Student learning loss from remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic is well documented. In fact, Pennsylvania math test scores for 8th grade were some of the worst in the nation, dropping by an average of 11 points. With decreased core curriculum scores, what are schools doing to help students become grade-level proficient? From the looks of things in local schools, they aren’t emphasizing reading, writing, and arithmetic!
West Chester Area School District
Fern Hill Elementary School
Click on the image of the Gender Bear for an in-depth article from the Delaware Valley Journal.
Teachers at the Fern Hill Elementary School in the West Chester School District attended a training session on how to teach children as young as five years old about being transgender. The Gender Bear is one tool used to instruct students about the difference between sex and gender. This information was not freely given to parents, but was released as a result of a Right to Know request.
School District of Philadelphia
Albert M. Greenfield School
Click on the image above for the FOX News story with comments from local parents.
Parents were alarmed when they received an email notification about a “Drag Queen Story Hour” for their first grade students at Albert M. Greenfield School in Philadelphia. “School districts across the Commonwealth are pushing adult topics and concepts on children earlier and earlier, forcing families to address topics that they may feel are inappropriate for their children,” advocate Ada Nestor told Fox News.
West Chester Area School District
School Board Meeting – 10/23/22
WCASD Superintendent admits to withholding a student’s transitioning from her parent.
Parents brought concerns about pornographic books in elementary school libraries and teaching about transgender issues to young children to the WCASD Board at their Tuesday, October 23rd meeting. Inclusivity seems to be a primary concern for this school district not improving those test scores. The superintendent read a statement regarding the education of transgenderism at the WCASD Fern Hill Elementary School. He said about “our youngest learners” that “there is a need for this. This is a reality that we do have transgender students in our schools.”
The Constitution, Federal Law, & State Law
In 2000, Justice O’Conner, Justice Ginsberg, and Justice Breyer wrote, “the interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children is perhaps the oldest fundamental liberty interest recognized by this Court. Choices parents make about the upbringing of their children are among associated rights, sheltered by the 14th Amendment against the state’s unwanted usurpation, disregard, and disrespect. The Federal Constitution permits a state to interfere with this right only to prevent harm or potential harm to the child.”
In addition to the 14th Amendment, 18 U.S.C. § 1466A and 18 U.S.C. § 1470 are the parts of the U. S. Code pertaining to depictions of pornography and the distribution of it to minors. Yet, 22 years later, school administrations simply hide curriculum from parents rather than cede control. Parents are forced to file Right-to-Know Requests of school boards and file lawsuits against school districts and the PA Attorney General to try to stop pornography from being shown to their children. Although the lawsuit was dismissed, eventually this issue could go to the U. S. Supreme Court. We can only hope that the current court remembers the writings of their predecessors.
In the meantime, PA state lawmakers introduced the Parental Bill of Rights to enumerate parents’ rights and to protect children from content that is not age appropriate. Opponents refer to the legislation as promoting book banning and non-inclusivity. Supporters believe the bill will bring common sense back to our school communities.
As G. K. Chesterton wrote, “It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they can’t see the problem.”
We are trying to make sure that they see and understand the problems.
