SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2335

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  FEBRUARY 15, 2024

     The Senate Education Committee favorably reports Senate Bill No. 2335 with committee amendments.

     As amended, this bill directs the State Board of Education to adopt New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies and English Language Arts on Latino and Hispanic American history.  The amended bill also requires a board of education to include instruction on the history and contributions of Latino and Hispanic Americans in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in grades kindergarten through 12 as part of the school district's implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies and English Language Arts.  The amended bill further requires the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commission on Latino and Hispanic Heritage, to provide school districts with sample learning activities and resources that may be used to support implementation of the instructional requirement. 

     Current law requires the Commission on Latino and Hispanic Heritage, in consultation with the Department of Education, to develop curriculum guidelines for the teaching of subjects and topics concerning and relating to the culture, history, and heritage of people of Latino and Hispanic descent.  School boards are to incorporate these guidelines into the curriculum to the extent possible.  This bill specifically requires instruction on the history and contributions of Latino and Hispanic Americans in the curriculum as part of the implementation of the learning standards. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

· require the State Board of Education to adopt New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies and English Language Arts on Latino and Hispanic American history; and

· require the State Board of Education to readopt applicable standards with each update to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards.