Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone

Or in this case “Hey, parent, leave them kids alone”

The Republican mantra for education is “Parental Rights!” decoded is we don’t want anything we don’t like. We want to discriminate against race, sex, and marital status.

Are National 'Parental Rights' Agendas Destroying Public Education? Here's What Parents Need to Know
'Parental Rights' groups are infiltrating school boards nationwide to create a rightwing agenda. That’s why voting in your local midterm elections is critical.
Parents
By Kelly Jensen
November 3, 2022


A few weeks ago at my local cafe in the Chicago suburbs, I sat one table away from a man who was trying to convince his friend to run for the local school board. He explained that it was vital for people with “their beliefs,” which included taking back” the country'' and prioritizing “parental rights,” to have a seat on the board. This rhetoric aligns with that of politicians enforcing book bans, canceling sex-ed, and promoting "Don't Say Gay" bills. To these friends at the cafe, experience in education or budget strategy doesn't matter. What is important is the agenda. 

Overhearing this conversation felt outrageous—as it should for all parents. Across the country, in red states and blue states, right-wing organizations and think tanks are strategizing how to disrupt the public education system. And it’s happening without any benefit to our kids in mind. It is vital that anyone who can vote pays attention not only to the major elections but to those happening at the school district level.

For our local board of education I know of one candidate that mentioned that she volunteers at her church and she is on the Republican Town Committee, for me red flags went up. See in our town the Board of Ed is bipartisan so the only information that can get from the candidates is what they want you to get. The local newspaper doesn’t even ask questions to the candidates they just publish their statements. How can you be an informed voter?

At Board of Education meeting it has become a shouting match, the squeaky wheel get listened to. 

Despite being successful in their campaigns for “parental rights” in states like Florida, where Moms for Liberty is based, these groups speak for a miniscule number of actual parents. What they call parental rights are an act of restricting the First Amendment Rights granted to all under the U.S. Bill of Rights.  

Organizations like Moms For Liberty are now leveraging their political influence to teach their members how to run for school board positions.

How many time have read about books being banned because we had a complaint? A dozen people complain out of thousands of parents and all of sudden they're pulling book from the bookshelves.

To draw the line between a hate crime, the work of groups like Moms For Liberty, and the upcoming sea change for public education is not hyperbolic. It is crucial to understand the true reality of what is going to happen in schools over the next few years.

How do you think pulling books on LGBTQ topics or on Black lives do to the students who are Black, Latinx, or LGBTQ+ feel to have all the books about them pulled from the selves? Do you think that it emboldens bullying against them by other students?

In many municipalities, despite school boards being nonpartisan roles, politically aligned groups are pouring money into these elections. In Texas, groups like Patriot Mobile have made what were once low-budget ballot races into highly-competitive, expensive campaigns. And thanks to groups like Moms for Liberty, which boast over 100,000 members in 37 states, these school board elections have taken on a tenor unlike any seen before.

They want to take over the schools systems!

If you haven’t spent the time to get to know who is running for your local school board, the time to do that is now. Look up the individuals running, understand their agenda, and research what connections they have. Keywords like “parental rights” are red flags, and any school board candidate who suggests that removing material from the curriculum will encourage better learning outcomes are not only out of touch, but a danger to public education. Schools are not teaching gender ideology or critical race theory, but every school should be teaching social and emotional learning, a key component to helping students understand how to navigate the tricky work of being human.

Ensuring our kids' access to real education is critical, and that means taking action by voting in your local, state, federal elections, during the mid-terms and beyond.

You have to wonder how much all this BS is causing teacher shortages, are teachers dropping out because it is not worth the hassles? 

---

Pushback for Florida's Board of Medicine's decision to ban our healthcare.

Endocrine Society rebukes Florida Board of Medicine's decision to ban gender-affirming care
News - Medical Net
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.
November 6, 2022


The Endocrine Society rebukes the Florida Board of Medicine's decision to ban gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-diverse teenagers.

We call on the Florida Board of Medicine to reverse the ban and allow physicians to provide evidence-based care and protect the lives of minors.

The Florida ban is blatantly discriminatory and contradicts medical evidence followed by the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the Pediatric Endocrine Society and other mainstream medical organizations.

When an individual's gender identity is not respected and they cannot access medical care, it can result in higher psychological problem scores and can raise the person's risk of committing suicide or other acts of self-harm. Research has found denying access to puberty-delaying medication and/or hormone therapy raises the risk of suicidal ideation and self-harm.