I live in CA....I wrote and sent this to the editor of the local news paper:
Once again our elected officials are taking it upon themselves to decide what’s best for other people’s children. Democrats Mark Leno and Governor Jerry Brown have just put thousands of teachers and millions of parents in an uncomfortable position and that’s not all. The passing of SB 48 goes far beyond insulting the majority of Californians who are against its implementation. It’s also very costly for tax payers and school districts. A newly mandated curriculum will have to be purchased within a few years and of course there’s a probable loss of enrollment which will only further deepen districts’ financial hardships.
Why can’t we just teach our students the core subjects, like math, language arts and science? In a time when school districts are struggling to meet state and federal benchmarks, and our state and schools are in serious financial trouble, why is it seemingly necessary to pass agenda driven legislation that has less to do with protecting kids and more to do with desensitizing our youth to homosexuality in hopes that it becomes more socially acceptable?
There are currently no laws preventing text book companies from including important contributions by persons who are gay. If an individual is worthy of being in a text book on his or her own merits, then so be it. Why is it so important to point out that person’s sexual preference? Answer: It’s not, unless your motive is to expose children to the idea of same sex relationships.
Mark Leno pushed SB 48 using bothersome examples of harassment and violence toward kids who were seen by their peers as gay. But SB 48 has little to do with making schools a safer place and everything to do with promoting the views of pro-homosexual organizations such as Equality California who sponsored this bill.
I should say that as a public school teacher myself, maintaining a safe environment for all my students will always be a primary concern. Let it be known that rules are already in place that protect all students, gay, straight, overweight, black, brown or white. Where I teach and in my classroom, harassment of any kind is not tolerated.
Parents have the right to have their children educated in public schools without the fear of material being used to which they find offensive. Let’s keep political and social agendas outside of our schools and focus on giving our children a first rate education.