STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman REGINALD W. ATKINS
District 20 (Union)
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblyman WILLIAM B. SAMPSON, IV
District 31 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Verrelli, Stanley, Assemblywomen Quijano, Sumter, Katz, Hall, Assemblyman Conaway, Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblyman Karabinchak, Assemblywoman Drulis, Assemblymen McGuckin, Kanitra, Miller, Hutchison, Assemblywomen Flynn and Bagolie
SYNOPSIS
Requires school districts to provide instruction on labor movement as part of New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the public school curriculum and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A board of education shall include instruction on United States and New Jersey labor history and the contributions of the labor movement in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in grades six through 12 as part of the school districts implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies. The instruction shall include, at a minimum, information on:
(1) the history of organized labor;
(2) notable strikes throughout history;
(3) unionization drives; and
(4) the collective bargaining process and existing legal protections in the workplace.
b. The Commissioner of Education shall provide school districts with age-appropriate sample learning activities and resources designed to implement the requirement established pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would require boards of education to include instruction on United States and New Jersey labor history and the contributions of the labor movement. The instruction would be provided in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in grades six through 12 as part of the school districts implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies.
Under the bill, the instruction would include, at a minimum, information on:
the history of organized labor;
notable strikes throughout history;
unionization drives; and
the collective bargaining process and existing legal protections in the workplace.
The bill requires the Commissioner of Education to provide school districts with age-appropriate sample learning activities and resources designed to implement the instructional requirement.