Fighting Indoctrination in Public Schools

Family policy matters and engaging and informative weekly radio show and podcast produced by the North Carolina family policy Council hi this is John Rustin, presidency, family, and were grateful to have you with us for this week's program is our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged and inspired by what you hear on family policy matters and that she will flow better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state and nation, and now here's our house to family policy matters. Tracy Yvette Briggs, thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters. Parents have had an almost daily close view of their children school curriculum over the last year and 1/2 thanks to Comed and have us have become uneasy and even horrified at some of what has become commonplace teaching standard public school curriculum is less likely to be focused on the basics of reading, writing and math and more focused on promoting divisive ideologies to our children will in an effort to empower parents in their fundamental role as the primary teachers of their children. The family research Council has published a new guide entitled a concerned citizen's guide to engaging with public schools with a guide to author Meg kill Gannon joins us today. She is a senior fellow for education studies and FRC. Previously, she served at the US Department of Education as director of the office of faith and opportunity initiatives for efforts to spearhead dynamic change in her own local school board earned her the Virginia family foundations citizen of the year award in 2019 will Meg kill Gannon. Welcome to family policy matters. Thank you so much for having me on first about what is the primary concern is your hearing from parents about America's public schools. Most parents are concerned about politics being included in school curriculum, regardless of whether you're conservative or liberal. Most parents believe that children's education should be free of political bias and so when you are in the system.

Our educational system is dominated by progressive thinking so this means that in a subject like government class you're going to have a bias towards one kind of thinking or one set of ideas. This means that in history. Have revisionist history instead of an accurate teaching of America's history, warts and all, even in English class. You'll have issues with the choice of literature selections. They may be from a progressive political band. They may include sexually explicit material that's unnecessary for children of the age they are just all kinds of things that parents discover when they look very closely at their children's curricula what you suppose public schools have been especially recently, so aggressively progressive in their ideology. What's happening here the whole educational infrastructure has been dominated by progressives and leftists in the early part of the 20th century right after the communist revolution in the Soviet Union there was a concerted effort to make that a worldwide movement and it didn't have success.

The workers of the world did not unite and rise up against the powers that be because that's just not how things work.

So as we progress through that time and entered into the 40s, 50s and 60s the intellectual movement of that time decided that instead of having a workers revolution. We would have an intellectual revolution instead of economic Marxism leading the path to Marxism. We would have instead cultural Marxism that would pave the way toward economic Marxism and that meant taking over institutions of higher learning and they did that very successfully.

Sadly, the radicals of the 60s are now retiring from their service in academia and they are leaving in their wake.

The people that they've trained to be incredibly progressive radical ideologues who are taking over those institutions as professors, college presidents and even presidents of corporations. My children have had a variety of educational experiences. I homeschool my kids for a while.

I had a child who had learning means that I couldn't address and so she needed to go to public school for the services we had some of our kids in Catholic school, and over time we were pleased with our public school system. That situation I think is now very different in the last 10 years.

The situation in public schools has really changed its become very much more progressive. I'm not sure if it's because of technology. Just a coarsening of the culture exactly what the reason for this rapid decline as I think for parents who have children starting out in school now you need to think very carefully about what your choices are.

It's not possible for everyone to pull their kids out of public school and if you're in a situation where you simply cannot do that you're going to need to be very involved in what your children are doing. I need to make sure you know what's happening on the computers or devices that their issue from school know what their textbooks are know what their assignments are know their teachers be is engaged with their teachers and the principal of the school.

As you can be in the most positive way possible and be really engaged in the process easily pullers our children out or for those of us who do not have children at all in in the public schools right now that doesn't let us off the hook so does that mean we still need to be concerned about what's happening in the public schools in you outlined some good reasons don't you. One of the things that I think we need to keep in mind as if public schools aren't good enough for our children. There really not good enough for anybody's children and to that end, if children are being are being harmed by the school system that they're in that harm is occurring at the expense the literal financial expense of the public.

You know their ruining kids with our tax dollars you might say. And so to the degree that that's the case we need to be engaged in the system.

Part of the reason that schools are struggling so much. The biggest part of that of course is the breakdown of the family. We know that families in America are in crisis. We know that many children come from single-family parent homes which isn't always the choice of the parent right this. Sometimes this is unavoidable, but you have children in economic plea disadvantaged situations. Children in rank poverty suffer hunger who are all at the schoolhouse door awaiting to be educated right and so we need to make sure that those children's needs are served, that those children are not harmed by ideologies or worldviews that will prohibit they are flourishing in the future for going to make sure that our children are in a well taken care of and and have firm footing for for their launch into life so that they can be successful and productive citizens.

As a society and as Christians. Of course we want that for all children, and if we have a system of education that does not make that possible that it's incumbent upon us to engage with the system and make it the best that it can possibly be hosting a weekly radio show and podcast of the North Carolina coast. This is just one of the many ways is educating citizens across Mr. lotto about policy issues that impact families revisionist state and nation were God is on religious freedom for families. For more information about his family and how you can help us to achieve this incredible vision for state and nation is her website and see families on board and see family.org and be sure to sign up to receive our email updates and action alerts course reflection publication family North Carolina magazine.

We also look for you to follow us on Facebook and Instagram mentioned outsourcing education and any time that we do this, there are risks and of course this includes private schools as well. So people who are sending their kids to Christian or Catholic school. They are not off the hook here either. Are they know certainly not we've seen in the private schools in New York have gotten a lot of coverage because of course there's a lot of media in New York to and we've seen that this this radical march to the institutions has impacted public schools, and it has also impacted private schools.

Many of the very most expensive and desirable private schools in New York City are turning out little Marxists just like your neighborhood public school could be they are being taught. Incredibly, progressive, sexual ethics, and you know just all kinds of things that once the parents are aware of them.

They are truly shocked by them and they have the ability to push back on that and to say no I'm not going to spend $50,000 a year to have this taught my children they can pull their kids out in and send them somewhere else but a private school is not immune from ideological forces that are hostile to Christian values.

We must be engaged everywhere. Right and I think the same goes for a Christian or Catholic school as well. Right absolutely absolutely absolutely does one of the reasons that my husband and I send our kids to public school. It is that we want to be the people who teach our children the faith and if there are things that need correcting that they pick up at school would rather them not come from churches from someone affiliated with the church. It's much easier to correct an error that coming from outside the church. Now of course there are many many Christian and Catholic schools that are faithful to their to their doctrines and in their faith statements and do a wonderful job remain beautiful souls for Christ and that's mostly the case, but we all know that there are those examples of progressive private and and Catholic and Christian schools that are sometimes surprising to parents when they see just exactly how progressive values of the schools are so you get some advice. Very good advice for parents as they seek to engage with their child's local school some words of caution for those parents and things that they should avoid doing. I would avoid setting up a scenario that's us versus them avoid removing yourself entirely from the conversation by your actions. Even if you're pulling your kids out of school. Don't remove yourself entirely from the school system continue to go to school board meetings know who your school board representative is try to understand that local issues that are impacting your schools and and see if there is any way that you can engage in that space when we remove ourselves from public schools.

The voice that we bring to those debates is sadly lacking.

Our system of government is made up largely of you know checks and balances right and we have three branches of government and one checks the other. We have two parties one is supposed to check the other. They check each other. They bring different ideas to the table and then were supposed to work together to come up with something that we can all agree on is to the benefit of society and if we can't practice those values in schools and at the local government level then were not going to be able to practice those values and higher levels of government, as they become more distant from the person your local government is a government closest to you and then you have your state government than the federal government so we really need to model this good citizenship for our leaders in our schools, especially, and if we are not there then we can be engaged in the conversation. Good advice for just about out of time for this week before we go. Maybe till Gannon where can the listeners go to get a copy of FRC's helpful resource, a concerned citizen's guide to engaging with public schools and follow your work.

This guide is on our website at www.FRC.org/education and there is more material there. We have materials on gender identity on sex education and they'll be something new coming up on the Southern poverty Law Center's learning for Justice program right now is something that schools in North Carolina have struggled with those ideologies being imposed on students there I cited an example from wake County in the paper itself and that'll be coming out very soon but just keep checking back for more materials and sign up to subscribe to our newsletter list with love to send you the information maybe till Gannon, thank you so much for being with us today on family policy matters.

You been listening to family policy matters. We hope you enjoyed the program and play between them again next week to listen to the show all lawn and to learn more about and see families work to inform, encourage and inspire families across both are Lotta good or website and see family.org that's in see family.org. Thanks again for listening in. My God was you and your family