By Dr. Lisa Dunne
California Governor Gavin Newson just signed the first-ever law preventing school districts from notifying parents about a child’s expressed sexual identity. Supporters call it “safety.” Opponents call is “secrecy.” What’s happening in modern education? Join us Friday, July 19th at CVCU for a workshop with lawyers and education leaders to hear more about the impact of AB 1955 in your community. RSVP at www.CVCU.us/conference24.
Just a few short months ago, we were telling parents and pastors about the Parental Rights Bill passing through the house, exposing the dark underbelly of public education’s goal: severing the student’s tie to family. And here we are again. Governor Newsom has signed into law AB 1955, what public school leaders are calling the “safety bill.”
Safety?
Make no mistake, mamma. These teachers and administrators are declaring safety from YOU. You are the existential threat.
If you’re hearing about this for the first time, maybe you had literally no idea that your sweet little neighborhood public school was keeping secrets from you. Maybe you didn’t know what powers were co-laboring to ensure that a government agenda would supersede your parental tights. The battle line has been drawn. Parents’ rights now end at the school’s front door.
What’s really happening?
Gavin Newsom has signed a law preventing school districts from notifying parents about changes in a child’s behavior relating to sexual identity: using different pronouns or the name of a boy instead of a girl, for example.
The bill makes California the first state to explicitly prohibit what critics called “forced outing” policies that were previously adopted at some schools, requiring that teachers and administrators notify parents when students request to use a different name or pronoun from what’s on record.
The new law also protects teachers and administrators from retaliation for not sharing the secrets with parents. Supporters call it the safety bill. Opponents call it the secrecy bill.
The California Family Council called the law a “government imposed wall between parent and child.”
This dissonance between the school and the family is not new. I have written in this blog before about the hundreds of documents on file whose main concern about homeschooling is that it teaches students values that contradict the values of the state. There is a contrast, a very clear contrast, between the goals of the secular education system and the goals of Christian families.
With AB 1955, the left applauded the secrecy that would be “protected” in the classroom. What they mean by that, mamma, is they applaud their “right” to keep a secret from YOU. Teachers are supported, encouraged—and now required—to keep secrets from you, the parent.
The agenda is clear here, friends.
The intention is to keep parents out of the system, out of the loop. The government school system wants ultimate control. It’s Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. And this necessarily begs the question: Do America’s children belong to their parents or to the state?
There is a predictive power evidenced in a nation by the habits, hurts, and hangups of its forthcoming generation.
Nazi Germany is a case in point. Hitler intentionally designed programs like Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls to train up a generation, indoctrinating them in the Nazi mindset. In early 1930, the Nazi state abolished all youth groups in Germany, closing off all the competition for worldview development. By 1937, they had 5.4 million youth members (65% of the 10-18 population) and by 1940, 7.2 million—a full 82% of the 10-18 population belonged to Hitler Youth.
One of the most chilling historical citations was the stated goal of these Nazi organizations: to “dismantle existing social structures and traditions and to impose conformity.”
Almost 90% of students in America still attend secular public schools, so the power of influence is in the hand of the educator, the educational institution. Let’s go back to Plato’s question for every civilization throughout all time and space, for this is truly the determining factor in America’s future: Who is teaching the children, and what are they being taught?
Christian parents must be mindful of the fact that these school systems are literally inculcating the values that will drive the future of our nation. The beginning of wisdom, its very starting point, Proverbs tells us, is the fear of the Lord. Children learn mockery of the laws of the Lord in California’s public schools; they learn oppression of its truths, but they will not learn the fear of the Lord in centers that are linked with an aggressive, secular agenda.
Where did this ludicrous idea begin? At the source point of all ludicrous ideas in America: The university system, the seedbed of anti-faith doctrine and anti-family doctrine.
Everything exposed by AB1955 is already happening on college campuses across the US. It always trickles down from the top. What we permit and then teach at the university level trains up a generation of leaders who set the pace for secondary and elementary education. It’s one giant feedback loop.
It all started in earnest with the Family Educational Rights to Privacy Act (FERPA). The U.S. Department of Education defines FERPA as a federal law “designed to protect the privacy of student education records.” In effect since 1974, the law applies to all schools receiving funds through the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA requires that the control of a child’s records be limited to the school, not the parents. See the common ground there? Parents, you’re out.
These records include grades and academic standing, attendance, financial standing with the college, results of any disciplinary proceedings involving the student, hospitalization, treatment for any emergency or life-threatening medical or psychological conditions, missed classes, and disruptive or erratic behavior.
Only through a written release from the student can a parent gain access to a student’s file—even if that parent is funding the student’s education. Neither the instructor nor the administrator has the “right” under FERPA’s regulations to speak to a parent about the student’s records. In a number of recent cases, this has been problematic, even life-threatening.
Parents, I know there is a push in some circles to try to mend public education, but I believe it is too far gone. I believe it’s time for a new breed of education, one that is tried and true, proven in its efficacy and return on investment for generations. Christian parents are called to rise up and carry the mantle.
This bill is one of the many reasons I encourage church leaders to stop wasting their time on school boards. As Gatto said, “Government monopoly schools are doing exactly what they were designed to do.”
Pastor, parent, community leader, why are we spending our time, energy, and creativity on a failed project? It’s time to open our churches as academic outposts, a center point for academics, relationship, and community. We must begin the process of restoring parents to their rightful place of authority and influence. Thankfully, the passage of AB 1955 has awakened parents to yet another level of control the Hitlerian state is trying to exert over our children. Mom and dad, it’s time for a public school exit. Discover how you can become an agent of change in your community at www.AcademicRescueMission.com.
Want to learn more? Join us Friday, July 19th at CVCU for a workshop with lawyers and education leaders to learn about the impact of AB1955 on your community. RSVP at www.CVCU.us/conference24.
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