board of Education to implement more inclusive education regarding sex education, diversity and equity. But some teachers say they are accused of teaching subjects that are not included in the curriculum changes.

“As part of the Equity and Diversity Inclusion curriculum, some people think we are teaching critical race theory,” Ferrante says. “We just teach and promote other cultures. We promote the cultures, religions and types of people of other students.

Another point of contention in the school district concerns the books used as part of the curriculum change. In October of this year, the Wayne Board of Education meeting got heated when parents took to the podium to express their anger over the inclusion of the book “Gender Queer”, which some find controversial.

“All of our students should be represented in education… These books dealt with LGBTQ + topics and it was in particular a group of children that one of them watching this board meeting felt that it wasn’t really fair to them. These are the resources these children need, ”says Ferrante.

Teachers who are also members of the Wayne Education Association have a message for their students.

“We are there for them. There is a lot of unhappiness at these board meetings and the behavior has been quite difficult for these children to observe, ”said member Dennis Carroll. “The message has also been difficult, and the message is that maybe there isn’t a place for you here in Wayne… and we don’t want our children to feel that way.”

News 12 New Jersey has contacted some of the parents who are against the program changes but have not received a response. The next school council meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening.

[ad_2]