I'm a dad who wants schools to teach kids how to read—not how to be gender fluid
The single biggest equalizer in history is literacy
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}I’m a dad, just like thousands of other dads in America. I provide for my family, participate in my children’s lives, and trust my public education system to teach my kids to be ready for success as they grow up.
COVID pulled the curtain back and shined a spotlight on what was actually happening in our schools. Like so many other parents in America, I was fed up.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Signs opposing critical race theory line the entrance to the Loudoun County School Board headquarters, in Ashburn, Virginia, June 22, 2021. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
I was fed up with schools taking their cues from special interest groups and unions, with school boards silencing parents, and running the district as dictators who were given absolute power by the CDC. And so, I stood up and let my school board know that I expected them to do better. If they didn’t, then they should step aside because there are parents like me and lines of others that would stand up and gladly take their place.
Parents don’t want gender ideology and critical race theory taught to their children. We want our children to learn how to read and write. The single biggest equalizer in history is literacy. Teach any child from any socio-economic background how to read and comprehend what they read and empower them to take control of their futures.
After two years of distance learning and years of politicizing our children’s education, parents are starting to question the motives of the public education system. Parents across this country have a desire to discuss how the education system, charged with teaching their kids, will fix the exposed learning deficiencies. But, do we hear anything about literacy remediation or literacy in general? No! Instead, we hear about gender fluidity and a curriculum built around ideologies and indoctrination.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clearly, the special interest groups and political elite weren’t paying attention to my home state when we elected Governor Glenn Youngkin. When Terry McAuliffe said out loud in a debate heard around the country that parents shouldn’t have a role in their children’s education, that sent a shockwave through Virginia voters. As taxpayers, our tax dollars pay for the public education system, making us direct investors in the program. It is our divine right and responsibility to be deeply involved in the education of our children. For a public official to say otherwise undermines parents, citizens, and taxpayers across the country.
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Governor Youngkin promised an emphasis on accelerated math courses in the state, met with resounding support. Something that goes hand in hand with literacy and math is financial literacy. It is important that our children understand what they read. It is also essential to know how money and the decisions we make regarding our finances impact our lives. Given the current economic climate in our country, it is clear that many of our elected leaders could use some financial literacy courses.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Finally, parents do not want corporations getting involved in politics fighting bills like the one in Florida that protect their children from sexualized content. Governor Ron DeSantis's Parental Rights in Education bill is something that never should’ve been needed because it should be common sense. We need politicians to expressly state that children, who are the most easily influenced and innocent part of the population, need to be protected. They shouldn’t be taught about sexual orientation or gender ideology. Our children need to keep their innocence in childhood and in their youth. We, as adults, need to give them the opportunity to get back to the principles of education like reading, writing, arithmetic, and science in school.
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I ask parents to continue to be involved, continue to speak up, continue to ask questions and continue to be a force for positive change. Never have you heard of so many school board meetings in the news. This is because parents are leading the charge for their children’s education. The strongest union in the country is the one that will always represent the children first. It is called the Parents Union.