TRENTON, NJ – Assemblyman Erik Peterson has called for the New Jersey Senate to reject Governor Phil Murphy’s nominee, Mary Bennett, for the New Jersey State Board of Education.
Bennett’s nomination was previously stalled in January by the Senate Judiciary Committee due to undisclosed ties to a school desegregation activist group. She is nominated again to replace board members Mary Elizabeth Gazi, Mary Beth Berry, and Andrew Mulvihill, who opposed Senator Vin Gopal’s sex education standards introduced in 2020.
Peterson criticized Bennett as a “social justice warrior,” accusing her of supporting policies to “sexualize children” and undermine women’s rights and safety. He argued that Bennett’s focus on social justice, including busing children across the state, is misplaced. Peterson advocates for appointing parents whose primary concern is core academic subjects and parental rights in children’s education.
The controversy also relates to sex education standards mandating content for fifth and eighth graders that some find controversial. Bennett, a former Newark school principal and educator, is an educational consultant and involved with The New Jersey Coalition for Diverse and Inclusive Schools, which has sued the state Board of Education over desegregation issues.
Peterson also linked Bennett’s nomination to broader educational concerns, citing a New York Times article about low math scores in the U.S. He criticized the educational focus on gender identity and sexual education over basic academic competencies.
The criticism comes in the context of significant drops in New Jersey Student Learning Assessment scores in math and English following school closures due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Peterson asserts that Bennett does not represent a solution to these pressing educational challenges.