Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) issued the following statement on the Thrive NJ Coalition New Jersey Sex Education Report Card:
“Today, the Thrive New Jersey Coalition released New Jersey’s Sex Education Report Card where our state received an overall grade of a C.
“As a mother, if my child came home with this report card: earning mostly C’s in 6 out of 8 subjects, there would be no doubt that something is not working.
“However, there is one subject that New Jersey received an A: parental support for comprehensive sex education. This begs the question, if we have parental support for high-quality sex education for our students, why aren’t they getting it?
“In 1981 New Jersey became the first state in the nation to pass a law on comprehensive sex education. While this was a major step in the right direction, the Sex Education Report Card shows us that New Jersey is well past due for an update.
“All young people deserve to have access to medically accurate information and resources to help them protect their health and build their future. Sex education should be inclusive of all gender identities and sexual orientations, it should be trauma-informed and without question, it should be representative of the medical realities of family planning and sexuality.
“I applaud the efforts of the Thrive New Jersey Coalition for bringing this important issue to the limelight. I look forward to working with advocates across the state as we work to improve the quality and consistency of sex education in New Jersey.”