Governor Murphy Signs Bipartisan Legislation Establishing First in the Nation K-12 Information Literacy Education (https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562022/20230104b.shtml)
New Jersey becomes first state to mandate K-12 students learn information literacy
The Senate version of the bill’s lead sponsor, Republican Sen. Mike Testa, said the new law will help students “weigh the flood of news, opinion, and social media they are exposed to both online and off.”
Gov. Phil Murphy signed the legislation Wednesday. | Seth Wenig/AP Photo
By CARLY SITRIN
01/05/2023 11:21 AM EST
Amid a worrying rise in internet misinformation and political conspiracy theories, New Jersey students are poised to become some of the most informationally literate in the country.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday signed legislation, NJ S.B. 588 (22R)/NJ A.B. 4169 (22R), that will make New Jersey the first state to require that K-12 students learn about how information is produced and spread on the internet, critical thinking skills, the difference between facts and opinions and the ethics of creating and sharing information both online and in print.
“Our democracy remains under sustained attack through the proliferation of disinformation that is eroding the role of truth in our political and civic discourse,” Murphy said in a statement. “It is our responsibility to ensure our nation’s future leaders are equipped with the tools necessary to identify fact from fiction.”
The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Legislature — somewhat surprisingly given the political polarization of “disinformation” spread online and the role online conspiracy theories have played in recent elections.
The Senate version’s lead sponsor, Republican Sen. Mike Testa (Cumberland), said the new law will help students “weigh the flood of news, opinion, and social media they are exposed to both online and off.”
“This law isn’t about teaching kids that any specific idea is true or false. Rather, it’s about helping them learn how to research, evaluate, and understand the information they are presented for themselves,” Testa said in a statement.
Under the new law, the state Department of Education — in coordination with a committee of school library media specialists and teachers — will develop information literacy curriculum standards each school district will have to incorporate “in an appropriate place in the [district’s] curriculum.”
At minimum, the curriculum will have to include instruction on:
— The research process and how information is created and produced.
— Critical thinking and using information resources.
THIS IS WHAT A REAL/TRUE/TRUTH AND “FAITH DOING WORKS” TYPE OF STATE AND GOVERNOR DOES/CAN DO/SHOULD DO, ALONG WITH “ALL”, WHO HELPED DO THIS IN NEW JERSEY, AND “NOT” WHAT THE HATEFUL/BIGOTED FLORIDA GOVERNOR HAS DONE!!!
