By Amy Carney for Daily Caller
As students head back into classrooms across America, parents must armor themselves and their sons and daughters with more than new backpacks and No. 2 pencils.
Parents used to be able to send their children off to the local public schools and trust that the adults in charge of their son or daughter’s education had their best interest at heart. Fast forward to today with all the problems facing our public education system — moms and dads should no longer blindly send their K-12 students off to any school without first educating themselves on what is happening in their local classrooms.
This back-to-school season, it is essential to pay attention to three main areas of education: approved classroom curriculum, updated school policies and online student surveys.
Education bureaucrats everywhere have been pushing back on the claim that there’s politically divisive lessons being taught in public schools and act insulted when anyone questions the existence of such curricula in the classroom. Yet, students across the country regularly log in to massive online learning websites, like Newsela and Second Step, that tout anti-racism and diversity lessons with oppressor and oppressed narratives weaved throughout.
Precious classroom instruction time is spent talking about feelings — otherwise known as social emotional learning — instead of facts. Schools are struggling to maintain core subject teachers. At the same time, they stack their payroll with social workers and counseling professionals.
While one can argue that it is important to have mental health workers in school, we have to remind ourselves why we are seeing a dramatic increase in the first place: school lockdowns and the damage caused by them.
To avoid any unpleasant surprises, parents must do their due diligence and learn about their school’s approved online platforms and curricula being used to teach K-12 students in the classroom this year. Dads and moms must look beyond the textbooks and handouts provided by education leaders. It’s vital that parents do their own research to see the motives and values behind the curriculum curtain.
In doing so, parents will gain important insights into the ideology, goals, and political leanings (if any) of the companies providing educational materials to their local schools.
The second thing that parents need to keep their eye on this coming school year is any updated school district politics – especially any that flew under the radar over the summer. Updated school district policies are rolling out across the country as the Biden administration puts female students’ safety and privacy at risk by allowing biological males who identify as females to use the girls’ bathroom and locker rooms.
Schools across the nation are preparing for this change by implementing policies saying that no student will be “forced” to use a restroom or locker room that does not align with his or her gender identity.
