NJ lawmakers worried about ‘anti-racist’ indoctrination want school library ‘transparency’

Three New Jersey lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require public schools to post a comprehensive list of all resources available in school libraries on their websites, to better inform parents of potentially inappropriate materials their children can access.

The bill, co-sponsored by state Sen. Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Greg McGuckin and John Catalano, all Republicans representing an Ocean County district, requires each public school that has a library to post every resource available in the library on the school’s website.

This includes books, periodicals, DVDs, and databases. Any new resource purchased must be added to the list within 10 days of that order or purchase.

“School libraries nowadays contain far more resources than just books and many parents may be shocked to see exactly what materials are available to their children,” said Holzapfel.

In today’s modern libraries, students have access to controversial topics, including books and articles about critical race theory, which Holzapfel said indoctrinates students with the “absurd belief that people are inherently privileged, oppressive, or morally deficient due to little more than the circumstances of their birth.”

McGuckin said the Murphy administration seems to have no problem allowing information about CRT and gender identity to creep into school libraries.

“Our goal with this legislation is to increase transparency between the information available in schools and the general public,” McGuckin said.

Catalano said parents have every right to know what kind of information their kids have access to in the classroom and making that information publicly available on school websites is the most effective way to do it.

Jen Ursillo is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at jennifer.ursillo@townsquaremedia.com

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