Maryland education official scolds 'activist parents' in schools, says 'teachers aren't the bad guys'

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Sen. Kennedy asks who decides on appropriate school books: 'What planet did you just parachute in from?'

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pressed the Illinois Secretary of State and a student activist during a Senate judiciary hearing on censorship and book bans.

A board of education member in Maryland said that a majority of teachers do not want to teach gender ideology in schools and actually want to stay out of the culture wars. 

"Occasionally you get a very bad egg in the education industry," Carroll County Board of Education member Stephen Whisler told Fox News Digital. "But teachers don't want this stuff in our schools. The vast majority of teachers I run across don't want to teach the controversial gender ideology issues that are mandated by the state here in Maryland." 

Whisler is one of five members on the county's board of education, which he described as a "quasi-judicial body." The board became a central focus in local news stories after parents and school officials started publicly feuding over keeping what Whisler has called "explicit sexual content" in school libraries. 

"I just frankly cannot understand how some people can defend this," he said. 

PARENTS AND TEACHERS BATTLE IN MARYLAND COUNTY OVER 'SEXUALLY EXPLICIT' BOOKS IN SCHOOL

Carroll County Board of Education member Stephen Whisler told Fox News Digital that a majority of teachers do not want to teach gender ideology in schools and actually want to stay out of the culture wars.  (iStock // Stephen Whisler)

That fight over gender ideology in schools continued to rage this week, as Whisler attended a panel on the debate over allegedly sexually graphic material in schools Tuesday.

"Last night offered a glimpse of the struggle Montgomery County, Maryland parents face to ensure their schools focus on academics — not political and social issues," he said. "Parents and teachers alike are frustrated that state-mandated curriculum standards and age-inappropriate supplemental materials in school libraries steer students towards social and political arguments instead of core academic subject areas. Schools have just 180 instruction days each year — and we must use every single minute to erase significant learning loss and get kids back on track."

"We must restore parents' confidence in their local schools," Whisler added. 

MARYLAND COUNTY BATTLE HEATS UP OVER 'SEXUALLY EXPLICIT' BOOKS IN SCHOOLS AS MOM VOWS TO APPEAL DECISION

When asked at the panel why experts in education shouldn't lead the way on books that are allowed to appear in school, Whisler took the opportunity to criticize the American Library Association (ALA), which has also become controversial in recent months after its president, Emily Drabinski, was exposed for being a self-identified "Marxist lesbian."

"Frankly," Whisler said, "I have zero faith and confidence in the American Library Association backing down on their efforts to recommend materials with age-inappropriate content. Most of the ALA's leadership are overt activists who suggest that books replete with Critical Theories (queer, race, etc.) be used in schools and public libraries across America." 

ALA President Emily Drabinski, a socialist, told the New York Times recently that conservative book bans are "attacks on children." (Screenshot Emily Drabinski via YouTube)

Whisler said that most Maryland teachers don't want to "get in the middle" of the culture wars around books and gender ideology either. "They just want to do their job, teach and go home at the end of the day, and they want to help a kid grow stronger every day. So our teachers aren't the bad guys in this," he added. 

"It's activist parents who want to peddle their ideologies and push them into our school system," Whisler said. "It's misguided politicians that want to push these issues onto our kids and into these schools."

"Those misguided parents," he continued, "those misguided politicians, let's have a debate, let's have a conversation, but stop putting our kids in the middle of it and let us focus on educating kids and making them stronger."

Several sexually explicit books have sparked debate across the country about what is age appropriate for classrooms and school libraries.  (Respective authors | iStock)

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