And I appreciate how you didn't make this about the particular teachers in this case, because this is happening in so many places and is a broader issue. I've observed (through teaching alongside them) that most teachers really do believe they have children's best interests at heart. Even those who I feel are misguided are passionate and believe they are doing the right thing. The simple fact is that even if they are correct, this is not how we behave with other people's children while they are in our public schools. My fellow teacher who is a born-again Christian would NEVER secretly proselytize to children, and that's not because she doesn't think they need to be saved. And I would never tell the transgender child in my daughter's third grade class what I taught my own child about human biology, even though I believe that child's parents may be damaging their future mental and physical health.
In other words, we all have passionate beliefs, and we all believe we are very right about them, but unless we have expressly and explicitly been hired to promote these, our job is to teach children how to think critically and possess enough knowledge to have confidence in themselves as they go forth in the world. (Sorry, this got long. Anyway, I'm passionate about you, Ms. Shrier! Keep up the great work!)
Thank You Ms. Shrier! Most of us BVMS parents wouldn’t have known this was happening at our school if it wasn’t for you. I hope the principle is now on notice that parents are watching & she follows through with the changes outlined in the district email.
Thank you for sharing this update. Like the commenter you highlighted, I am not a conservative and these efforts to undermine families by keeping information from parents *really* bothers me. Those teachers are okay with this because it supports their interests, they’d be the first ones to complain if their children had conservative teachers meddling with their families. This is *not* okay and parents aren’t domestic terrorists for being upset.
I am also not a conservative; I am a 66-year-old lifelong liberal atheist who has always voted for Democrats. But the trans activist cult has nothing to do with liberal values. It is anti-science (I have a PhD in a hard science from Stanford and I know fake "science" when I see it) and neo-misogynyst, dreaming up new ways for men to control women. (The Equality Act would allow any man or boy to enter any womens' or girls' space at any time, and barring or removing him from any such space would be illegal.) I have been dismayed to watch the left turn as illiberal as the right once was, and the right, with its worship of the criminal conman Trump, becoming even worse. It will not end well, I fear. For now I fight the battle when and where I can for liberal values, which includes opposing the new-racists and neo-misogynysts on the left, and the neo-fascists on the right.
Spot on! I am 10 years younger than you and because of gender ideology am politically homeless. How on earth can this contó ur to go unchecked? Why is our government on board with this non-evidenced theoretical idea that has grave consequences for innocent, vulnerable kids who are being brought upon such a divided, biased culture on both sides. It was always the role of educators to help young people see things critically -not with an agenda! What more can we all do to being reason and thoughtful analysis back?!
What can we do? Speak up if you can do so without threatening your livelihood (not at all a given). Contact your representatives in Congress and ask them to oppose the Equality Act and to support Tom Cotton's Empower Parents to Protect Their Kids Act, S.3037. Do so weekly. See other local action items in another comment of mine on this post.
As a former fact checker/ researcher for an investigative journalist and someone who's been married to an ETHICAL highly respected physician for many decades, I COMPLETELY agree with you! I too have almost always voted for Dems but as a feminist and mother of a young adult daughter, I can no longer support the DEM party.
Congratulations, Abigail. The letter is definitely a step in the right direction, and your hard work has made it possible. But I must admit that after reading that letter, I still have questions and concerns.
I doubt it makes any difference to those of us outside the Spreckles Union School District whether the trans activist teacher was presenting her toxic message on her day off or not. Even though she wasn't on the clock, she was still training teachers across California how to deceive parents and how to groom young children to join clubs that aggressively promote transgenderism. The letter did not clearly state this trans activist teacher will not be allowed to spread her toxic message during future meetings of the CTA.
Why has the UBU (You Be You) club been "suspended" rather than permanently disbanded? Suspended means "to bar for a period of a period of time." How long is the time period of suspension? An hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, a century? There's no way to tell.
Is the trans activist teacher going to be allowed to teach regular classes or lead clubs in the future? She has already demonstrated by her devious behavior that she's unfit to work with young children. I understand she has tenure and can't be fired. But she could still be transferred to a non-teaching position that does not require contact with young children. Perhaps somewhere in the clerical department.
What are the state of California's approved standards and curriculum for presentations and assemblies involving sensitive themes such as sexuality? Given what we know about the aggressive tactics used by Big Trans to infiltrate school districts, universities and medical associations, do we have any reason to believe the state's standards are stringent enough to prevent future incidents such as the one involving the trans activist teacher.
Finally, why were the school principal, the school board president, and the superintendent completely unaware of what was going on right under their noses? Did they conduct any oversight of their teaching staff? It sounds to me like everyone on the teaching staff was allowed to run wild with nothing reining them in. And unfortunately, it was the innocent young children and their concerned parents who paid the price.
Incredible work. Truly incredible. Your work gives me hope and I am so thankful to you and also thankful to all the others in this community who are fighting for kids, especially the vulnerable ones.
Action items: E-mail your local school superintendent(s) with a copy to all school board members asking for an implementation of a policy like that of Spreckels Union School District for any school clubs. If you have kid(s) in the schools, say so; if not, leave it ambiguous (eg, do NOT say "I'm not a parent but"). Copy all but the first bullet point (disbanding the UBU club) from the Spreckels email to show what you mean. Include links to Abigail's original post and this post to explain the context.
Be polite. Express your concern in a measured but firm tone. Use your own words.
All contact messages should be individually composed, not cut-and-pasted from somewhere. (So, do NOT circulate a draft email on FB or wherever to be copied and sent by others; just describe what to do.)
New to the comments on Ms. Shrier’s page but I appreciate your action items. It’s easy to get upset by news but difficult to channel those feelings into actions that can make a difference. Thank you.
THANK YOU, MS. SHRIER!!!!!
“Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
— Margaret Mead
This is my 2nd favorite quote of all time.
1st Favorite: "First we make our habits then our habits make us."
Once again, Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Good work on this case! You have changed lives for the better.
Whoa! That was FAST! Great work.
And I appreciate how you didn't make this about the particular teachers in this case, because this is happening in so many places and is a broader issue. I've observed (through teaching alongside them) that most teachers really do believe they have children's best interests at heart. Even those who I feel are misguided are passionate and believe they are doing the right thing. The simple fact is that even if they are correct, this is not how we behave with other people's children while they are in our public schools. My fellow teacher who is a born-again Christian would NEVER secretly proselytize to children, and that's not because she doesn't think they need to be saved. And I would never tell the transgender child in my daughter's third grade class what I taught my own child about human biology, even though I believe that child's parents may be damaging their future mental and physical health.
In other words, we all have passionate beliefs, and we all believe we are very right about them, but unless we have expressly and explicitly been hired to promote these, our job is to teach children how to think critically and possess enough knowledge to have confidence in themselves as they go forth in the world. (Sorry, this got long. Anyway, I'm passionate about you, Ms. Shrier! Keep up the great work!)
Thank You Ms. Shrier! Most of us BVMS parents wouldn’t have known this was happening at our school if it wasn’t for you. I hope the principle is now on notice that parents are watching & she follows through with the changes outlined in the district email.
Thank you for sharing this update. Like the commenter you highlighted, I am not a conservative and these efforts to undermine families by keeping information from parents *really* bothers me. Those teachers are okay with this because it supports their interests, they’d be the first ones to complain if their children had conservative teachers meddling with their families. This is *not* okay and parents aren’t domestic terrorists for being upset.
I am also not a conservative; I am a 66-year-old lifelong liberal atheist who has always voted for Democrats. But the trans activist cult has nothing to do with liberal values. It is anti-science (I have a PhD in a hard science from Stanford and I know fake "science" when I see it) and neo-misogynyst, dreaming up new ways for men to control women. (The Equality Act would allow any man or boy to enter any womens' or girls' space at any time, and barring or removing him from any such space would be illegal.) I have been dismayed to watch the left turn as illiberal as the right once was, and the right, with its worship of the criminal conman Trump, becoming even worse. It will not end well, I fear. For now I fight the battle when and where I can for liberal values, which includes opposing the new-racists and neo-misogynysts on the left, and the neo-fascists on the right.
Spot on! I am 10 years younger than you and because of gender ideology am politically homeless. How on earth can this contó ur to go unchecked? Why is our government on board with this non-evidenced theoretical idea that has grave consequences for innocent, vulnerable kids who are being brought upon such a divided, biased culture on both sides. It was always the role of educators to help young people see things critically -not with an agenda! What more can we all do to being reason and thoughtful analysis back?!
What can we do? Speak up if you can do so without threatening your livelihood (not at all a given). Contact your representatives in Congress and ask them to oppose the Equality Act and to support Tom Cotton's Empower Parents to Protect Their Kids Act, S.3037. Do so weekly. See other local action items in another comment of mine on this post.
As a former fact checker/ researcher for an investigative journalist and someone who's been married to an ETHICAL highly respected physician for many decades, I COMPLETELY agree with you! I too have almost always voted for Dems but as a feminist and mother of a young adult daughter, I can no longer support the DEM party.
Congratulations, Abigail. The letter is definitely a step in the right direction, and your hard work has made it possible. But I must admit that after reading that letter, I still have questions and concerns.
I doubt it makes any difference to those of us outside the Spreckles Union School District whether the trans activist teacher was presenting her toxic message on her day off or not. Even though she wasn't on the clock, she was still training teachers across California how to deceive parents and how to groom young children to join clubs that aggressively promote transgenderism. The letter did not clearly state this trans activist teacher will not be allowed to spread her toxic message during future meetings of the CTA.
Why has the UBU (You Be You) club been "suspended" rather than permanently disbanded? Suspended means "to bar for a period of a period of time." How long is the time period of suspension? An hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, a century? There's no way to tell.
Is the trans activist teacher going to be allowed to teach regular classes or lead clubs in the future? She has already demonstrated by her devious behavior that she's unfit to work with young children. I understand she has tenure and can't be fired. But she could still be transferred to a non-teaching position that does not require contact with young children. Perhaps somewhere in the clerical department.
What are the state of California's approved standards and curriculum for presentations and assemblies involving sensitive themes such as sexuality? Given what we know about the aggressive tactics used by Big Trans to infiltrate school districts, universities and medical associations, do we have any reason to believe the state's standards are stringent enough to prevent future incidents such as the one involving the trans activist teacher.
Finally, why were the school principal, the school board president, and the superintendent completely unaware of what was going on right under their noses? Did they conduct any oversight of their teaching staff? It sounds to me like everyone on the teaching staff was allowed to run wild with nothing reining them in. And unfortunately, it was the innocent young children and their concerned parents who paid the price.
Incredible work. Truly incredible. Your work gives me hope and I am so thankful to you and also thankful to all the others in this community who are fighting for kids, especially the vulnerable ones.
Action items: E-mail your local school superintendent(s) with a copy to all school board members asking for an implementation of a policy like that of Spreckels Union School District for any school clubs. If you have kid(s) in the schools, say so; if not, leave it ambiguous (eg, do NOT say "I'm not a parent but"). Copy all but the first bullet point (disbanding the UBU club) from the Spreckels email to show what you mean. Include links to Abigail's original post and this post to explain the context.
Be polite. Express your concern in a measured but firm tone. Use your own words.
All contact messages should be individually composed, not cut-and-pasted from somewhere. (So, do NOT circulate a draft email on FB or wherever to be copied and sent by others; just describe what to do.)
New to the comments on Ms. Shrier’s page but I appreciate your action items. It’s easy to get upset by news but difficult to channel those feelings into actions that can make a difference. Thank you.
Congratulations!! Your amazing work is really making a difference.
Amazing! Whole lot of justice being served today. Proud to be supporting this great journalism.
Phenomenal work.
Now a paid subscriber. You've caused real change to happen; for that I salute you.
Just subscribed, too!
Congratulations on a job well done. Ahhh, sunshine!
What a relief to see this totally appropriate letter from the superintendent. Great work Abigail and sources!
Yep, expose all this stuff to the light. Be unafraid.
Thank you for your bravery and commitment.