Georgia ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’ Holds Schools Accountable to Parents

A bill introduced in the Georgia General Assembly on Wednesday would enact a new set of rules regarding transparency in the state’s public schools.

The legislation, termed the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” by its supporters, would create a process by which parents can request information from schools regarding curriculum, the Cordele Dispatch reported.

State Sen. Clint Dixon and state Rep. Josh Bonner, both Republicans, introduced two slightly different versions of the bill in their respective chambers.

One of the stated purposes of the bill is “to require school and school system governing bodies to adopt policies or regulations that promote parental involvement in public schools.”

School systems would have to answer requests for information from parents within three days.

“If the principal or superintendent is unable to share the information within that timeframe, they must provide the parent a written description of the material and a timeline for its delivery, not to exceed 30 days,” according to the Dispatch.

Under the bill, schools would also be required to notify parents of their intent to teach sex education curriculum. Parents would have the option to withdraw their children from such classes.

Public school curricula have become the subject of national controversy with the rise of critical race theory, which posits that the U.S. is fundamentally racist and defined by white supremacy. Many parents have opposed the use of CRT in classrooms.

Education policy proved a game-changing political issue in Virginia’s gubernatorial election in November, with Republican Glenn Youngkin defeating Democrat Terry McAuliffe.

Youngkin pledged to introduce reforms to eliminate the teaching of CRT in schools, with McAuliffe tying himself to left-wing teachers’ unions and arguing that parents should not be “telling schools what they should teach.”

Gov. Brian Kemp touted the proposed Georgia legislation in a statement.

“At a time when our nation is more divided than ever, we’re leading the fight to ensure parents do not have any barriers which prevent them from playing an active role in their child’s education,” Kemp said.

“Students do best when their parents have a seat at the table and their voices are heard and respected.

“At its core, [the bill] is about transparency, access, and promoting an engaged partnership between the parent and educators to the ultimate benefit of the student.”

Republicans have strong majorities in both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly, making it likely that the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” will be sent to the governor’s desk.

https://flagandcross.com/georgia-parents-bill-of-rights-holds-schools-accountable-to-parents/

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CONTROVERSIAL 5th Grade Test Question Sparks An ONLINE OUTRAGE

The Fayette County (KY) school district definitely has a lot of explaining to do, namely to the Kentucky Peace Officers Association. They heard some news regarding a test question on a 5th Grade exam where the question read, “What is the relationship between Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake?” Now, the Kentucky Peace Officers Association is demanding an explanation for why this question was there in the first place.

If you don’t think that the question alone is a bit biased, then all you have to do is to look at the first choice in the list of possible answers. It reads, “Both of these individuals were victims of police brutality and violence, and that sparks nationwide protests against racial injustices.”

The Kentucky Peace Officers Association declined to do an on-camera interview with the news organization that broke the story, LEX 18. However, KPOA President Chip Nowlin did send in a statement:

“Yes, it is the responsibility of all educational leaders to appropriately mold the minds of young people and shape their futures, it definitely isn’t their right to do this in a manner that negatively influences them and promotes a political agenda.”

Fayette County Schools spokesperson Lisa Deffendall said that these questions had been taken out of context. They said that the questions were simply from an article taken from a website called Newsela, and that they didn’t have the faintest ill-intention behind them. They said that one of the main goals of the school is to help understudies become fully involved in their communities and that they have the ability to fully analyze whatever their general surroundings might bring.

However, KPOA continued to reprimand the Kentucky Department of Education. They made several counterarguments, including the fact that they thought that some of the proclamations on the KDE website were “incendiary and biased.”

President Nowlin went even further, pointing out that the KDE has recently been showing a clear pattern of insulting distributions to their schools regarding law enforcement. Indeed, they appear to be explicitly focusing on law enforcement agencies to the detriment of anything else.

Kentucky Department of Education representative Toni Konz Tatman made sure that the public knew that the KDE has already had a meeting with Nowlin where he outlined all of his concerns regarding this resource guide. She noted that KDE has always been dedicated to addressing systemic and race-related traumatic events with their faculty, staff, and students.

Unfortunately, Tatman and other KDE representatives said that they are still waiting for a response from the email they sent to Nowlin. They feel that he is simply seeing what he wants to see and just ignoring the problem, and just doing that is only going to exacerbate the situation and continue to create a “persistent negative impact.”

https://thepatriotnation.net/controversial-5th-grade-test-question-sparks-an-online-outrage-2/

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Meet Mom Fighting Schools’ Mask Mandates



My name is Merianne Jensen and I am a mother of four children. I’m located in Prince William County. COVID has really affected my children’s education. A mask has its purpose. Masks are not effective in the classrooms. COVID-19 is not being spread in the classrooms. It is not being spread by children, and the emotional damage that is being done by masks far, far outweighs getting COVID-19.

My son came home the first day of school with an extreme headache, and went to bed with a stomachache because he was so anxious. I told him it was just the first day jitters. The second day, he came home from school with a splitting headache. For two weeks, he came home with a headache. We took him to the doctor. It was all because of the mask.

We play politics with kids’ faces by placing restrictive fabric over their noses and mouths, that the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] itself has said don’t do anything, and it’s for their safety.

Dr. [LaTanya D.] McDade is the superintendent of the Prince William County education system. When I attended a critical race theory training meeting, I just grabbed her and said, “Hey, Dr. McDade. I’m Merianne Jensen, and when will our kids get out of masks?” And she looked at me in the eye and she said that she would, if she could, but that her hands were tied by then Gov. [Ralph] Northam’s executive order mandating face coverings, and if it weren’t for that, things would be different.

When Gov. Glenn Youngkin was elected, we were ecstatic. When the order came, I was very hopeful that Dr. McDade would keep her promise, so then we heard that these seven counties were suing Gov. Youngkin, regarding his executive order, which was shocking to me, when I had been told by Dr. McDade personally that they would be waiting for guidance from Richmond.

This is asinine. This is blatant political theater and it needs to end.

The board meeting was incredible. We had a lot of charged parents, bipartisan parents that want their children to be able to have a choice. Many of us have emailed board members hundreds and thousands of emails, and we get nothing back in response.

I’ve attended many school board meetings in the past, and every time I’ve signed up to get a spot, I’ve gotten denied, and I finally got a spot this time. It was the only way that I was able to communicate how I felt and how so many other parents felt. I’m asking all of you to step up the way other leaders who have and are ending COVID restrictions by the day. When will you? What will it take?

The only way out of this was to sign up for a religious exemption. The county has fought tooth and nail, and they’ve made it really difficult for our children. I let them choose what they wanted to do. I gave them the options, and they chose the mitigations, because they hate the mask so much. It’s killing them emotionally.

My children have to sit six feet away from their peers. If they are doing a group project, they have to put on a face shield, which is a face covering. If they cannot sit six feet away, they have to have a plexiglass shield around their desk, so they are at story time or in library and they have to sit far away and cannot be with their friends. They cannot see the pictures in the books. They are being targeted.

They are being bullied by their leaders, by their principals, by their superintendent, by their teachers. They’re being shamed and punished.

I would like to say to the school board members, listen to your constituents. You need to stop using our children as pawns in your political games. You were nominated. You were elected for our children and not for your politics. You are on the losing side of history and it’s time to make that right before these children now.

Thank you.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/02/04/meet-mom-fighting-schools-mask-mandates/

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My other blogs: Main ones below

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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