For a while in Afghanistan last year, I couldn’t tell whether I was angrier at the Taliban for shooting rockets at us or Sacramento for forcing students to study alternative sexual lifestyles in positive terms.
Then, as a parent of a 6-year-old boy, I was absolutely livid at the California legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown for passing SB 48, a law that is a blatant and shameless government overreach into our lives.
Read it for yourself: http://www.stopsb48.com/
I tried to download a petition and send it back to California, but, as I learned later, my petition was invalid because I used the wrong size of paper. Worse still, the Stop SB 48 people fell just 5,000 signatures short of qualifying for the November ballot.
But the Stop SB 48 people are trying again with an initiative known as the CLASS Act, or “Children Learning Accurate Social Science.” Whatever the name, the cause is just.
Now that I’m back in California, I’m proud that my Redlands Tea Party Patriots have taken on the law’s repeal as a cause. The new law clearly violates our principle of constitutionally limited government.
I was thrilled last week when I came home from work and found a huge box of petitions from Stop SB 48 people. I’m in the process of distributing them to like-minded people and gathering signatures.
The public can sign them at our next Market Night booth in Redlands on Thursday, March 15. They will be part of our ongoing neighborhood canvassing campaign.
Further, a local church, the Redlands Christian Center, 814 Church Street in Redlands, has courageously agreed to be a petition center: http://classact2012.com/petition-centers/
It’s time for good parents to stop fearing political correctness and unite in a cause as important as any parent could ever have: protecting children.
The bill added language to Education Code Section 51204.5, which prescribes the inclusion of the contributions of various groups in the history of California and the United States. This section already included men and women and numerous ethnic groups; the expanded language now includes (additions bolded): “...a study of the role and contributions of both men and women, Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, persons with disabilities, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups, to the economic, political, and social development of California and the United States of America, with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society.” http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/senatebill48faq.asp
1. Lessons required under the FAIR Education Act must be age-appropriate and will be developed at the local level, where school districts will decide what’s appropriate for each classroom based on parent and teacher input. 2. Discrimination doesn't belong in the classroom. The FAIR Education Act prevents schools from adopting learning materials with a discriminatory bias or negative stereotypes based solely on race, ethnicity, religion, disability and sexual orientation that can alienate students and foster an environment where bullying thrives. Preventing discrimination and teaching about historical movements and the contributions of people from all backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, disability or sexual orientation fosters an atmosphere of dignity and respect that makes schools safer for all students. 3.The FAIR Education Act adds no additional costs to the state. Periodically, the State Board of Education updates its education standards and textbooks. The next update is set for 2015 and any changes related to the FAIR Education Act will be made as a part of that regularly scheduled update. (http://www.faireducationaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/FAIR-Fact-Sheet-Revised-11.171.pdf). In this day and age of access to reputable sources of information, you'd think the fools would educate themselves before opening their mouths and removing all doubt.
If, for instance, students were learning about Oscar Wilde the famous Irish writer and poet they should know his true history which was greatly defined by his homosexuality. His relationships informed his works and he was imprisoned for two years for his sexual orientation. This is a great writer whose works are considered classics and the truth of his life is that he was a homosexual and we should not hide that fact anymore than we do not hide the fact that Mark Twain had a wife and children or that Madame Curie had an affair with a married student of hers. These are their histories and your discomfort with the details should not dictate whether or not our children are taught the truth. Period.