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Hours after passing controversial book policies, top elected leaders in Keller, Grapevine-Colleyville ISDs take our questions in their first interviews

KELLER, Texas The frontlines of the culture wars are being fought in North Texas school boards. It's been that way for a while at this point.

But, just this week, it came to a head as the neighboring independent school districts of Keller and Grapevine-Colleyville each hosted contentious Monday night meetings to determine what children are being taught in their schools.

In Keller, the debate mostly centered around books -- the culmination of a battle started earlier in the month when it was announced that the district had yanked 41 books off of its library's shelves, including the Bible and "Anne Franks Diary: The Graphic Adaptation," for further review after their presences were challenged by parents. More than 45 people showed up to Monday night's Keller Independent School District meeting to speak on both sides of the matter, with the board eventually voting 4-2 in favor of instituting a broad and conservative new content policy about what books can and cannot exist in their schools' library collections.

Around the same time and just a few miles to the east, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District hosted almost 200 public speakers -- into a room that only seats 55 -- who showed up to share their thoughts onthat board's far more expansive plans surrounding what is and isn't acceptable in their schools. Six hours after the board's meeting began that night, its members eventually voted 4-3 in favor of instituting a new 36-page policy that, among other things, a) bans the teaching of critical race theory, b) implements a strict review process for library books, c) actively works not to promote, require or encourage the use of pronouns that are not aligned with the gender people are assigned at birth, and d) require people to use the bathrooms designated for the genders they were assigned at birth.

Heading into this week's meetings in both districts, it was clear that parties on each side of these school-focused issues were gearing up for a fight.

On an episode of our Y'allitics podcast released on Sunday, State Representative Matt Krause -- the state lawmaker who started his own book inquiry last fall when he asked schools across the state if they had some 850 titles on their campuses -- said he doesnt view the issue of book-banning as subjective censorship, but rather as finding the right balance for our kids.

It's always a good idea to ensure that the books that are in the library's bookshelves in your schools are appropriate, age-appropriate, the Fort Worth Republican said on Yall-itics. "What's appropriate in a Keller ISD high school may not be appropriate in a Keller ISD middle school. So, I think you always have those conversations. I think they're constructive.

Keller ISD mom Laney Hawes, meanwhile, told Y'allitics she saw things much differently. With four kids in the district, Hawes argues that major decisions affecting the lives of thousands are being made by less than a handful of people.

Its dangerous for a number of reasons because it sets a precedent that the values and the opinions of the current school board are going to dictate every bit of access the kids in our school district have -- and that's scary, she told the Jasons on Sunday's episode of Yall-itics. "We have so many different kids in our district, different races, different backgrounds, different family histories, different stories, different everything. And these kids need to see themselves represented in literature."

In the wake of Monday night's meetings, however, it appears Krause's camp has come out victorious -- their efforts spurred on by recently elected board members whose campaigns were backed by a conservative, Christian PAC.

Which is how we ended up this week with twoY'all-itics episodes, including a new one that dropped on Tuesday evening. After speaking with vocal proponents on each side of the debate, the Jasons on Tuesday hosted the people who actually voted on approving these motions on Monday. In this second straight episode on this contentious issue, the podcast was joined by Shannon Braun, GCISD Board Vice President, and Dr. Charles Randklev, Keller ISD Board President, to learn more about how their boards came to their decisions.

Perhaps most notably, Y'all-itics wanted answers as to how this process moved more quickly, how there wasn't more debate involved in a matter where 200 people show up to a school board meeting on a Monday night to talk out the merits on both sides of the issue.

"What we just passed was the law," Braun said in Tuesday's special episode of Y'all-itics. "It's already the law. Anybody who just voted against that, just voted against the law -- thats actually the problem... because were not following it, thats why. When you have teachers that decide... youve got people that teach what they want to teach, do what they want to do, promote what they want to promote."

And, to hear Braun tell it, that's not OK. There's a reason, she said, governing bodies over educational systems exist -- and, in her first on-record interview ever, she argue that it's the role of boards like hers to enforce those notions.

Dr. Randklev argued a similar point when asked about the fact that parents in Keller could already choose to opt out of reading material that they deemed inappropriate for their children.

"What do you do when you have a student in a classroom or a student that goes to a library?" Dr. Randklev asked Y'all-itics. "How are they going to opt out?"

Now, even with Keller's new policy creating a path for some removed books to eventually make their way back on to school library shelves, those are questions KISD and GCISD will no longer ask.

Not for the time being anyway.

But the fight, all parties concede, will continue raging on.

"Its a battle," Braun said. "This is a war for ideas right now.

What Braun brushed off in her first-ever on-record interview, however, was that there's any support from outside influences on either side of the debate, outright denying that any conservative groups helped draft GCISD's wide-ranging new policies.

As for Hawes? She doesn't buy that. Instead, she said she and other parents know full well theyre facing a David vs. Goliath situation. Their ultimate goal in this back-and-forth? Making school board meetings boring again.

This is something a lot of us parents -- and there are a group of us that is growing, growing even more over the last few weeks -- that have been talking about this, Hawes said. One of our big concerns is that we don't have millions of dollars. We don't have a giant PAC behind us. We also don't have the powerful motivator that fear is, right? Thats part of why this was so successful -- it was so fear based.

Excerpt from:
The culture war is being fought in school board meetings and North Texas is the frontline - WFAA.com

Alva Striplin handily won her reelection bid to the Leon County School Board during Tuesday's primary. She defeated former Jefferson Superintendent Marianne Arbulu and progressive candidate Anthony DeMarco to retain the District 1 seat with 53.54% of the vote as of 1:50 a.m. Wednesday. Meanwhile, the District 4 race is heading for a November runoff.

Both races have been heavily influenced by the rocky education politics of the past few years. Classroom culture wars have dwarfed more direct-to-classroom issues, and Striplin wants to turn that aroundat least locally.

"Teacher recruitment and retention [is] definitely a top issue," she said when asked what her top priorities will be post-reelection.

"Second would be closing the gap we saw with academic achievement [during] COVID. [And] third would be the disciplinary issues. Were seeing a lot of violence, not only in our community but in our schools.

Striplin positioned herself for reelection by putting more daylight between herself and Superintendent Rocky Hanna, who has openly clashed with Gov. Ron DeSantis on issues like mask mandates. Meanwhile, in the school board District 4 race, two candidates are heading to a runoff in November.

That district covers one of the more conservative parts of Leon County, a school board runoff in November will feature a local assistant principal and a retired district teacherwho is also the favorite of the local Moms for Liberty Chapter.

Laurie Cox has said shes not sure the 2020 presidential election wasnt stolen. Shes also said she has friends on both sides of the parental rights debate. Cox was first to jump into the seat left open when former school board member DeeDee Rasmussen resigned just weeks before the qualifying period ended. Godby Assistant Principal Alex Stemle did tooand he has made it a point to draw a distinction between himself and Cox.

People have all sorts of different takes on whats going on in our schools some of it is happening, some isnt happening. We have to make sure as candidates we get out there, talk to voters and share our message as much as possible. If those people who voted for Laurie took a [closer] look at this race, we hope theyll slide on over to our side and hopefully see that we are the strong candidate for parents and talk to some of the parents Ive worked with over the years," he said.

Stemle pulled 46.42% of the vote as of midnight to Coxs 42%. Another Moms for Liberty-friendly candidate, Susan Hodges, got 11%.

Primaries typically draw the interest of the party faithful. Now Stemle and Cox will have to appeal to a broader swatch of voters in a county thats still dominated by Democrats, but a district where Republicans have a bit more clout than in other parts of the county.

Read more:
Alva Striplin gets reelected to the Leon school board while District 4 goes to a November runoff - WFSU

Published: 8/23/2022 7:04:01 AM

Modified: 8/23/2022 7:00:25 AM

In 1992, Bill Clintons self-deprecating mantra of Its the economy, stupid demonstrated his focus on the one issue that was most important to voters, and it propelled him to the White House. Today, in the face of high inflation, many voters are again focused on the economy. Many other voters remain focused on the culture war issues. However, none of these is the crucial issue before us in the upcoming election. The most important issue before us is nothing less than the survival of our democracy.

The Republicans came perilously close to ending our democracy with the insurrection. They have made their intentions about 2024 crystal clear, but in 2024 they may have many more pliant state and local officials to do their bidding. If they succeed, then our democracy is gone, possibly forever, and we become just another authoritarian state with sham elections. The MAGA crowd will vote ignoring the facts, but independent voters and Republicans who do not believe the Big Lie must decide which is more important: preserving democracy, or winning the culture wars at any cost. At this point, a vote for a Republican at any level, national, state or local, seems a vote to end democracy.

In September, 1787, just after signing the new U. S. Constitution, Benjamin Franklin was leaving the statehouse when he was asked, Well, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy? Franklin famously replied, A republic...if you can keep it. Well? Do you want to keep it?

Kirke Wheeler

Hopkinton

Continued here:
Letter: It's not the economy - Concord Monitor

Sea levels are rising, the poor are struggling, and an epidemic of mass shootings continues to claim lives across the country. But rather than making any of these issues a top priority, Florida officials have decided to open up yet another front in the culture wars. This time theyre playing an old card: the Red Scare.

On May 9, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signedHouse Bill 395, which requires public schools to observe Victims of Communism Day each year on November 9. It also mandates that high school students learn about the abuses of leftwing dictators for at least forty-five minutes every year.

It would be a mistake to see this simply as an effort to educate young people about historical figures. Instead, it is an attempt to indoctrinate students into viewing all forms of socialism as inherently totalitarian and dangerous. [B]ased on the economic philosophies of Karl Marx, the law declares, communism has proven incompatible with the ideals of liberty, prosperity, and dignity of human life.

This comes at a moment when socialist ideas are becoming increasingly popular among young people, something reactionary politicians clearly want to push back against. For instance, DeSantis recentlycastigatedGustavo Petro, Colombias democratically elected leftist President, andcriticizedunnamed college students who he thinks have an affinity for communist symbols. Likewise, Republican state Representative David Borrero, a co-sponsor of HB 395,citingpolling data on the growing affinity for leftist ideas among younger generations.

Florida now requires schools to observe "Victims of Communism Day" and to teach about the abuses of leftwing dictators for at least forty-fiveminutes every academicyear.

This new anti-communism law is part of a broader crusade to censure members of the LGBTQ+ community and prevent anti-racist education from being taught in public schools. In an apparent effort to gin up his rightwing base, DeSantis has been laser-focused on hot-button culture war issues lately. He is seeking re-election in November, but also is astrong contenderfor the Republican presidential ticket in 2024.

HB 395 was preceded in Florida by the Stop WOKE Act, which bans schools and workplaces from talking about racism in any way that makes others uncomfortable, and the Dont Say Gay bill, which outlaws the discussion of gender or sexual identity in elementary school classrooms. DeSantis also signed into law a fifteen-weekabortion banlast April.

In Florida, it seems, history is repeating itself. In the 1950s, anti-communist rhetoric was an important element of opposition to the civil rights movement, asThe Daily Beasts Kelly Weillnoted. Similarly, the Lavender Scare, a campaign from the 1940s through the 1960s to purge LGBTQ+ workers from federal government jobs, led the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee to publish an infamous anti-homosexuality propaganda booklet in 1964 known as the Purple Pamphlet. Senator Joseph McCarthy, Republican of Wisconsin, andothers in the U.S. Senatealso saw this as an opportunity to continue McCarthys reign of terror by falselylinkingcommunism with homosexuality.

HB 395 is an attack on public education and on teachers ability to teach, Spencer Beswick, a Ph.D. candidate in history at Cornell University, tellsThe Progressive. This is just one more instance of an actual authoritarian, rightwing movement thats trying to remake history and what students learn. Its situated in a long tradition of anti-communism in the United States.

The American South, Florida included, is definitely a hostile place for leftists, adds Evan Caldwell, co-chair of the Young Democratic Socialists of America at the University of Central Florida. Florida Republicans have to focus on whipping up a frenzy and forcing out these bills that direct attention away from the billions of dollars theyre shipping off to various corporations and wealthy individuals out of the hands of the working class.

The left and the Democratic Socialists of America are a big tent. Most seem to be social democrats, democratic socialists, anarchists, libertarian socialists, democratic confederalists, and others. None of this broad spectrum of views is mentioned in HB 395.

Despite this, Caldwell doesnt think the new law will stop young people from seeing the injustices of capitalism and coming together to take action. The way we get out of this situation is to organize, he says.

Follow this link:
Seeing Red - Progressive.org - Progressive.org

FILE - Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies to a House Committee on Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing, about the budget request for the National Institutes of Health, May 11, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert who became a household name, and the subject of partisan attacks, during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Monday he will depart the federal government in December after more than 5 decades of service. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci announced yesterday that he will step down in December as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden.

President Biden praised Dr. Faucis unwavering commitment to his work as well as his unparalleled spirit, energy, and scientific integrity. He added: Because of Dr. Faucis many contributions to public health, lives here in the United States and around the world have been saved.

Conversely, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Az., tweeted: Dr. Fauci is conveniently resigning from his position in December before House Republicans have an opportunity to hold him accountable for destroying our country over these past three years. Republican Study Committee chairman Jim Banks added, Republicans must remain committed to holding Fauci accountable even after he steps down to make sure no one in his position ever abuses the public trust again.

Criticism of Americas political leaders goes back to our first contested election in 1800, but condemning their followers is something different. I dont live in the same neighborhood as my president or governor, but I do live in the same neighborhood as some of their supporters. When we begin rejecting not just our leaders but each other on political, moral, or ideological grounds, our ability to flourish or even function as the United States of America is imperiled.

Yesterday I made the claim that civility is vital to a healthy democracy and an attribute that should especially be evident among Christians. I want to expand on that claim today by giving attention to those who disagree.

As I note in my book The Coming Tsunami, a growing tide of secularists consider religion not just outdated and irrelevant but dangerous to society. During hearings on the so-called Equality Act, for example, some senators compared those opposing the Act on religious grounds to the Ku Klux Klans burning crosses and the Confederacys biblical justifications for slavery.

On the other side, Sohrab Ahmari wrote in First Things: Progressives understand that culture war means discrediting their opponents and weakening or destroying their institutions. Conservatives should approach the culture war with a similar realism. Civility and decency are secondary values. They regulate compliance with an established order and orthodoxy. We should seek to use these values to enforce our order and our orthodoxy, not pretend that they could ever be neutral.

This approach to the culture wars is clearly winning hearts and minds: A majority of second-year college students said they would not date someone who supported a different presidential candidate than they did in 2020. Almost half said they would not room with someone who voted differently; nearly two-thirds said they would not marry someone who backed a different political candidate two years ago.

Cultural issues are more binary and more divisive than ever before in my lifetime. Is abortion the death of a child, or is it the healthcare right of a woman? Is same-sex marriage (and LGBTQ advocacy) an imposition of unbiblical morality on religious freedom, or is it the civil rights cause of our day?

In a democracy, we settle our differences through elections and elected officials. However, abortion and same-sex marriage were settled by unelected Supreme Court justices, then the former was overturned by unelected Supreme Court justices. In addition, many see those on the other side as deeply immoral and thus undeserving of representation by the media and the protection of our governance.

Commercial media amplifies our differences for audience share; social media amplifies them through personal megaphones. We curate our news into echo chambers that reinforce our biases. Our mobile society and workforce allow us to live and work with those who share our opinions while avoiding those who do not.

And the increasing secularism of our culture makes our culture wars especially urgent. George Clooney speaks for many: I dont believe in heaven and hell. I dont know if I believe in God. All I know is that as an individual, I wont allow this lifethe only thing I know to existto be wasted.

What makes Christians different? Or at least, what should make us different?

Heres what we know that secularists dont:

Each of these principles is vital for empowering a democracy in which those who disagree fervently on major issues can nonetheless live and work together for the common good.

In addition, Christians know the path to moral transformation lies not through politics or human governance but through the work of Gods Spirit:

Each of these principles is vital for empowering Christians to be salt and light in a decaying, ever-darkening culture.

Justin Martyr (AD 100165) assured the Roman emperor, We are your helpers and allies in promoting peace.

Now its our turn.

The rest is here:
Dr. Fauci announces his retirement, response is what you'd expect - Denison Forum