Key Points:
- A video of an Arizona teacher mocking parental rights legislation and seeking involvement in school curricula is going viral. The video is dated February 15th.
- The teacher, whose name is not revealed, made the remarks while speaking out against SB1700, a bill which would allow parents to have the ability to review books and material used in schools for 120 days before they are available to students.
- The legislation would also allow parents to request the removal of books that are “lewd or sexual in nature, to promote gender fluidity or gender pronouns or to groom children into normalizing pedophilia.”
Arizona Teacher Ridicules Parents’ Rights to Monitor Curricula
A video of an Arizona teacher mocking parental rights and involvement in school curricula is going viral. The video, which was originally posted on February 15th, shows the teacher speaking out against SB1700, a proposed legislation that would allow parents to have the ability to review books and material used in schools for 120 days before they are available to students. The bill would also permit parents to request the removal of books that are deemed inappropriate.
In the video, the teacher ridicules parents seeking to monitor curricula, stating, “I have a master’s degree… What do the parents have? Are we vetting the backgrounds of our parents? Are we allowing the parents to choose the curriculum and the books that our children are going to read?”
Parents’ Objections to Explicit Content in Schools
Parents across the US have raised objections to books with sexually explicit content in recent years, which has led some states to act to remove them from schools. Oklahoma announced a rule on February 10th that would allow the state to strip schools of certification if they make “pornographic materials or sexualized content” available in school libraries.
Florida pulled multiple books on the grounds of having explicit content, including “Gender Queer,” “Let’s Talk About It,” and “It’s Perfectly Normal.” Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida also clashed with the College Board over an Advanced Placement class in African-American Studies that would have included elements of Critical Race Theory and queer theory, which seek to hold groups of people accountable for the actions of their ancestors and consider America systemically racist.
Consequences of Dismissing Parental Involvement
The teacher’s statements in the video may suggest a dismissive attitude towards the role of parents in the education of their children. This stance may not only affect the relationship between parents and teachers but may also lead to significant consequences, such as increased resistance to curricula, particularly when it comes to subjects that may be deemed controversial or objectionable. Ultimately, a lack of parental involvement may lead to negative consequences for both parents and teachers.
