Public schools must be neutral on politics (and religion)

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 28
2 min read

Public schools must respect parents' right to guide their children's religious education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday. If parents don't want their children taught to celebrate drag queens, same-sex marriage or gender transitions in elementary school, they should be able to opt out.

School administrators and teachers need to remember that public education is supposed to be politically neutral, writes Robert Pondiscio in Whose school is it anyway? The goal is to equip "students with knowledge and skills they need to be independent and productive adult citizens." It's not to train political activists or woke ideologues.

Maryland parents who sued to make LGBTQ lessons optional complained about IntersectionAllies' defense of biological males in girls' bathrooms. But the book is mostly about identity politics. It is "a mirror in which kids of all genders, races, sexualities, abilities, cultures, and origins can see their whole selves reflected, respected, and celebrated," the authors write. "In a world increasingly fractured by xenophobia, racism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia, and other forms of injustice, IntersectionAllies teaches the meaning of 'community' to kids and parents alike, along with rhyming strategies to support and celebrate each other’s differences."

"Many teacher preparation programs explicitly train educators to 'teach for social justice,' and commit to challenging systemic inequities," he writes. They're not even trying to be neutral.

He doesn't worry about debates on school curriculum or policy. That's out in the open. He's more concerned with how teachers are trained and with curricular “recommendations” the public doesn't see.

Public schools "cannot be both a core government service and a platform for personal or political expression," Pondiscio writes. If schools want to reclaim public trust, they have to understand that.

The number of school-age children is down. Choice alternatives are expanding. If I was running a school system, I'd try to figure out what parents want and, if at all possible, offer it to them. I'd show respect for their values and focus on their priorities.

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Malcolm Kirkpatrick

Jun 30

(Joanne): "School administrators and teachers need to remember that public education is supposed to be politically neutral, writes Robert Pondiscio ..."

"Need to" or what?

"Supposed by whom? I suppose that the $837 billion per year (2020-2021 US total) K-12 industry has become a make-work program for dues-paying members of the NEA/AFT/AFSCME cartel, a source of padded consulting, construction, and supplies contracts for politically-connected insiders, and a venue for State-worshipful indoctrination.

Opt-out is a clumsy solution to one of many problems that the US State-monopoly system created. A simple solution is out of reach of Constitutionally-restrained judges, who will leave legislation to legislators.

There are too many "r"s in "revolution. A legislative majority which decides to empower parents could simply…

Chris Cathart

Jun 30

"The goal is to equip "students with knowledge and skills they need to be independent and productive adult citizens." "

One of those things is not to be jerks about queer or trans identity, to respect and acknowledge (rather than erase) "non-conforming folks" in this regard. It wouldn't need include "celebrating their lifestyle" or "grooming for trans identity." Are the religious folks okay with that middle way? (This applies wherever parents are having their kids schooled.) If not, then we have the same sort of criticism coming from the other way -- that the Right would marginalize certain identities under the guise of political or ideological neutrality or citizenship-building. (I can't say their track record in this area is promising;…

Joanne Jacobs

Jun 30

Replying to

I think it's important for schools to urge students to be polite to others and to ensure that bullying is not tolerated. Telling kids they shouldn't bully classmates because of their sexual orientation or race or ability/disability or whatever is counterproductive. Act like a decent person! I think 99.9% of parents would be good with that.

Bruce Smith

Jun 30

Rated 4 out of 5 stars.

I am running a new school system. While responsive to what parents want, and respecting their values & priorities, we are busy figuring out what we want to offer: two-way educational choice implies matchmaking between schools and families, rather than the march through the institutions America's leftists have been promulgating for at least a generation, people who are now indoctrinating young teachers to groom even younger children while ideologically fencing off their classrooms from public scrutiny, a strategy that is now spectacularly backfiring.

Guest

Jun 29

"Social justice is an actual impediment to acquiring human capital"

--Thomas Sowell

Forced public schooling only works in homogeneous communities. Diversity make public schools a political prize to promote one group or another's ideology

In all areas of mixed nationality, the school is a political prize of the highest importance. It cannot be deprived of its political character as long as it remains a public and compulsory institution. There is, in fact, only one solution: the state, the government, the laws must not in any way concern themselves with schooling or education. Public funds must not be used for such purposes. The rearing and instruction of youth must be left entirely to parents and to private associations and institutions. --Mises…

Malcolm Kirkpatrick

Jul 04

Replying to

(anon): "There is not a country in the 21st century that one can point to that does not have public schools and competes with other first world countries."

Moving the goal posts again.

All this proves is that rulers everywhere approve State-worshipful indoctrination.

There is not a totalitarian dictatorship in the 21st century that does not compel attendance at government-operated schools.

Guest

Jun 28

Image the social conservative Christian family demanding that their child be exempt for all of biology that can lead back to evolution? Image a school working hard to deny the existence of homosexuals, trans, or queers or religions other than Christianity?