Contact: Karen England, Executive Director, Capitol Resource Institute, 916-212-5607, Kengland@capitolresource.org
ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif., June 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- Alameda Unified School District is violating federal law on parental rights, Capitol Resource Institute has discovered, with its new mandate on pro-homosexuality curriculum.
The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (20 U.S.C. § 1232h) governs any survey, analysis, or evaluation given to students.
Parents must be both notified and given the opportunity to opt-out, if the evaluation deals with topics such as:
· Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student's parent;
· sex behavior or attitudes;
· religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student's parent; and more.
"Alameda's new curriculum requires written and verbal expression of student ideas, with a clear intent to evaluate whether students endorse homosexuality. It is intolerant of traditional views on human sexuality," said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute.
In the first grade lesson plan, teachers must "ask the class the following questions and record their answers on paper. What do we know about families? Who is in a family?"
Fourth graders are trained to be "allies," who "help or stand up" for people being bullied. While it is good to combat bullying, the prescribed lesson plan takes an evaluative format.
It says, "Ask students to number on a piece of paper: 1. I would be VERY UNCOMFORTABLE 2. I would be A LITTLE UNCOMFORTABLE 3. I would be PRETTY UNCOMFORTABLE 4. I would be VERY COMFORTABLE."
Fifth grade students must challenge their personal stereotypes by studying the lives of famous homosexual, bisexual, and transsexual people. "Write a short essay on: How have your views about any stereotypes changed?" the lesson plan says.
"This curriculum also puts teachers in an awkward position. They're forced to teach that traditional views are bigoted, even if they hold traditional views," England said.
Alameda Unified receives federal funds from the federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, under Title IV of No Child Left Behind. According to the superintendent's office, these funds mandate a district program on school safety and bullying prevention.
Accepting these funds, however, also makes Alameda subject to the Pupil Rights Amendment.
Parents of Alameda students repeatedly pointed out that the district's new curriculum fails to address bullying on the bases of race and religion.
"The top reason for bullying in Alameda Unified is race, according to California state data. If the district is serious about student safety, it should start with anti-bullying efforts on race," England said.
Alameda efforts to address anti-religious bullying should be sure to include all religions. In recent board meetings, Muslim families told about their girls being harassed over religious attire. They should be protected -- along with any student expressing personal religious beliefs.
People who support curriculum that promotes homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality cite statistics from the Preventing School Harassment Survey, by the California Safe Schools Coalition. They claim that this data proves widespread harassment against homosexual students.
That study, however, is based in part on online surveys. The same is true of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network's annual National School Climate Survey on student harassment.
"Since people self-determine whether to take the online survey, this creates unanswerable questions about how accurately they represent the population at large. These are advocacy surveys, not reliable statistics," England said.
Every school district should protect students from harassment, but more is going on at Alameda Unified. This district is pushing a political agenda -- and ignoring parents' requests to exempt their own children from the curriculum, even when those children are five and six years old.
Thanks to a 31 year old federal policy, however, Alameda parents can demand an opt-out.
Federally Funded Lesson Plans
Grade K Welcoming Lesson
Grade 2 And Tango Makes Three Lesson
Grade 3 Talking About Families Lesson
Grade 4 Becoming an Ally Lesson
Grade 5 Stereotypes lesson
Vocabulary Words
Famous Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People ( LGBT )
Additional Alameda Resources
Gay Curriculum Proposal Riles Elementary School Parents
Alameda Parent Testifies Before Board on Race Bullying
Religious Parent Testifies on Religious Bullying
ALAMEDA RESIDENTS
If you live in Alameda, please contact the U.S. Department of Education and ask them to enforce the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment in your school district.
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202-8520
202-260-3887
