Townhall.com
Mary Rise Hasson
Editor's note: This column was co-authored by Theresa Farnan, an adjunct professor of philosophy at the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

As the new school year begins, many parents of children in public schools are deeply concerned, wondering if they should keep their kids in public school or just get out now.

For these parents, the transgender agenda is the game-changer. Under pressure from transgender activists, progressive politicians, teacher unions, and the education establishment, and despite parents’ opposition, America’s public schools are capitulating to ideologues and implementing the radical transgender agenda with full force. Parents were put on notice by “bathroom policies” that opened private spaces to anyone who asserts that “gender identity,” regardless of biological sex, but those policies are only the tip of the iceberg. New transgender policies or “gender identity” protections are fast redefining what it means to be a person, male or female. Activists want every child, from kindergarten on, to learn that “sex” is something “assigned at birth” rather than a biological reality. They want children to think that individuals get to choose their own “gender identity” (not limited to male or female), and that everyone else must affirm that “gender identity” as true. Even worse, if a child claims a transgender identity, the school will keep that identity hidden from parents unless that child allows the parents to know.

There are no “safe spaces” in public schools now for children (or teachers) who reject the gender revolution. In the name of inclusion, all “gender identities” are affirmed as normal and good.

Where does this leave parents? Even in a school with good teachers and staff, they cannot trust their public school. Teachers and administrators must comply with the transgender agenda or risk losing their jobs – despite their own convictions. Even more troubling is the shocking realization that there is almost nothing that parents (or teachers) can do to prevent the schools from imposing policies designed to indoctrinate children with gender ideology.

In Fairfax County, Virginia, for example, dedicated parents fought back hard against the transgender agenda. The school board’s proposed policy replaced references to “biological sex” with the politically charged term “gender assigned at birth.” Parents organized themselves, reviewed curriculum materials, attended school board meetings, wrote letters, publicized their positions, and presented evidence against the proposed “gender identity” policies. But after three years of fighting, these dedicated parents got nowhere. Their concerns were ignored; their proposals dismissed.

The deck was stacked against the parents from the start. According to Fairfax County School Board member Elizabeth Schultz, the board “reverse-engineered” the process, by ensuring that policy recommendations were “made first and already forwarded to the board before any public input was sought.” Parents’ supposed input was meaningless, just a sham. “That’s not authentic public engagement,” complained Schultz. “That’s not how you build effective policy.”


Meg Kilgannon, executive director of Concerned Parents and Educators of Fairfax County, also noted that parent input was disregarded. “In Fairfax, ten citizens per meeting may address the school board during public comments. The person addressing the board must confine his or her remarks to the agenda topics slated for discussion and votes that evening. So not only is the public engagement very limited, the die is cast. By the time a topic is on the agenda, the school board members have already made a decision about how they will vote.” Despite many emails from parents opposing the new policy, Fairfax County School Board still imposed it.

Similarly, Clark County School Board in Nevada steamrolled over parental opposition, implementing transgender regulations that pushed trans-affirming curricular materials into the classroom, allowed transgender-identified students to use bathrooms reserved for the opposite sex, and compelled students and staff to use the preferred pronouns of transgender or gender non-conforming students. The policy was pushed through over parents’ objections, despite surveys demonstrating that a clear majority of residents opposed the changes. The Las Vegas Review-Journal noted, “Parents who oppose the policy repeatedly told the board they felt their suggestions and concerns were not being heard by the board, as evident by the draft policy.”

These examples illustrate the kind of tactics school districts employ to implement significant changes over the objections of parents. Parents who set out to counter these policies run into a formidable bureaucracy, a left-wing education establishment that functions something like a deep state. As one Politico writer notes, “political scientists and foreign policy experts have used the term deep state for years to describe individuals and institutions who exercise power independent of—and sometimes over—civilian political leaders.” In public education, the “deep state” describes a coalition of various groups – including teachers’ unions, progressive advocacy groups, major corporations, and philanthropists --that work together to promote the progressive worldview in public education. School districts use an array of progressive “experts,” who serve as authorities on controversial issues, to write policies, conduct staff training, give workshops for students and supplement curricula. These authorities then are invoked to squelch parents’ concerns – after all, parents are not the “experts.”

Even worse, parents don’t have much to fall back on legally or politically. Courts long ago ruled that parents have no say about the curricula used in their child’s public school. School boards, despite being elected and therefore in theory answerable to constituents, are susceptible to pressure from well-funded advocacy groups rather than parents. According to Kilgannon, “School board members in Fairfax are accountable to the voting public. But because they are reelected time and time again, they are not responsive to parents whose views and beliefs differ from their own.” In the few instances where school boards have listened to parents and have resisted the imposition of transgender ideology, radical progressive left groups use litigation to bring them into compliance.

Over the years, conservative and Christian parents have attempted to work within the system to reform public education. The swift capitulation of public school districts to transgender ideology, however, illustrates that parents are powerless to protect their children from the transgender agenda as long as their children attend public schools. It’s time to get out now.

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Over the years, conservative and Christian parents have attempted to work within the system to reform public education. The swift capitulation of public school districts to transgender ideology, however, illustrates that parents are powerless to protect their children from the transgender agenda as long as their children attend public schools. It’s time to get out now.

I agree with the conclusion... but it's not just because of the transgender agenda. I came to the same conclusion 25 years ago when my oldest daughter started school at a public school. The following year she went to a parochial school and we never again had a child in public school.

I did serve for 6 years on the Board of Education for our public school district. I saw first hand that the public schools serve first and foremost the interests of the school administrators and the teacher's union.
The 2nd most important thing is the slow but persistent push toward "inclusion" which is a buzz word for an ever expanding socialist agenda.

You, too, will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

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Activists want every child, from kindergarten on, to learn that “sex” is something “assigned at birth” rather than a biological reality.

Ah yes. Children are to be taught the purest form of mental illness. Can these kids read, write, or do math at grade level? Of course not. But they can fully ignore human biology and reality while living in a form of trained dementia thanks to public schools. Uh, no thank you.

I've given this some thought and came up with an idea. Money is usually the way to effect change in virtually everything. So how can money be used to alter the trajectory of public school insanity? Simple. Public schools, at least here in Florida, are funded via property tax assessments. The amount is broken out right on my property tax bill. What if everyone simply subtracted that amount from their property taxes and paid the rest? Think that might put a dent in public school funding if even 20% of property owners took this stand? I own a couple properties here locally in Central Florida and I'd be more than willing to withhold my portion of the bill.

Ultimately public schools need to go away permanently. But in the interim, we need to push back on them, and hard.

I agree. This has been true for many decades, including my own time in K-12, but it has gotten progressively worse and the private systems are not immune. Textbooks and even the seemingly innocuous "Weekly Reader" have been channels of Leftist propaganda. I had to read through much of this with my children when they were young in order to give them a balanced perspective and, at times, call out the outright lies printed as educated fact.

My daughter, an avid animal lover, came home in tears when she learned of the sad plight of the dwindling polar bear population whose habitats were being destroyed by manmade global warming. About 20 minutes with well-researched fact set her straight, and put a smile back on her face, but how many kids are not receiving corrective information to counter the fascist indoctrination they receive all day every day in the name of education?



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Originally posted by bigdeal:

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Activists want every child, from kindergarten on, to learn that “sex” is something “assigned at birth” rather than a biological reality.

Ah yes. Children are to be taught the purest form of mental illness. Can these kids read, write, or do math at grade level? Of course not. But they can fully ignore human biology and reality while living in a form of trained dementia thanks to public schools. Uh, no thank you.

I've given this some thought and came up with an idea. Money is usually the way to effect change in virtually everything. So how can money be used to alter the trajectory of public school insanity? Simple. Public schools, at least here in Florida, are funded via property tax assessments. The amount is broken out right on my property tax bill. What if everyone simply subtracted that amount from their property taxes and paid the rest? Think that might put a dent in public school funding if even 20% of property owners took this stand? I own a couple properties here locally in Central Florida and I'd be more than willing to withhold my portion of the bill.

Ultimately public schools need to go away permanently. But in the interim, we need to push back on them, and hard.

Isn’t property tax secured by the property? I believe in Florida, the tax collector sells notes to investors who then collect, with hideous penalties and interest, or sell the property at involuntary sale.

In Whackyland, they just send notices for 5 years after which it can be set for sale. The owner can redeem, but it is very expensive.

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Public schools, at least here in Florida, are funded via property tax assessments. The amount is broken out right on my property tax bill. What if everyone simply subtracted that amount from their property taxes and paid the rest? Think that might put a dent in public school funding if even 20% of property owners took this stand?

If everyone stopped paying the school taxes it would work. But... If YOU stop paying the school taxes without everyone else going along with you... it will just cost you even more. They will add interest and penalties. After 3 years of delinquency they can sell your house on the courthouse steps.

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Their concerns were ignored; their proposals dismissed.

True everywhere and in all circumstances. Whether "new math", multicultural curriculum, global warming, gay marriage, or transgender bathrooms.

Private, charter, or Christian schools are the best hope at present to avoid indoctrination in the Left agenda.

Before a majority of children can be weaned from the public indoctrination centers (called "schools") it will be necessary to separate the funding from the institutions. School vouchers would seem to be the most equitable system--the government collects the money, then sends vouchers to the parents of school-age children, which they "spend" at the school of their choice. These vouchers would not be spendable in any other way (yes, it should be possible to insure that is the case--I can think of several ways). Schools would then be forced to compete for students (and the associated funding), and they would become more in line with what the public demands.

flashguy

I had to buy a bunch of "school supplies" for my 8 YO.

They took the stuff I bought her, and put it in a big box, and the kids all got to choose what they wanted from the box, in some random order.

I sent Crayola, and my kid ended up with some generic shit crayons from the Dollar Store that easily break. Same with the scissors -- ended up with shit scissors.

I asked why the hell they did this. It's so nobody feels bad for having brought inferior stuff, or having brought no stuff. What the fuck?

I'm livid.

By the way, what did they do with the money I paid via property taxes? That's the money that they should use for school supplies. Don't make me waste my time buying it from a store, when I already paid once. And don't make me waste my time buying good stuff when they are going to redistribute it.

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Originally posted by chellim1:

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Public schools, at least here in Florida, are funded via property tax assessments. The amount is broken out right on my property tax bill. What if everyone simply subtracted that amount from their property taxes and paid the rest? Think that might put a dent in public school funding if even 20% of property owners took this stand?

If everyone stopped paying the school taxes it would work. But... If YOU stop paying the school taxes without everyone else going along with you... it will just cost you even more. They will add interest and penalties. After 3 years of delinquency they can sell your house on the courthouse steps.

That's why I suggested a large cross section of property owners would have to participate for this to work. You wouldn't have to have 100% participation, just a large enough group to overwhelm the Tax Collector's office. There would also be a political aspect of this if a large enough group of taxpayers participated that would make punitive measures taken against them unattractive for politicians.

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Originally posted by radioman:
I had to buy a bunch of "school supplies" for my 8 YO.

They took the stuff I bought her, and put it in a big box, and the kids all got to choose what they wanted from the box, in some random order.

I sent Crayola, and my kid ended up with some generic shit crayons from the Dollar Store that easily break. Same with the scissors -- ended up with shit scissors.

I asked why the hell they did this. It's so nobody feels bad for having brought inferior stuff, or having brought no stuff. What the fuck?

I'm livid.

By the way, what did they do with the money I paid via property taxes? That's the money that they should use for school supplies. Don't make me waste my time buying it from a store, when I already paid once. And don't make me waste my time buying good stuff when they are going to redistribute it.

The solution, at least for now....get your 8 year old in private school.

^^ I agree with your tax protest. But getting it going will take a lot of organization. It won't work without 20-30% participation. Below that and they will just ignore you and threaten to take your property.