New Jersey capitol building.
New Jersey's Senate Bill 4086, which would require the state board of education to adopt rules to prevent public school teachers in the state from engaging in what it describes as "political, ideological or religious advocacy in the classroom" and establish penalties for violations "up to and including termination of employment," was introduced and referred to the Senate Education Committee on February 3, 2025.
The rules demanded by the bill would require teachers to "provide students with materials supporting both sides of a controversial issue being addressed and to present both sides in a fair-minded and nonpartisan manner," where "controversial issue" was defined as "an issue that is part of an electoral party platform at the local, state, or federal level." As Ars Technica (January 29, 2019) observed in discussing a spate of similar measures in 2019, "a large number of state party platforms specifically mention evolution and climate change."
Sponsored by Michael L. Testa Jr. (R-District 1) and Joseph Pennacchio (R-District 26), Senate Bill 4086 is substantially similar to Senate Bill 598 and Assembly Bill 783 in 2022-2023 and Senate Bill 4166 and Assembly Bill 6136 in 2020-2021, as well as to Assembly Bill 1514, which was introduced and referred to the Assembly Education Committee on January 9, 2024, and has not proceeded further since.
