Will Assembly bill require teaching children about famous alcoholics?

Yesterday, the Trenton Democrats voted to send A-1335 (S-1569) to the floor of the Assembly for a vote (this legislation has already been passed in the Senate).  A-1335 (S-1569) MANDATES that local school boards, paid for by local property taxpayers, adopt a new curriculum that is centered on the accomplishments of individuals based on their disabilities and sexual preferences.  Here’s how the bill’s synopsis reads:

“Requires boards of education to include instruction, and adopt instructional materials, that accurately portray political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.”

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) people suffering from alcoholism and drug abuse can qualify as disabled.  Here, check it out for yourself:

https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/performance-conduct.html#alcohol 

So, are we to expect, say a class on the arts to focus on John Barrymore’s drinking, rather than on his acting?  Was General (and later President) Ulysses S. Grant distinguished by his military victories – or by the amount of whiskey he could down?

Should the writer and historian James Morris (Jan Morris) be remembered firstly for having undergone sexual reassignment surgery in 1972, or rather for writing the Pax Britannica Trilogy, along with more than 50 other books?  What makes a person important?  The loss of a penis?  Or some of the best travel writing in the English language?  No matter how one feels about trans this or that – the writing is brilliant, and it is the writing that will remain long after the mortal husk is gone.

The New Jersey Legislature is about to require schools to teach that the most important thing about E. O. Wilson is that he was blinded in one eye – rather than his work in myrmecology.  Hey, don’t get us wrong, the story of his blindness is worth telling, and may serve a didactic purpose, but the man is a biologist first and foremost.  He should not be defined by a disability.

Once upon a time a voter could count on the Republican Party and its elected officials to defend local citizen control of education and to oppose the mandates of big government.  Now some Republicans are crossing the aisle to vote with the Democrats.  This is disappointing, because while the unified Democrats clearly tell the world who they are, the disunified Republicans communicate that they stand for nothing (as a party) and that there is no clear blue water between them and the Democrats.  Not much of a reason to throw the Dems out, is it?

Well, the good news is that someone has already prepared a curriculum that can easily be adopted by local school districts that want to conform with A-1335 (S-1569).  Sure, it’s puerile and prurient, but the focus suits the bill perfectly.  And hey, it’s even called “Drunk History”, so it’s all good.  Judge for yourself…

Welcome to the future of educational instruction in New Jersey!