#school boards

[gwydionmisha]

I beg people over and over to vote in all the down ballot races in every election. This is why.

#California #School Boards #Censorship #Elections Matter #News

[gamer2002]

https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1696664790821666816?s=09

School board removes a man for reading from the pornographic book they allow in a public school library.

#grooming #child grooming #us schools #school boards #us education #us education system #education #education system #schools #school #us politics #politics

[firstagent]

What It's Like To Get Elected

Has it been another month since my last story update again? Uh… it’s still going.

Anyway, switching to another subject since I promised to talk more politics. As I mentioned before, I’ve been active with my local Democratic party. As far as getting into the room, getting access to important people, and giving them reality checks (and boy, do they need reality checks sometimes), I can’t recommend joining enough. Assuming you’ve got the spoons for it, and your local party don’t turn out to be assholes. That’s another conversation.

I also mentioned I was running for local school board. And guess what? I won!

In a small miracle for this town, we only had three candidates for three positions. Well, a small miracle and some excellent coordination from the local lefties. Because we were essentially unopposed, a lot of the steps of normal campaigning didn’t apply this time. Which is a shame, because I had a design for yard signs all set to go.

I did, however, interview for unions! That looks like a big Zoom call with a bunch of local reps where they ask you questions to make sure you support unions. The teachers union asked me about supporting LGBTQ+ students. Anyway, if you stalk me and find my Ballotpedia page (I only discovered a couple weeks ago that I had a Ballotpedia page) you’ll find two union endorsements. So that’s fun.

So is defending those endorsements and my Dems activity on community Facebook groups when people were under the impression they don’t get involved in local races. Maybe they should ask the county board candidate who swore up and down he didn’t take outside money, while taking $700 from the county Republicans. We have receipts.

Because of that nonsense I was more focused on his race than mine on Election Day. Hearing results when you’re running sometimes works a little differently, as you probably know someone working the polls that will share the results before the internet and news networks find them. So I heard about the local results well before they were published. And yes, I won! And that Republican guy lost. Bonus.

What happens next? For starters, training sessions. The state’s school board association emailed me the next morning with a login for their site. Three meetings in the next month will help get me up to speed: an orientation with the actual board, a gathering for new members in the region, and then an all-day affair about the specific governing model we have. It’s a lot, but it shows how much they prepare you going in, if you’re committed to actually doing the job right.

The biggest reality check came when I went to the next school board meeting, the lame duck session, if you will. For one, when I got there I got handed payroll paperwork. It hadn’t really sunk in that I was getting paid for this. Another is a discussion that frequently mentioned waiting on a vote until the new members could chime in. Or even the kudos from the other board members for crossing the finish line.

Yesterday I took my oath of office. Reading the email I was expecting a small private thing where I do an LBJ-style swearing in in a secretary’s office, maybe a picture. I just had to sign a thing, in the office because it had to be notarized. I was in and out in five minutes.

We’re going from roughly a 6-1 progressive majority to 7-0. That’s great news for our school, even if my first meeting I get to vote on whether elementary school registration fees are tripled, or doubled with the district subsidizing the balance. Thanks state legislature!

If you go in intending to do the job right, it’s a lot of work. That’s why it’s so important to elect people who intend to do the job right. Because so much of this is optional. It’s entirely possible to skip most of the trainings, to take your seat and either do nothing productive with it, or try to push policy whether or not it’s relevant, appropriate, or even legal. That’s how we get bad leadership, and why participation in this process is the only way anything’s going to get better.

(Feel free to use my Ask box for any political questions, including what the hell Democrats actually do at the local level and why I encourage joining them even with all the baggage attached.)

#politics #elections #school boards

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Rachel Paula Abrahamson at NBC News:

Openly gay actor Maulik Pancholy was disinvited from speaking at a middle school anti-bullying assembly after concerns were raised about his political activism and what two school board members called his “lifestyle.” Pancholy’s scheduled appearance at Mountain View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was unanimously overturned by the district’s school board in a public meeting on April 15.  “If you research this individual, he labels himself as an activist, he is proud of his lifestyle and I don’t think that should be imposed upon our students at any age,” board member Bud Shaffner said at the meeting.  Trisha Comstock, a former parent at the school, started a Change.org petition to reinstate the empathy and anti-bullying assembly. “What happened is homophobic. Anyone can go and watch the meeting,” Comstack tells TODAY.com. “This board is close to causing some real harm.”

Why was Maulik Pancholy disinvited?

Board member Kelly Potteiger raised concerns that Pancholy, 50, would discuss his children’s book “The Best at It,” which is about a gay Indian American boy. “It’s not discriminating against his lifestyle — that’s his choice,” Potteiger said in the meeting. “But it’s him speaking about it.” Pancholy played the character Jonathan, Alex Baldwin’s devoted assistant, in the sitcom “30 Rock,” and also voiced the character Baljeet in “Phineas and Ferb.” Pancholy’s presentation on anti-bullying at Mountain View Middle School was canceled by an 8-0 vote. TODAY.com has reached out to Pancholy for comment. Brooke Ryerson, an LGBTQ high school sophomore, attended Mountain View Middle School. Ryerson and her mom plan to express their disappointment at the next board meeting on May 6. 

“It was going to be an assembly about empathy and anti-bullying,” Ryerson, 16, tells TODAY.com. “But that doesn’t matter to the board. They want to silence us in any way they can.” The “us” that Ryerson is referring to is the gay community.  “They’re sending that message that they don’t want our identities in the school,” Ryerson says. “I’m lucky that I have such accepting friends and family, but it’s gotta be devastating for the kids who don’t and now feel even more like they’re not wanted somewhere.”

The cowardly Cumberland Valley School District school board in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania voted to cancel gay 30 Rock actor Maulik Pancholy's appearance at a middle school anti-bullying assembly, with 2 of its board members using the homophobic "lifestyle" canard to justify canceling Pancholy's address to middle schoolers.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: School board cancels anti-bullying talk by gay actor because of his “lifestyle”

#Mountain View Middle School #Pennsylvania #School Boards #LGBTQ+ #Bullying #Anti LGBTQ+ Extremism #Maulik Pancholy #Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania #The Best At It #Cumberland Valley School District

[insiaisdelulu]

Finals szn

#studyblr #finals #school boards

[leftisthousewife]

CSE post 2/2

The below text is from a pamphlet handed out by my grandma’s church to get their members to attend school board meetings to block Sex education. 

Needless to say this is bad and will cause so much harm.

8. PROMOTES EARLY SEXUAL AUTONOMY Teaches children they can choose to have sex when they feel they are ready or when they find a trusted partner. Fails to provide data about the well-documented negative consequences of early sexual debut. Fails to encourage sexually active children to return to abstinence. 9. FAILS TO ESTABLISH ABSTINENCE AS THE EXPECTED STANDARD Fails to establish abstinence (or a return to abstinence) as the expected standard for all school-age children. May mention abstinence only in passing. May teach children that all sexual activity-other than "unprotected" vaginal and oral sex- is acceptable, and even healthy. May present abstinence and "protected" sex as equally good options for children. 10. PROMOTES TRANSGENDER IDEOLOGY Promotes affirmation of and/or exploration of diverse gender identities. May teach children they can change their gender or identify as multiple genders, or may present other unscientific and medically inaccurate theories. Fails to teach that most gender-confused children resolve their confusion by adulthood and that extreme gender confusion is a mental health disorder (gender dysphoria) that can be helped with mental health intervention. 11. PROMOTES CONTRACEPTION / ABORTION TO CHILDREN Presents abortion as a safe or positive option while omitting data on the many potential negative physical and mental health consequences. May teach children they have a right to abortion and refer them to abortion providers. May encourage the use of contraceptives, while failing to present failure rates or side effects. 12. PROMOTES PEER-TO-PEER SEX ED OR SEXUAL RIGHTS ADVOCACY May train children to teach other children about sex or sexual pleasure, through peer-to-peer initiatives. May recruit children as spokespeople to advocate for controversial sexual rights (including a right to CSE itself or to promote abortion. 13. UNDERMINES TRADITIONAL VALUES AND BELIEFS May encourage children to question their parents' beliefs or their cultural or religious values regarding early sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. 14. UNDERMINES PARENTS OR PARENTAL RIGHTS May instruct children they have rights to confidentiality and privacy from their parents. May teach children about accessing sexual commodities or services, including abortion, without parental consent. May instruct children not to tell their parents what they are being taught about sex in school. 15. REFERS CHILDREN TO HARMFUL RESOURCESRefers children to harmful websites, materials or outside entities. May also specifically refer children to Planned Parenthood or their affiliates or partners for their lucrative services or commodities (i.e., sexual counseling, condoms, contraceptives, gender hormones, STI testing and treatment, abortions, etc.) Please Note: A conflict of interest exists whenever an entity that profits from sexualizing children is involved in creating or implementing sex education programs. (For more information on how Planned Parenthood sexualizes children for profit see www.WaronChildren.org and www.InvestigateIPPF.org)

#sex education #comprehensive sex education #sex ed #consent #safe sex #lgbtq #school boards #transgender #christianity cw

[plethoraworldatlas]

Meghan Budden's family was considering moving if their Pennsylvania school district didn't change course. She normally isn't politically active, she said, but felt compelled to volunteer when a slate of Democrats launched bids to take back their school board in Central Bucks School District, just north of Philadelphia.

Central Bucks is well known both statewide and nationally for heated board meetings over masks and Pride flags, policies banning certain books and directives to not use students' preferred names and pronouns. Accusations of discrimination against LGBTQ students have also led to an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Education.

"I couldn't have my kids in a school district where these kinds of things were happening," Budden said.

Standing in the Bucks County Democratic headquarters on election night, Budden sobbed when the results rolled in — Democrats took all five seats up for election.

The room erupted in cheers; friends, neighbors and strangers hugged."It was very moving and a very joyous feeling from everyone," Budden recalled. "And a sense of relief."

If there was a question about whether the conservative-led school board's policies reflected the will of the local community, Tuesday's election may have provided an answer.

#school boards #us politics #good news

[zinniajones]

Life in Florida has been exactly like this for the past two years

#Donnie Darko #school boards #book banning #Youtube

[emperornorton47]

That's as good as any.

#banned books #school boards #courage

[originalistideas]

Where is the #FBI now? This is not an oath of office.

#gay #oathbreaker #fbi #fbi corruption #school boards #lgbtq community #lgbtq

[gettothestabbing]

#National School Boards Association #school boards #targeting #parents #parental rights #Corey A. DeAngelis #false accusations #domestic terrorism #public schools

[hellogirlslikegirlslikeboysdo]

And the lights are not fluorescent, and there are no words on the page. - Literary Communities Essay

Author's Preface and Ch. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7

Description: My final portfolio for one of the creative writing courses I took based around exploring the creative nonfiction essay in its many literary forms, with any and all identifying names or signifiers censored out.

In my many years as the daughter of a full-time teacher (in companion with my few years as the daughter of two full-time teachers), I have bore unwitting witness to a myriad of violations of the human spirit. One wide and ever-expanding enough to fuel one of those documentaries that makes people tear up in the theater and leave telling each other something along the lines of “Wow, that was so deep.”, over and over and back and forth.

I’ve seen class disparities become educational disparities, the breakdown of the overarching student drive and the subsequent breakdown of the heart of teaching (aka the literal teachers themselves, the deterioration of licensing standards for teachers across the board. I was even (un)lucky enough to gather around the dinner table, each and every sorry night, to be sorely reminded of most below-the-college grade level educator’s mainly shared experience of taking second retail or service jobs to balance out their salaries that are blatantly below minimum wage, intense and inescapable job creep, and their time wasted by the endless meeting and group exercises and always unraveling assignments and requirements, always at the cruel hand of the undeniably cruel act of having each and every decision they make in regards to their own classroom scrutinized, critiqued, and forcibly “mended” by politicians, principals, and committees with absolutely no experience in their line of work, nor clue what the everliving heck they are on about.

I will not even bother, my dear School Superintendent, with the regurgitation of my dear mother’s testimony of the grueling and degrading reality of teaching Pre-K within the state of Florida today, along with the past 25+ years. You do not, I presume, need that burden of knowledge anymore than I do.

However, just like the previously mentioned theoretical documentary, awareness of these issues is usually meant with the proverbial “Damn, that sucks dude.”, followed by the gradual chatter of resumed conversations and the scattering of unfazed individuals.

In the interest of actually having something done about even just a tiny, miniscule part of literally any of this, I am writing to you today an introduction of a concrete proposal concerning the overwhelming need for a comprehensive writing program in [REDACTED] elementary schools’ shared [REDACTED]’s curriculum. For years, teachers have used antiquated means and methods to teach creative writing, failing to teach anything that truly sticks with their students outside of the educational environment, let alone anything that applies to the world of creative writing outside of said environment. My proposal calls for a group of reading/literacy coaches and experts, experienced in the field of creative writing and training and instructing others, to direct work and collaborate with teachers to train them for the effects of the implementation of a proposed replacement writing program.

With your approval, this proposal will be later presented to the School Board and all teachers and principals statewide, for funding and/or collaboration with this plan. Thank you for your time.

#creative nonfiction #essay #creative writing #creativity #teaching #education #educational #education and learning #proposal #school boards #schools #teachers #letters #persuasive #nonfiction #family dynamics #school #learning #prekindergarten #writing

[gwydionmisha]

#Moms for Liberty #Conspiracy Theories #School Boards #Censorship #News

[yemme]

Everyone needs to be fired/step down... The Board, Principal, Security, and the Parents Arrested. If that child brought bullets the day prior and there was no call to the parents to ban that child from returning without a psychological evaluation, the school is not doing it’s job.  The teacher should sue everyone where liable including the NRA.  If a minor can’t drink liquor under the law they should not have knowledge of a deadly weapon... if parents wish to do so every parent/guardian must sign a parental consent form to the state.

#school boards #This is the 3rd shooting...

[idroolinmysleep]

Dan Kois: Why did the board make the decision to remove the principal of the school?

Barney Bishop III: Well, like all the reporters I’ve talked to today, the premise that you’re operating from is incorrect. We didn’t remove her. She resigned. She’s an at-will employee by contract, as are all our teachers. I went to her last week and offered her two letters. One was a voluntary resignation, and another a letter that said if she decided not to resign, I was going to ask the board to terminate her without cause. Without cause. We have the right to do that under the contract.

So it’s safe to say she resigned under pressure from the board.

No question.

Read the whole thing, it’s nuts.

#Florida #Tallahassee #education #Barney Bishop III #Barney Bishop #school boards #Michelangelo #art

[leftisthousewife]

CSE Post 1/2

The war on sex education is a heinous action that deliberately works to keep teenagers uninformed and without the resources necessary to make informed decisions. 

The below text is from a pamphlet handed out by my grandma’s church to get their members to attend school board meetings to block Sex education. 

Growing up queer without the words to express myself has caused so much pain and suffering. Please stand up against this.

15 Harmful Elements of CSE COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION THE HARMFUL EFFECT ON CHILDREN The following are 15 harmful elements typically found in CSE curricula. Since each of these 15 harmful elements has the potential of causing long-term negative effects on the health and well-being of children, having even one of these elements should be reason enough to disqualify a program from being taught to children. A program containing several of these elements should be banned from use in any school or community setting. 1. SEXUALIZES CHILDREN Normalizes child sex or desensitizes children to sexual things. May give examples of children having sex or imply many of their peers are sexually active. May glamorize sex, use graphic materials, teach explicit sexual vocabulary, or encourage discussion of sexual experiences, attractions, fantasies or desires. 2. TEACHES CHILDREN TO CONSENT TO SEX May teach children how to negotiate sexual encounters or how to ask for or get "consent" from other children to engage in sexual acts with them. Note: "Consent" is often taught under the banner of sexual abuse prevention. While this may be appropriate for adults, children of minor age should never be encouraged to "consent" to sex. 3. NORMALIZES ANAL & ORAL SEX Normalizes these high-risk sexual behaviors and may omit vital medical facts, such as the extremely high STI infection rates (i.e., HIV and HPV) and the oral and anal cancer rates of these high-risk sex acts. 4. PROMOTES HOMOSEXUAL / BISEXUAL BEHAVIOR Normalizes or promotes acceptance or exploration of diverse sexual orientations, sometimes in violation of state education laws. May omit vital health information and/or may provide medically inaccurate information about homosexuality or homosexual sex. 5. PROMOTES SEXUAL PLEASURE Teaches children they are entitled to or have a "right" to sexual pleasure or encourages children to seek out sexual pleasure. Fails to present data on the multiple negative potential outcomes for sexually active children. 6. PROMOTES SOLO AND/OR MUTUAL MASTURBATION While masturbation can be part of normal child development, encourages masturbation at young ages, which may make children more vulnerable to pornography use, sexual addictions or sexual exploitation. May instruct children on how to masturbate. May also encourage children to engage in mutual masturbation. 7. PROMOTES CONDOM USE IN INAPPROPRIATE WAYS May inappropriately eroticize condom use (e.g., emphasizing sexual pleasure or "fun" with condoms) or use sexually explicit methods (i.e., penis and vagina models, seductive role plays, etc.) to promote condom use to children. May provide medically inaccurate information on condom effectiveness and omit or deemphasize failure rates. May imply that condoms will provide complete protection against pregnancy or STIs.

#sex education #comprehensive sex education #sex ed #consent #safe sex #lgbtq #school boards #transgender #christianity cw