Last week, Jennifer
Jenkins, a duly elected school board member in Brevard County, Florida
testified she was being harassed by community members who circled her home
while carrying firearms, told her to beg for mercy, called child services, and
filed a false report that she was abusing her daughter. Why? These actions were
taken because she supported the wearing of masks in school for children and
rights for LBGTQ children in schools. Jenkins added she supports the right of
free speech, but that nothing she has done in the performance of her duties
should lead to people following her car or entering her property.
The
Washington Post reported this week that a group called Moms
for Liberty attended one of the school board meetings in Brevard County and
were so disruptive they were thrown out. According to the Post: “Launched
initially in Brevard County to support “parental rights” in public schools,
Moms for Liberty chapters have spread nationwide. Its leaders hope to convert
brawlish pandemic-era
cultural divisions into lasting political power.”
The Post also noted: Gary
Shiffrin, head of the Brevard Association of School Administrators, who has
been involved in public education since 1971, blames Moms for Liberty for the
most disruptive educational environment he has seen, besides the lingering
opposition to desegregation early in his career.
“They have
decided they are going to be the spokespeople for conservatism, and this won’t
end when covid ends,” said Shiffrin, a former teacher, and high school
principal.”
Tina Descovich started the Florida group
after she lost her board seat and was defeated for re-election to the Board
seat by Jennifer Jenkins. They are being compared to Conservative Republican groups
that supported the Moral Majority several elections ago. Some funds are thought
in Florida to come from Governor DeSantis’ supporters. We also know that Koch-controlled
funds are being sent to groups across the country who support anti-mask
campaigns, gender identity issues, and oppose critical race theory. (I must
repeat here that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is not being taught in any grades
in the US from K-12.)
The Moms for Liberty group, which now claims
about 36,000 members across the country, stated that it hoped to have Mom in
tee shirts at every school board meeting in the US over the next year. It is
obviously being geared up as an issue for moms who feel powerless and who do not
feel that they have been heard over concerns about their children’s education.
These concerns were exacerbated over the long periods of virtual education
under the COVID pandemic. Feelings of isolation most likely contributed to
these frustrations. Whatever the causes, it is being now used as a tool on the
right to stir up voters for the 2022 midterms. This, along with the folks
supporting the Stop the Steal efforts, point to a very divisive election next
year.
A local Virginia group Fight
for Schools supported by a former Trump official, recently claimed credit
when a Democratic school board member stepped down after they started a recall
effort against her. They want to replace the entire school board based on
decisions it has made on issues of gender identity and the curriculum, among
others. School issues have also been a factor in the Virginia Governors’ race
between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin. McAuliffe claims
Youngkin would divert public money to private schools and claims that parents
should not tell teachers how to teach. While technically that is true, as most
parents do not have education degrees, the general substance of the statement
gave Youngkin an issue to hammer McAuliffe with. The race is statistically
close. At a rally held for Youngkin and other Republicans and attended in
person, by Steve Bannon (who has refused to answer a House committee subpoena) and
virtually, by the former president, the crowd spoke the Pledge of Allegiance to
a flag said to have been present at the Insurrection/Rally on January 6th.
These people have seriously misguided loyalties.
I think parents should and do have a say in the education
of their children by selecting the members of their local school board. However,
some do not believe in allowing these properly elected members to use their
best judgments in choosing school policies. This is the new battlefield. A
viable board was elected, and these right-wingers do not wish to wait until the
next election to vote them out. Just like the former president, they are sore
losers and do not intend to play fair.
Jenkins is just one of many elected school board members,
educators, and principals across the country who are being targeted by right-wing
protestors in an organized “grass-roots” effort to stir up emotions on
sensitive or conservative issues. Recent revelations about “both sidesing”
every issue, dumbing down, and obscuring academic courses were spelled out in
TV spots this week about discussions in a Texas School District over classroom
teaching. The South Lake school district had a discussion that included the
instruction to teach “both
sides about the Holocaust”. Unbelievable!
Heather Cox Richardson wrote an excellent review of these
topics in a column this week. Please read it here:
She concludes with these words: A curriculum that talks about individual
courage and integrity while erasing the majority of us, as well as the rules
that enable us to have a say in our government by voting, is deliberately
untethered from national democratic principles.
Educators themselves are providing conservative causes as test
cases in issues of free speech over rights for transgender students or
teachers. A teacher
in Virginia (in Loudon County as noted above) went to court to protest his suspension
after he refused to address a transgender teen by the pronoun for his new
identity, saying that his religion did not permit such recognition. In another case
affirmed by the Federal Appeals Court 6th Circuit, a Christian college
professor refused to call a student Ms. (her new identity) and continued to
refer to her as Mr., despite requests to do otherwise. The Court contended they
denied the professor his right to free speech. Others have claimed that this
opens the door to allow discrimination in other areas, such as race or
ethnicity. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian advocacy
group, supported this cause.
Do you remember
the Ditty?
Good old Golden Rule Days.
Readin’ ‘riting and ‘rithmatic
Taught to the tune of a hickory stick….
While those days were not necessarily the good old days,
they were from a different era. One then also studied history, science, and geography,
maybe with courses in shop, or home ec or art and music as options once in high
school. There was no controversy such as we are seeing now about masks in
schools or attacks on school board members. While there have frequently been
protests about certain books found in school libraries over the years, I do not
remember violent confrontations or bullying of teens who testified in favor of
keeping certain books, such as what happened in Loudon County in Virginia recently.
Do you remember the “Swift Boat”
campaign and the “Defense of Marriage
Act”? Both of these emotional issues
were used by the George Bush/Karl Rove forces in the 2004 presidential campaign
against John Kerry. Swift boat was a lie and was an attempt to take down Kerry’s
claim of brave service during the Vietnam war. The Defense of Marriage Act was
an anti-gay measure to counter moves toward civil unions and maybe even same-sex
marriages which were underway at then. The Justices struck it down in the 2013
Supreme Court decision United States vs. Windsor that allowed same-sex marriage.
Both these, plus the Moral Majority and the rise of the Christian Right, meant
that they did not fight the election contest on political or policy concerns
but cultural issues.
The far-right is trying to repeat these cultural wars with
the efforts we are now seeing in the schools with the mom's groups and others. The
right is using anti-vax and anti-mask campaigns to gain a foothold in local
governments. First, the school boards, then the schools, then the minds of our
children will be redirected almost without our notice. And, even though we are
in an increasingly diverse country, if these boards have their way, schools will
teach their white curriculums untainted by the history of enslaved people,
indigenous or immigrant lives. Our children and grandchildren will grow up
unprepared to live in a world they poorly understand.
So, these efforts must be opposed and loudly. We need to
have a countering force to ensure that these methods cannot succeed. I am not
sure what form it will take, whether the Democratic Party, the ACLU, or just other
moms, but it should start now. The Democratic Party should support the schools
in helping to present subjects and critical thinking that address the world our
children will come to inhabit. Instead of forbidding teaching about climate
change, students should learn about living in a world with rising seas, extreme
weather, and decreasing water supplies, for example. They should not, as one
parent requested, be sheltered from learning words such as quarantine, spinal
tap, or racism which might be painful to understand.
***********************************************************************************
Booster shots continue to be rolled out. FDA is considering
allowing the Johnson and Johnson vaccine a second shot which would serve as a
booster. Finally, the Moderna vaccine is nearing booster approval. The reduced dosage
pediatric vaccine is nearing approval. Things are improving, but Maryland
is still seeing an average of over 1000 fresh cases daily as the US nears the
three-quarter of a million total deaths statistic. Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming
take the top three awards this week in cases per 100,000.
COVID stats: ,
Total US cases: 44,914,859.
New Cases: 83,576.
Total US Deaths: 724,499.
New Deaths: 1,528.
Maryland Totals: Total
Cases: 550,782. New Cases: 905.
Total Deaths:10,708. New Deaths: 10.
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In local political news, Prince George candidate for
Governor Rushern Baker, lll named Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Navarro
(who is term-limited) to be his running mate. He is the first candidate to
announce a candidate for Lt. Governor. Currently, there are at least 7 Democrats
and 2 Republican candidates in the race.
In sad news, former Senator Karen Montgomery of Brookeville
recently lost her husband Harry, 90 years old. I send condolences to Karen and
her family. She was my Senator for a while when I lived in Montgomery County.
For our visit to the zoo this week, look at the newborn
cheetah cubs and their Mom here:
“Til next week – Peace!
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