029 You're Not the Boss of Me...or Are You? Parent Power's influence in the classroom.

 Happy 2022! Let's hope this year makes up for the last two! It's always good to be hopeful. And on that note, I hope public education survives. Last year brought educators and their curriculum under the microscope in a way I don't remember ever seeing. Much of the uproar seems to come from the usual media rabble-rousers and pot-stirrers. Today's episode delves into our side of this twisted narrative. Listen and see where you land.

For years, some politicians have claimed to be "education candidates." Their platforms promise money and better school facilities. Once they count the ballots and fill their campaign coffers, good intentions go to the bottom of the "to-do list." Today, these "education-loving" candidates are promising a different kind of help to schools, and it's getting them elected. Now officials win by going after the evil wizards of indoctrination, TEACHERS, and their textbooks of evil spells! They rally their pitchfork and torch-carrying followers with cries of "No CRT!" and "Don't hurt my child's feelings!" Frenzied crowds storm school board rooms and drown out meetings with cries of "Foul!" and other four-lettered words. It might be akin to Frankenstein's Monster or The Purge if this were a movie.

This thing plays like Twilight Zone's "Monsters on Maple Street." The main characters hear rumors of something evil that has come to live in their neighborhood. They spread the news, and like the telephone game, it gets more prominent and distorted as it passes. Before you know it, everyone believes it's true. And when they finally beat down the door and blow up the house, they find they were wrong all along. However, the damage is done. The city is burning, and innocent people have been disposed of. 

Today we talk about this scary movie; only the movie takes place in our schools. Some very vocal parents and politicians are claiming teachers are working to indoctrinate children, forcing them to bend to the will of CRT, and mind-meld with liberal ideologies. They want to ban particular curricula and regulate what teachers can and cannot say. It makes about as much sense as going to the dentist and telling my hygenist which tools to use and how to hold the mirror properly. Jen, Sharyn, and I share our in-the-trenches view of what is really going on, and I swear there are no monsters under your beds.

Teachers want parent involvement. They want politicians who genuinely care. We don't need people who are largely uninformed and get their misinformation from the Internet, Aunt Sally's Facebook page, and those with hidden agendas. Put down the pitchforks and get involved with your school. Get to know the teachers, join the committees, volunteer, go to the school and spend some REAL time in the classroom. There's power in seeing things for yourself. When you take an objective look, I'm pretty sure that you'll find the monster you think is hiding under your bed is just a big clump of dust bunnies you forgot to sweep up.

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