A 4th grader arrives at school on Monday morning, welcomed by the school librarian with some fresh picks hot off the press, titles like “Music from Another World”, “Sparkle Boy”, and “It’s Perfectly Normal”.
A 2nd grade teacher openly asks students what their preferred pronouns are during the Morning Meeting.
A preschool student is read the book “Julian is a Mermaid” during the 9am storytime at school, a story which promotes a young boy aspiring to be a drag queen in New York City’s annual drag queen parade.
And these are just examples from elementary classrooms. Imagine what is going on in middle and high school classrooms.
Are the adults in these children’s’ lives aware of these lessons?
(If you’re doubting these scenarios are true, check out these links: Elementary school libraries here and here, 2nd grade teacher here, and the third story is a personal anecdote from a friend. The books listed above are available in the elementary school libraries in the school district where I teach.)
Are the adults in these children’s’ lives willing to do hard things for the next generation?
Take it from a public school teacher: Parents and community members MUST demand transparency from our current public school system.
It’s no longer an option.
It’s a MUST in all capital letters.
Despite the difficult circumstances during the Covid pandemic, something (also hard but) good that came out of it was how parents suddenly had a front row online seat into the lessons happening in classrooms all around the world. Parents quickly realized the lessons being taught were deviating from reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.
Now that the online front row seat has mostly come to a close, parents and community members MUST continue to demand transparency from our current public school system. Teachers, administrators, and schools MUST be transparent about the resources used and the learning goals of any given lesson. Noticing what is happening in local classrooms is the first step to making necessary changes.
If the public school has nothing to hide, they will be glad to do teamwork in teaching and parenting the next generation together.
But if the public school system has something to hide, they will resist transparency.
Think of it like this: your request for transparency is taking the temperature for whether or not you can trust a particular school district.
Transparency = normal temperature.
Resistance to transparency = not a normal temperature. Action must be taken to get the temperature back to normal.
Parents have God-given authority and influence over their children. We must do what it takes to reclaim this cultural norm.
Some ideas with the goal of transparency in mind:
FOIA requests. Be specific what information you are requesting.
Scour any and all online resources shared by your local school. Social media pages. Learning platforms. Library apps. Dig deep into what is available to our children.
Tune in to Project Veritas’ undercover journalism about American schools when you need a refresh on your purpose for demanding transparency.
It’s easy to put your child on the school bus each morning. It’s too easy.
It’s hard to demand transparency, but kids need adults to do hard things.
Take it from a public school teacher: Parents and community members MUST demand transparency from our current public school system.