Championing Parents’ Rights in Education

I'm really concerned about critical race theory being forced on my kids grow up in public school.

I don't want anybody to tell my child or any other children because the way they look that they can or cannot do something, I think it's limiting further development concern I had about my kids going to public school is outside influences from friends or teachers who don't believe the way that we do at home.

Medically, neither of my sons could wear masks would take vaccine that other reasons are why they're not homeschooled it's been hard but worth it for them not to be in public school parents around the country are showing a lot of concern about their children's education.

These days, especially in the public school system today on Focus on the Family will address some of the issues that you might be wrestling with. As you look after your children's best interests.

Thanks for joining us for Focus on the Family with Jim Daly on John. John over the past few months we've seen some contentious debate in public education.

A lot of it is bubbled to the surface during the pandemic parents maybe for the first time actually saying what their kids are being taught and being alarmed by it.

Now I realize there are millions of Christian students and teachers and administrators working in public schools of Barna research in fact indicates that faith is important. About half of public school teachers.

That's a great thing.

Many of them are doing a wonderful job of the same study shows that 84% of church attending family send their children to public schools, so we should all have an interest in this area. Jean and I did that with her own boys.

They went to public school to we've invited Sen. James Lankford from Oklahoma to join us by phone. He's recently introduced a new resolution for school choice and will talk about that, among other things with him and Sen. Langford has been serving in the U.S. Senate since 2014. Before that, he served in the US House of Representatives and was also a youth pastor for 20 years. Sen. Langford thanks for joining us again here Focus on the Family let me ask you, you have put this great bill forward, working to get to more of that.

But tell us what is happening in public schools wire parents activated right now and why should we know about it will.

Parents are activated fully activated along with what you really need is more parent involvement what's happening right now in school boards (involvement right now because encoded a lot of parents were watching what they're being taught in school and they were shocked to build new homework with them for the first time in a long time to think this is what my kids are being taught or not taught or this is what they're doing and getting engagement not just mad about the next thing mandates in the mass mandates all those things that are upset about the curriculum and what's actually coming up their kids information than when they see it. What am I going to do about this in the engagement now has begun. What's happened there in Virginia is a great example and in part I'm sure is your observing is a US senator from Oklahoma you're seeing what's going on you getting your briefings that Loudoun County situation where the previous governor basically said we don't want parents involved in public school.

I mean, that may have cost him the election. Many experts say. And then you had this mommy movement.

These mama bears and I met a couple of them while I was out in Virginia not long ago just normal down to earth people that want to get something done to protect their kids and I would not get in their way and by the way, that are engaging going to learn how to read more and learn about history and learn science that I learned when I was in school and am planning on getting that my child is really learning more indoctrination and liberal perspective are actually education and also getting involved in finding ways to be able to meet with teachers meet with the school board meetings that get on TV Loudoun County and all what happened in Virginia got a lot of TV nationwide find a lot of public school board meeting complaint, the principal, I do want to sit down with the moment with the assignment. Would you read this and you tell me this is okay meeting so well public you want this to be different for you getting to know what God is going to be able to actually help your children to be able to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. Let's set talk for a moment about the legislation that you're putting forward what does it say what does it accomplish school choice should be involved in it like a critical race theory will should not be promoted in our schools. And so while now basic thing separate children and don't separate all people oppressed and oppressor categories don't do with some young social justice warriors of the child and say your individual bring them from their earliest days. You really don't have the same chance as everyone else has can believe every child every person can rise to individual rights. We clear the way that we don't separate children into oppressed and oppressor's children sit over there because you're the oppressor class and describe the children of the oppressed class and surrender something different that the most basic thing it recognizes the rights of either child education recognizes the critical race questions people down rather than lifting people up goals of the necessity of the ability for people to make choices on their schools and in so many ways, Sen. It sounds exactly what Martin Luther King Jr. was hoping for that. It would be on a meritocracy basis that people could rise above their skin color. The you know the selected based on their character and their content write that goal and it seems like were going in a different direction. Now the content of the colors can be put back now and say no that's wrong.

You need to see the color of my skin first because of the color of your skin. You are so it's an immediate judgment in color.

You are one of those that is the exact opposite of what we can't always be as a nation in this modern day pretty terrible at it for 200 years, but as a nation we continue to grow and develop who we are as a nation. Now we can work on people having worth and value in every person life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for every single individual, we go thing and taking it straight. Let's teach all of history… We can all learn from our history that not only we can all see it and say this is what we have come from and look out for. We have, we still have to go. We are continuing to be able to improve and become something to be celebrated, not something to be able to go backwards and then label everyone on the color scales. One of the criticisms has been that there's not a curriculum per se. That's called critical race theory curriculum. I think I just read the Wall Street Journal the other day.

It's known in that status critical justice critical social justice and I think people in Idaho were kind of surprised to see it throughout their public schools kind of state sanctioned a place like Idaho and and so how would a parent, how do you get engaged.

How do you discover what's going on, equity and inclusion training and programming are commonly that's really a lot more than the name of many different names, isolating students based on their race or on their background and saying you are this because of your race or your skin color because of your background and you know that philosophy is getting there immediately separating children as oppressed and oppressor separating parents out your beginning to be able to see your children are being called up to be social justice warriors being trained to be able to read right into science and math and you know that you're actually seeing the roots of this talking about institutional change that talking about blinking lights and channel cycles of power on those things that you will see these terms really what you're looking for is what actually coming into your students to be taught that actually affect how your family works your community works you can see in my name you can actually see your kids homework. You can actually get engageable what they're reading and what's actually being taught in the building aware that it's written for something you're getting that my boys are now 21 and 19. They were blessed to go to charter public school and that they were taught the Constitution they read the Bill of Rights.

It was something that Jean and I were looking for. They read the classics. Plato and Aristotle even read the Bible is the book of ancient literature and it was all in public school so kind to reinforce where we were at it and the problem I think one of the problems we have in public schools broadly today, is there not teaching the great basis for America this idea of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, some public school students will go through their entire K-12 and never be exposed to that belief here that documents were white dominated Western culture and they need to be set aside and have a more modern in a more culturally appropriate. And so when you're setting aside history picking and choosing and saying that were going to ignore going to elevate you know there's a problem getting back to the most basic thing parents staying engaged in their education go back to chapter 6 and the instructions that come to parents of savings command when when God said to them becoming among your children. Talk about when you said it all when you walk along the road, when you lie down when you get up teaching of your faith in who we are in real truth you're teaching your children constantly when you're home when you walk on the road when you're in the car when you're at a restaurant when you're talking about homework. You have the responsibility but would continue to be able to reinforce that you won't be able to protect your children from culture is just that our kids all the time but is the most important person in the life of a job. So for those parents. England them to be able to impress real truth on the hearts of their children will be able to see faucets than in the days ahead. Even in the classroom for parents to get engaged in really demand that the school teach the basics of our nation's history would be really good even the bad stuff. I'm good with that. There's so much good there so much good about this country. Sen. that's what I'm concerned about involved, what can I do to make a different culture. What can I do all of them and they don't like it will run for school board engaged with your principal don't actually sit down and don't just let it slide down with and have a conversation about this scoreboard we have a school district in Oklahoma. We just have elections last month and one of the school districts literally no one filed even to run for school board in that particular school district school different from what we do know how to run for school board got to have that are actually involved in the system will run for school board nine cents extra time and all that but one involved to be able to do those things really does make a difference in the education of children.

Sen. let me continue on this engagement in schools that we see other examples of dangerous ideologies such as the doll making her about that one sexual poetry and sex ed generally presented by Planned Parenthood. Now I I didn't opt out a while back connecting the dots. I mean who in their right mind would listen to the group benefiting from taking the life of the child they get into your schools, your public schools Planned Parenthood they teach your children how to have sex your children get pregnant and then they'll offer to do the abortion for you for $600. I mean this is a racket, and I don't know why we allow it.

State funds to be non-slick will material your school and for many school districts. Again, this goes back to the school board will have a requirement, Sexual Education Journals. I Will.

I Don't Want to Claim That a Great Curriculum That We Can Offer You.

In Fact, We Can Even Send People into Be Able to Compensate with Your Teacher This Week Longer Two-Week Long Curriculum They Can Use It's like It's Well Done It Professional and so Just Slip This Ideology Right That Happens, That's What's so Important That People Have To Be Able to Be Engaged in School Boards to Be Able to Monitor What's Actually Being Taught. We Got This in My Own Child's Upbringing.

Really Good School in a Situation Where My Child at One Point on the First Day of Class and Middle School I Came Home Overlooking Your Bottle Assignments and One of Her Teachers Was to Wait for Its Carbon Footprint.

Families Determine Your Parents Carbon Footprint in the Way That It Was Written Was Very Clear That Your Parents Are Really Bad People, Because This Particular Conference (and so This Is What Your Parents Are That It Was Written Was Such an Angle to Be Able to Say You Need to Be Different Than Your Parents. Don't Be like Your Parents, so We Sat down with the Principal Immediately and Said Okay.

This Is Not about Teaching about Climate or Environment Is Written in Such a Way to Make It Divisive between a Child and Why Would You Teach It This Way and within 24 My Child Is Not in the Class Anymore. Seen Satan Not for My Child This Is Not Going to Happen Now Again a School Board, School Board, You Can Actually Engaged. They Will Say What Teach That at All to Any Child on That You Just Got Involved Yes and Again the Admonition Is for Us As Christians to Have Those Families That Are the Great Example for Others to See the Lord Working through Our Lives, Not Perfect, but Certainly Doing Things That Bring His Shalom, His Piece to Community.

Let Me Ask You, Sen. Turning a Little Bit of a Corn Here toward the COBIT Issue. The Masking Requirements Are Being Debated Right Now It Sounds like. Again, the Colleagues in the Senate and Those That They Represent on the Democrat Side. They're Just so Slow When It Comes to Eliminating the Mass Requirement for These Kids.

It's like the Kids Are Going to Be Traumatized Even More. When the Rest of the Adult World Is Mass Close and Moving Away from Mask School Union. The Teachers Unions Are Requiring These Kids to Continue to Wear Masks Do They Not Get the Johns Hopkins Research That Says Terrible Damage Has Been Done to These Children and They Got a Knock It off. We Want to Protect Her Teachers from the Children around and We Want to Help Garner Teachers from Them. Children Are Actually Facing the Consequences of What the Teacher Unions Are Actually Driving across Her Schools and Parents. Even in Cities like Francisco Are Pushing Back Saying Enough Is Enough and Not Working This All over the Country so This Was Originally to Be Something of a Republican Democrat Issue Issued What Were Really Saying Is What Parents Are Pushing Back and Saying in My Workplace in My Recreational Areas and Not Wearing a Mask All the Time but There Still Being Imposed on My Child. It's Really an Act of Submission That Teachers Unions Are Using to Be Able to Push onto Children on This Is Not Right for Children. Certainly Not Lining up with Was Right along with the Science but It's Also Something That They're Using to Be Able to Push down the Parents Elevate the Rights of the Parent so Just This Whole Issue Is Coming to a Head on It Working Once Again Involve All Sides of the Political Spectrum Getting Involved Be Able to Push Back the Statement in the in the People to Run Things Do Teachers Unions Have over My Children and Parents Have Tended to Go Back to Your Original Statement Now Former Governor of Virginia This Was That the Key Statement in His Next Campaign That You Put out There Was That Really Teachers Know Best in the Teacher Unions Know Best and Parents Don't Know As Well. I Know I'm the One That's Responsible for My Child Make These Decisions. In That Context, What Can a Parent Do I Think I Know the Answer but Again, Moms and Dads at Listening Sen. If If There Are Neck in a Context Where the School Is Really Pushing Back Telling Their Child and You Know Little Johnny Is Coming Home Saying Mommy.

The Teacher Said I Have To Wear a Mask. What Can They Do We Start Repair Battlefield for Administrators, Children, and That's It. We Begin at That Point We Have Got Wisdom of Next Steps in the Next Thing I Would Think with the Teacher and Administrator Should Call School Board Member or Members When We Having the Vote to Take Away All These Mass Mandates Calling Other Parents and Getting Them to Call School Board Members As Well on the Agenda of the School Board What Actually Comes up and Making Sure That You're on the Agenda Because Many of the School Boards Block People out from Speaking Aloud to Be on the Agenda for the Next Meeting She Got Call Them in Advance and Say I Want to Be on the Agenda and Here's the Topic Is the Mass Mandates to Be Able to Get That on the Agenda and Continue to Engage in Such a Way That's Moving Not Just to Complain Moving to Resolve. It's One Thing about an Issue.

Nothing to Resolve an Issue and so It's Been Strategic and I Got Together Enough People Together to Be Able to Fix the Problem, Sen. Let Me Squeeze This One and I Know down to the Wire Here, Let Me Ask You, the Atty. Gen., Garland Received That Note from the Teachers Union to Look into That a Federal Level.

Parents Who Were, You Know to Active and Maybe to Bust in Their Debate at School Board Meetings and to Consider Them Domestic Terrorists near the Sen. You're One of One of the Hundred When You're Looking at That Situation. That Sounds like Such an Egregious Federal Reach of Power Is These Are Local Things of Course We Don't Support Violence at School Board Meeting Sue Does but That Is a Local Police Effort That Anybody You Know Demonstrating Violence toward Anybody Needs to Be Taken Out Of the Room May Be Cited May Be Jailed.

Who Knows What Were Talking about Labeling a Group of Parents Who Were Active in Engaging Their School Boards to Do the Right Thing and Now You Get the FBI Looking at Him Local Criminal Issue Not Really What Is Doing What Is Doing Is Trying to Say Don't Organize, We Will Consider Domestic Terrorist. We May Open a File on You and Your Family. If You Start Organizing That Is Trying to Silence Individuals to Quell Speech in American to Be Able to Use the Account Quiet through at the Top, Which I Think I Was Going to Pick out One of the School Board Meetings but I Don't Want to Be Labeled Don't Have FBI File Opened up on Me That Is Not Going to Happen When Working in Exposing This Issue That Is Not Going to Happen Number One Continued. Don't Let Them Silence You and Push You into the Corner and You Don't Speak on School National Teacher Working with Our Secretary Of Education to Create This Letter Garland so Will Letters We've Exposed All This We Release to the Media All the Different Aspects of This and Continue to Be Able to Push Back on. We Continue to Be Able to Put Back on the Department Of Justice with Oversight, What You're Doing Opening Files on Parents Is Really Occurring Because Not Doing It Make Parents Aware Speak out Your School Board Meetings When You Want to Be Out Of Control Angry Yelling and Deftly Never Be Violent to Someone. This Resolve about Not Create More Problems, but Don't Allow People to Be Able to Silence You. And in the Process Right Selling That Democratic Process, Which Is That We All Have a Voice in the System Right That's the Idea.

At Least Sen. Finally Let Me Ask You the Action Required Is There Anything the Listeners the Viewers Can Do to Support Your Senate Resolution Resolution Just the Right Choice in Your Schools Should Be a Basic Thing for Every Single Person so There's Quite A Few Centers That Are Already on.

You Can Find out What Your Centers on Resolution 493. You Can Contact Your Senate and Say You Should Be on the Senate Resolution Supporting the Rights of Parents and Blocking out CRT Allowing for School Choice. They Want to Be Able to Be on That They're Welcome to Join SMS in the Days and Will Continue to Be Able Speak on the Rights of Parents Not Initiate the Rights of and the Rights to Have an Accurate Teaching of History Should Not Be Partisan Should Be Just Basic American Sen. One of the Movements That I Think I'm Energized by and Again There's A Lot Of Red States Are Moving This Way. I Was Both Blue and Red Would Go This Direction That Is More School Choice for Kids at One of the Saddest Things I Ever Saw Was That Documentary on the Lottery System. I Think in Washington DC Where These Mostly Minority Children and Their Parents Were Sitting Waiting to See If They Won the Lottery, Meaning They Got the Seven $8000 Voucher to Put Their Child in Any School That They Would Want to Put the Men, Including Religious Schools, and the Parents Would Weep and the Kids Seven, Eight Years Old Would Weep As Well If Their Name Was Not Called. If Their Number Was Not Called and I Just Think What a Moral Thing to Do to Lock These Kids into a Life of Poverty Because They Didn't Have the Chance to Get a Good Solid Education That Speak to That Idea of School Choice and Why It Has Power for Individuals to Be Able to Change Direction for Their Future Because They're an American Individual Born in This Neighborhood Were You Live in This Matter. This Is Your Only Option Giving an Opportunity for Choice Opens up New Opportunities for That Child. Apparently Option to Be Able to Say My Child Different Place on This School with What Is an Opportunity through a Transfer Program, Whatever.

Maybe Give That Child the Option Don't Just like the Mop Sink Someday This Will Get Better Someday and We Have Now When That One Saying Would Make Children so Much More Competitive When They Become Young Adults When They Can Really Function in Culture and Be Able to Do the Things That Businesses and Science Needs Them to Be Able to Do so. Thank You for Representing Not Just Those in Oklahoma, but for Many of Us Christians throughout the Nation about These Things but Actually Nothing but Supplication with Thanksgiving. Such a Request for God so Can We Live like One.

I Say That Things I Should Be Pushing You Towards Towards Doing Things the Right Way Actually Engaged to Be Able to Make a Difference Is the Right Thing to Do in a Right Way to Do It. Let's Go Actually Live Our Values Make a Difference in Culture That's a Great Final Word. And Thanks for Your Time. God Bless God Bless What We Certainly Want to Direct You to Some Helpful Information or Website As Follow-Up to This Very Important Conversation of First Will Encourage You to Contact Your Sen. and Asked Them to Sign on and Support Sen. Langford's School Choice Resolution SR 493 Talk about That Today and the Information Is on Our Website. Also We Have Some Great Resources like Daily Citizen Which Is a Daily Email That You Get Keeping You Up-To-Date on All the Things Going on in the Culture and Finally a Free Downloadable Parent Resource Informing You about Your Child's Rights in Schools and the Link to a Video Series on Critical Race Theory That We Created All of Those Details Are at the Website and We Got the Link in the Showdowns.

Thanks for Joining Us Today for Focus On The Family with Jim Daly John Fuller Inviting You Back Next Time. As We Once Again Help You and Your Family Thrive in Christ You Know American Adults Don't Have a Will in Place Number Will Be Burden for Family Left behind If You Need a Well but Don't Know Where to Begin. Focus On The Family Help Download I Resource 15 Questions to Ask When Preparing a Well You Family.com/Prepare My Well Family.com/Prepare My Well