In an apparent win for students and parents, Libs of TikTok (LoTT) announced on August 24 that the Cobb County School District in Georgia will remove two pornographic books from its school library shelves. In another of their famous exposés, LoTT contacted school district officials by email on August 19 stating that they were “gathering information for a story about the pornographic books your district currently has available for students to view, use, and check out from your libraries.” The email provided the book titles: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, which LoTT said was available in four schools, and Flamer, available in “a large amount of schools.” Attached to the email were screen shots of a few of the more egregious pages in the books. (Education Reporter mentioned Flamer’s obscene content in its August 2022 and March 2023 issues.) Two days later, on August 21, LoTT heard back from Chief Strategy and Accountability Officer John Floresta, and described his response as “what all parents should want to hear!” It read: “Any book, video, or lesson which contains sexually-explicit content is entirely unacceptable and have [sic] no place in our schools, period. Over the weekend, we have removed both books from all of our schools.” When school district officials are confronted, they typically deny all knowledge of the offending books or lessons, which proved to be the case in this instance. Floresta thanked LoTT “for alerting us to these books,” and claimed that “we weren’t aware ... until your email....” He further stated that the district would “unapologetically” hold the staff accountable “to only use content which is aligned to Georgia standards, our Board’s policies, and the Law.” Parents should nonetheless remain vigilant and hold these officials’ feet to the fire.

The Harrison County School District in Mississippi has adopted a new dress code requiring students to wear clothing consistent with their biological sex. The Western Journal reported on August 4 that the new rules appear in the district’s updated policy manual for grades 7-12, and mandate that students “follow the dress attire consistent with their biological sex” as it appears in their permanent record. The rules stipulate that “boys must wear shorts or pants and shirts and footwear according to the dress code” of the district, and that “girls must wear dresses or skirts or shorts or pants and shirts or blouses and footwear according to the school district’s dress code.” The policy also forbids the wearing of hoods “indoors or on school buses.” The new rules apply to the 2023-2024 school year. The Journal noted that the new code reinforces the Harrison County School District’s “recent decision to forbid a boy who insists he’s a girl from wearing a dress to his high school graduation.” In May, a transgender student “filed a motion to compel the Harrison Central High School to let him wear a dress and high heels to his school graduation.” In its own court filing, the district countered that “walking in a graduation ceremony is not a fundamental right, especially since the boy already finished the school year and [was] therefore no longer a student.” A Trump-appointed judge upheld the district‘s decision and denied the student’s motion, which was filed by the ACLU, and he has since filed a lawsuit claiming his civil rights were violated. The Journal doubtless echoed the sentiments of many parents when it opined: “The problem with our educational system is that many schools are churning out students who can barely read or write. Instead of educating children, schools have devolved into partisan bureaucracies that indoctrinate students with left-wing propaganda that fetishizes transgenderism and race-based ‘equity.’”

The 25,000-member National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) wants to replace state literacy standards with “anti-racism,” “race,” “anti-Blackness,” and “LGBTQIA+” teaching in public K-12 classrooms. Fox News reported in June that the “influential organization released a report in May to promote ‘Culturally and Historically Responsive Education’ as an alternative curriculum to current English instruction in the pursuit of anti-racism and anti-oppression.” Instead of teaching traditional literacy, which these critics complain is from “a white male perspective,” the new curriculum would “focus on teaching ‘pursuits,’ one of which is to encourage America’s youth to ‘understand power, oppression, antiracism, and other anti-oppressions,’ in classrooms as young as pre-kindergarten.” The goal, they say, is “to shift gears toward a new way of teaching in K-12 schools by encouraging English teachers to take a number of classes aimed at ‘unpacking their ideologies, bias, and internalized oppression.’” In other words, critical race theory (CRT), which public schools continue to insist is not being taught in America’s classrooms, would indeed be taught, at least in English literacy classes. Fox News cited a Manhattan Institute (MI) Study of 1,500 18-20-year-olds, conducted early this year, which found that, as most observers already know, CRT and CSJ (Critical Social Justice) concepts are in fact being taught in the schools. The study showed that 93 percent of the young adults surveyed had heard “at least one of eight Critical Social Justice (CSJ) concepts from a teacher or other adult” during their school years, including “white privilege,” “systemic racism,” “patriarchy,” or “the idea that gender is a choice unrelated to biological sex.” Additionally, 90 percent of those surveyed “had heard about at least one CRT concept and 74 percent about at least one radical gender concept.” The MI report emphasized that “CSJ appears to have a significant impact in shifting children to the political left.” If the NCTE has its way, any remaining semblance of the authentic teaching of English and literacy will be replaced with Marxist indoctrination.

Dangerous re-education is taking place for kids who “misgendered” a classmate in the Glendale, California Unified School District (GUSD). Last month, the New York Post reported that two students were suspended for five days “after a misgendering incident took place, and then subjected them to a ‘training’ called ‘restorative justice,’ according to an email reviewed by Fox News Digital.” Former Herbert Hoover High School Principal Jennifer Earl sent the email, which was brought to light by the Facebook group GUSD Parents Voices. Earl claimed the students (who were not identified) “misgendered a transgender student then ran away as the teacher attempted to correct them.” She said the teacher involved asked her “to educate [the offenders] on transgender” and said that “restorative justice” would happen after the suspension. Restorative Justice is “a re-education of students and gaining control over a situation based on the perceived wrongs they committed.” Apparently conducted in “a restorative justice circle,” these sessions involve asking leading questions of the kids, such as “If you could smash one thing... what would you smash?” and “Describe the ideal family.” The district’s website states: “When there is harm or conflict within the established community, restorative responses help to repair the damage. This is done through processes that bring harmed and harmers together to address root causes of the conflict, support accountability for those responsible, and promote healing for impacted individuals....” Many parents were outraged at this blatant attempt at brainwashing. One responded by stating: “Not playing along with their fantasies of being the opposite gender is not bullying. Bullying is teachers and people in power forcing us to defy facts and logic as to not hurt the feelings of the mentally ill.” Another commented: “This is forced speech and forced Marxist ‘reeducation.’ This is what our country has become under the godless radical Marxist Democrats.” Another wrote: “This is insane. Get your kids out of government schools and get out of California,” although these activities are occurring in other states as well.

Want to be notified of new Education Reporter content?
Your information will NOT be sold or shared and will ONLY be used to notify you of new content.
Click Here

Return to Home PageEducation Reporter Online - August 2023