When you Google the Heritage Foundation you will be invited to join other conservatives and take action against progressivism.
Progressivism in Kansas is evidently defined as public education by the Heritage Foundation because this group and others like it are given most of the credit for bills currently being considered in Topeka that claim to grow “parents rights and increase transparency.” These bills would make educators’ jobs more difficult tying their hands and limiting their creativity. One hundred people testified against them in a hearing last week with only 7 in favor.
To illustrate where this path might lead we look at a bill currently under consideration in Iowa that calls for installing cameras in every classroom and allowing parents to watch at any time.
If this sounds reasonable to you please consider this Iowa classroom teacher’s response!
She said: If this doesn’t infuriate you as a parent, you do not understand it. You have a right to know what teachers are teaching and, by the way, you can already access that.
But, do you really think you have a right to know whether your neighbor’s child struggles with reading? You will see that.
Know that a neighbor’s child needed extra help with math today? You will see that.
To hear children tell me they couldn’t do their homework because their family couldn’t afford to pay the electric bill? You will see that.
You will see kids wearing dirty clothes, kids having accidents at school, and maybe even a seventh-grade girl getting her first period at school.
And she points out repeatedly: You will see these things about other people’s children and yours!
One of her conclusions was: Our children’s privacy will be lost forever.
Local teachers and administrators need our support and encouragement, not micromanaging coming in no small part from an ultra-conservative think tank located in Washington D. C.
Making public education a political football isn’t making our schools stronger, but it will and is forcing some of our best teachers to seek careers outside of education.
Any plan that makes public school classrooms studios for Candid Camera is truly Something to Think About!
I’m Steve Sauder
