The radical left is rapidly changing public K-12 education in America – pushing the racist Critical Race Theory, sexualizing children with explicit sexual materials, and pushing gender identity decisions on minors. The Fayetteville School Board has already fallen in line with the radical left as they push transgender indoctrination on minors.
In a conservative state such as Arkansas, you would think many school boards would have already responded, saying it is not going to happen in our school district. But so far, they seem to be playing a game of quiet-as-a-mouse.
Most school boards probably have no idea whether some of their teachers are already teaching leftist ideology. They may even be hoping to not find out, so they don’t have to deal with it. When it comes to bucking Arkansas’ left-wing education associations, school boards have been timid-as-a-mouse.
Local school boards should be the first line of defense to protect your children. But they are failing you with their silence.
If even a few school boards had done their job by adopting school policies against Critical Race Theory and had come to the State Capitol to support the legislation to ban CRT, the legislation would have likely passed. The HB1761 of 2021 by Representative Mark Lowrey, if passed, would have prohibited instructional materials teaching:
- That any race or ethnicity is superior to any other race or ethnicity;
- That any individual from a particular race or ethnicity is inherently racist;
- That any race or ethnicity should feel guilt or shame because of their race or ethnicity;
- That the United States, as a nation, is systemically racist; or
- The promotion of prejudice or discrimination toward any race or ethnicity.
HB1761 of 2021 was approved by the Arkansas House of Representatives, but it was killed in the Senate Education Committee because Senator James Sturch, a teacher or part-time teacher, voted with the Democrats to kill the bill.
(Senator Sturch was not re-elected, however, because of his support of the left-wing agenda. We would not be surprised if the liberal education community push for him to have a future role in statewide education where he can continue to push the left’s agenda.)
What can you do? Ask your school board to do its job and adopt school policies against teaching the racist Critical Race Theory, against sexualizing children with explicit sexual materials, against indoctrination on gender identity decisions on minors, and for the protection of children.
Speak up whether you currently have children in the school. It is your school, and the children in your community deserve a good education that is free of left-wing indoctrination. You have a say in the school because you are a taxpayer, and it is your money that is being spent. You have a say because you are a voter, and you can vote in school elections. You have a say because you care about the children.
Don’t let your school board be sneaky-as-a-mouse to avoid the issues. We hear a lot about “local control,” but ignoring the issue is not local control. Do not abandon the public square or your obligation to the next generation. Your local school board CAN adopt policies, and they CAN do it NOW. Don’t let them say that you need to wait and let the legislature handle it because the legislature doesn’t meet until next year, and a whole school year will have passed with the radical left getting stronger and stronger.
If your school board will say “no” to the radical left, it will also send a signal to the statewide education associations that the left is no longer in charge.
Start today by respectfully asking individual school board members to champion protections for children in the school and letting the school board members know they can count on your support as needed. Hopefully your school board will act, and it will not have to come to petitions and filling school board meetings with concerned citizens.
We think many school board members will be sympathetic. The question is whether they can overcome being quiet-as-a-mouse and timid-as-a-mouse in the face of the radical left.
