- Well, Governor Murphy is marking Hispanic Heritage Month with a new requirement for all K through 12 public school students in the state.

Starting next year, they'll learn about Latino and Hispanic history as part of their social studies curriculum.

The Murphy administration says the new law aims to fill gaps in textbooks that have overlooked Latino history.

The move, though, isn't without controversy, arriving amid debates over growing curriculum mandates and lessons some parents say are politically charged.

Raven Santana has more on what the new law means for students, schools, and the community.

(upbeat music) - Pride and purpose filled the governor's mansion during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration where Governor Phil Murphy signed a new legislation ensuring Latino and Hispanic history will finally be taught in New Jersey classrooms from kindergarten through 12th grade.

For families and educators, it's more than a policy change.

It's long awaited recognition.

- Just even whirlwinds right now, currently with the discussion that's happening of people not even recognizing that Puerto Ricanos are Americans.

So just on that basic principle, there is need for education.

Most importantly, there is need for knowledge to make sure that that little girl and that little boy understands that their power and that their ancestry is not one to be forgotten race but one that contributed to the making of our country.

Under the new law starting in 2026-2027 school year every school district must include instruction on the history and contributions of Latinos and Hispanics from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Senator Teresa Ruiz a prime sponsor of the bill says Latino history isn't just cultural, it's economic.

$97 billion is contributed to the GDP from Latinos in the state.

That's more than the economy in Hawaii.

Education researchers like Alexandra Figueres Daniel say the impact could start even earlier, shaping the way Children see themselves from their very first days in school.

It really does outline for school districts that are implementing public preschool, um, that there are opportunities to read, um, diverse literature and, um, to really have classrooms that look and feel representative of the Children who are there.

A john Hopkins University study found 87% of key topics in Latino history were either not covered or mentioned in just a few sentences in the books that evaluated and often limited to a single milestone in the last 200 years.

That being Justice Sonia Sotomayor's appointment to the Supreme Court.

Advocates say the law is long overdue.

And a lot of our educational equity outreach work that we've done with young people, this came up time and time again that they did not see themselves in the curriculum and that that contributed to not feeling understood among their peers and teachers, you know, along during their educational journey.

That connection between representation and learning is already in motion in Newark inside Bard High School Early College where they say history comes alive through identity and pride.

Latinos have formed the background of the city of Newark for a very, very long time.

Matter of fact, we're working on posters that look at and highlight Afro-Latinos here in Newark and in New Jersey because it's really important for students to know who they are, know who their neighbors are, so they can understand themselves better.

Colombian and Peruvian and the proud daughter of immigrants, Dr.

Pui Khan turned her own family story into her doctoral dissertation.

Now she's helping students trace their roots while reshaping how Latino stories are taught.

For the past five years we've been teaching an elective for, it's available to all seniors in all of the schools throughout the city of Newark and so it's a Latino and Caribbean studies course.

It's one that I created and I'm so proud to know that now all students in the state of New Jersey will have access to such great curriculum.

Her classroom feels more like a celebration than a lecture hall filled with art, music, and meaning.

The current theme, Bad Bunny.

So we know that Puerto Rico, for example, Puerto Rico's part of the United States has been since 1898.

They see online, they see celebrated in social media, but it's something that we're also including in the classroom in an educative way.

A lot of students actually feel seen now and heard to be able to, you know, see different like faces, but that are still unique to us.

- In the end, teachers feel these lessons ensure that the next generation doesn't just learn history, they see themselves in it.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.

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