By Larry Sand
As states and school boards battle over school curricula, the least we can do is keep parents informed about what their kids are learning.
Bologna. The FDA insists that every last ingredient of the heavily processed food is listed on the package label. No one has an issue with that because it’s important to know what we put into our bodies. You might think the same mentality would be in place for what goes into our minds, especially those of children, but unfortunately that has become a very contentious issue.
With the revelation that too many of government-run k-12 schools have turned into indoctrination mills, there is now push back from parents. As reported by Christopher Rufo, lawmakers in 19 states have introduced bills that require curriculum transparency.
So, who could possibly be against transparency? First and foremost, the teachers unions. In 2021, a mother was sued by the Rhode Island state affiliate of the National Education Association after she made a public records request to find out exactly what her daughter was going to be taught in kindergarten. In the Hoosier State, the Indiana State Teachers Association is currently battling against House Bill 1134, which would require teachers to post school curricula online. In Utah, the state teachers union is trying to fend off HB 234, a bill that would require educators to disclose what they are teaching. Unions in other states are fighting similar battles.
Additionally, a teacher union official recently wrote a sarcastic post on Facebook, mocking parents’ calls for transparency, suggesting that they butt out of school affairs. Owen Jackman, a California Teachers Association state council delegate and teacher in the Sacramento City Unified School District, equated parents who advocate for their kids at school board meetings to “storm troopers.” Jackman joked that he has “a reason to be concerned about the appropriateness of what your child is learning outside of school.” He went on to request that parents “provide a play-by-play of the television shows their kids watch, the social media they use, swear words and racial epithets their kids hear each day, the books being read to them, and activities they will participate in for the remainder of the year.” Jackman seems to think he shares parenting responsibilities with mom and dad.
New York Magazine writer Sarah Jones is certainly on the anti-transparency bandwagon. In a recent piece, she referred to parents as “household tyrants,” and insists that the call for parental transparency is a wacko Christian Republican plot. She states that since schools don’t interfere with a child’s life at home, parents should butt out at school.
To continue reading, go to https://www.forkidsandcountry.org/blog/the-sandstorm-school-transparency-wars/#none
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