A good friend of my husband and I was running for Congress and we volunteered to campaign at a polling place on his behalf during our primary vote on Tuesday. A good portion of those who passed by on their way in to vote indicated that they had researched the candidates and were prepared to vote their conscience. Some were carrying a folded paper with their choices listed. I was really glad to see that, because I believe every person should do his or her own research, not simply vote for the person whose name is familiar to them, or for someone that we or another person urge them to choose. People shouldn’t take the lazy way out, as some did, and take a marked sample ballot from someone who tells you that a group has researched the candidates and knows which ones are best.
At one point, one of our local school board candidates walked up and said she just wanted to see what was going on. I was aware of her liberal views, and when she continued to stand outside with us, I decided, this is my chance! I struck up a conversation with her and learned a lot! I obviously didn’t record the conversation, so I will have to relate it as best I can.
I brought up a recent news story which stated that President Biden intends to put into place, perhaps this month, changes to Title IX which would deny federal funds to any school which would not toe the line on what I will call alphabet issues. Specifically mentioned in the news article was a requirement that students be allowed to use the bathroom which coincides with their self-proclaimed gender. Another requirement was that boys be allowed to compete on girls’ teams. The candidate, whom I will call Hillary, said she knew nothing about this. (Remember, she is the candidate, not me, but she was unaware.) I first heard about a similar intended change in 2022, which at that time was to deny money for free lunches to schools which would not follow the alphabet rules. As far as I know, that was never put into place. To me, it sounded as if our president was willing for children to go hungry if school administrators didn’t bow to his demands. Hillary didn’t address the bathroom issue, but tried to minimize the sports issue by citing cases in which people voluntarily play on coed teams. She gave an example of a coed soccer team which made allowances to prevent stronger men from harming women. That’s not happening in our current transgender invasion of women’s sports. See below links to two articles focused on the Title IX changes, as well as one which reveals the Biden administration’s insane focus on gender. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/06/15/executive-order-on-advancing-equality-for-lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-queer-and-intersex-individuals/ https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/biden-is-pushing-back-against-republican-states-with-new-transgender-sports-policy/ https://thefederalist.com/2024/02/13/biden-administration-moves-forward-with-dangerous-changes-to-title-ix/
I brought up the issue of pornographic books in schools. She did not deny such books are there, but instead argued that I should check how many times those books are checked out of the library. “It might be just one time.” I told her that is not the issue, but rather that the inappropriate books are in the libraries where students can access them. Although I had said nothing about this, she said condescendingly that the books are not being read to students. She went on to say that the books are not in elementary schools. I told her that is false. An organization called The Pavement Education Project https://www.pavementeducationproject.org/ educates people on this issue, compiling lists of these books, and doing something I don’t think I could do; reading aloud portions of them during their presentations. While only one book was found in one elementary school in my county, there are many in the middle and high schools. Our neighboring county, where the state capitol is located, has many in elementary schools, most of which seem to be focused on normalizing gender dysphoria. Some of the books found in schools are so vile that when adults attempt to make that point by reading them in front of school board members, they are told to stop. Why are these books okay for students? Simple, because there is an agenda. Anyone who objects to these books being in schools is accused of wanting to ban books.
I addressed the issue of information being withheld from parents when students confess to teachers or administrators that they are gay or transgender. She dismissed that by telling me that students in county schools are not being given puberty blockers. Again, she responded by speaking to an accusation I had not made. I did not even mention puberty blockers. She gave me an outlandish sounding example of a student who came to her and confessed being gay; saying her parents would kill her if they knew. Supposedly, the parents believed the Bible gave them permission to kill their child in this circumstance. I am well aware that some students live in abusive family situations and I would never condone putting a child in danger, but I tried, without success, to tell Hillary that, in my opinion, the line which must not be breached is to secretly encourage students in transitioning, by either calling them a name or using pronouns which do not match their biological sex, or even by counseling them to continue down that path.
Somehow the discussion moved to what Hillary described as a shortage of teachers. “What if we can’t hire enough teachers or bus drivers?” she asked. “What if we have to close schools?” I intended to mention both homeschooling and charter schools, but as soon as I mentioned homeschooling, she pounced on that. “How do we know what they are learning? What if they can’t get a job?” I told her that many homeschooled students do better academically than those in public schools, and she asked, “By what metric?” She misstated what I said, inferring that I had said that ALL homeschool students do better than those in public schools and stated she would like to have information which would prove it. “We can’t test them,” she lamented. She stated that many parents are not qualified to teach their children. I informed her that the son of one of our friends is the executive director of North Carolinians for Home Education. I told her that parents have many resources and options now. It was then that her position on all of this became clear. It is simply that parents do not know what is best for their children; their education must be left to the expert teachers and administrators. I challenged her several times on her concern that public school educators don’t know what homeschooled children are being taught. Several times I said, “Why do you need to know? Parents should be able to make the decisions for their children.” When I asked her why she is running for the school board, she replied, “Because I have been a teacher and I know what is needed.” I believe I heard “from the horse’s mouth” the attitude that many of our educators hold, particularly those in administration. Needless to say, I did not vote for Hillary.
(I called this candidate Hillary because like another well-known Hillary, she seems to think it takes a village to raise a child, with the parents being the least important citizens, if they are allowed to be in the village at all. My husband told me afterward that he and another man were listening to the conversation. The other guy was getting angry and wanted to jump into the conversation, but came to the conclusion that I could handle it. This from a woman who was too shy and lacking in confidence to speak to anyone throughout high school. Jesus has made me bold!)
Bless you, Anne! I'm looking into Home School curriculums for our first grandchild (age 2) here in South Carolina. As grandparents, we see where we made mistakes with our own children and how we can avoid many of those mistakes with the grands. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have homeschooled my own children. And now I make it a point to research all election candidates as thoroughly as I can.
This was very difficult to read, it must have been difficult to write.
“How do we know what they are learning? What if they can’t get a job?”
This is the core of the problem. Through the universities (uni means single as in single minded thought) these "teachers" have been brainwashed into a viral Marxist ideology and thus they cannot conceive that someone may know better about what is best for their children than them.
This is despicable:
"I first heard about a similar intended change in 2022, which at that time was to deny money for free lunches to schools which would not follow the alphabet rules."
There is a reason why the love of money is considered to be the root of all evil and it’s not just what people are willing to do to for it, but also the control it grants to the person giving it over the person getting it. All of this is being pushed on us via the central bank money spigot.
Here is a short article Anne that you may find is worth your time if you've yet to see it: https://tritorch.com/legion