Downey is a largely Hispanic community located in southwestern Los Angeles County. The residents are mostly conservative. Many of them work two jobs to make ends meet and most do not have the time to attend school board meetings to share their concerns.
In 2015, the California Legislature passed the California Healthy Youth Act, which mandates that schools teach so-called “comprehensive sexual health education,” which includes LGBT issues. This is part of a push in legislatures across the country by Planned Parenthood and the sex-ed lobby.
However, the text of the law allows for a fairly broad implementation – and requires that anything taught be “medically accurate” and “age appropriate.” (But the sex-ed lobby ignores or re-defines those qualifiers.) It allows for opt-out by parents, but in practice school officials often make that cumbersome and difficult. Also, the very presence of radical, graphic programs poisons the entire school environment.
In November 2016, the local ACLU threatened to sue the Downey School District if it didn’t comply with the sex-ed law, since it had not made any effort to do so.
Instead of developing a curriculum of their own or finding one that would reflect the conservative values of the community, the Downey School Board simply asked the Department of Education to select two programs for them to choose between. Not surprisingly, the bureaucrats selected two programs that some find very offensive and explicitly LGBT.
In December 2018, a committee of teachers and school staffers selected by the superintendent chose one of the programs, Teen Talk, which is a commercial curriculum created in part by Planned Parenthood and is distributed by an organization called Health Connected. During 2019 the Downey Unified School Board had various presentations of the Teen Talk curriculum at their meetings, publicized it in the local newspaper, and held three Parent Information Night meetings to discuss it. However, according to parents we spoke to, the presentations were not well advertised, were not well attended by parents, and did not include any of the voluminous graphic or offensive material.
One of the parents reported to us that the district would not even provide the school board members’ email addresses so parents could contact them directly about this.
In April 2019 school officials announced that individual parents could see the actual Teen Talk curriculum by reading through the program binders, which were located in the in the Downey School District office. But they had to make an appointment first and go there during business hours – which very few parents could do. And they were not allowed to photograph or copy any part of it.
In early August 2019, one of the parents contacted MassResistance about Teen Talk, and it raised alarms with our Southern California activists. Teen Talk – a horrible program that is closely identified with Planned Parenthood – had been used in the Anaheim Union School District. But in June 2019, MassResistance parents successfully pressured the Anaheim School Board to remove that curriculum from the entire district. This was done based on what parents had heard from their children in school.
On August 29, 2019, the last of the three Parent Information Nights for Teen Talk in Downey was held. This time a group of Downey MassResistance parents attended. But school officials were hostile. They presented their “soft” Teen Talk presentation and refused to answer any hard questions by the parents. The presenter told the parents that photos or recordings of the meeting were not allowed – but were forced to back down after being informed that California’s open meeting law allows it. (School staffers often try to take advantage of parents’ lack of knowledge of their legal rights.)
On September 9, outraged parents came to the Downey School Board meeting and demanded that they use a different curriculum than Teen Talk. They were particularly upset that they hadn’t had a chance to actually see the curriculum, only a sanitized version that school officials had presented. Nevertheless, at that meeting the school board ignored the parents and voted 6-1 to implement it.
On September 19, Arthur Schaper of MassResistance scheduled a meeting at the Downey School District main office to look at the Teen Talk curriculum. Arthur was told that because of “copyright issues” he could only look at the curriculum binders, but not photograph any part of it. But Arthur insisted that since it will be used in public schools, the entire public had a right to see it. After some discussion, they decided not to prohibit Arthur from taking photos of it. (NOTE: Many parents would have just given up and not insisted!) The following day Arthur posted many of the photos in a report.
The above comes from a Nov. 17 story on MassResistance.org.
That’s it. I am tired of the indoctrination of OUR children. They can teach THEIR children whatever foolish and immorality they want. I cannot say I’d like it, but we still have free speech and I realize not everyone knows truth, or is even seeking it. These hardworking parents want their children to be educated and experience the American Dream, not immorality. We already have enough lost, confused, angry, and unhappy youth in this country. I want all our Catholic children to be taught by practicing and faithful Catholics.
I am writing to the White House today to ask about school vouchers. I have no idea where to start. But I do recall Trump supported them when he campaigned. I want my hard earned dollars to go to a school of my choice. The voucher system works in Europe.
Take their money away and you take away their power.
I apologize for the rant, but I feel like a Mother Bear whose little ones are being attacked. They supposed to be helping them have a better life through education.
Ho, Hum, as usual, often immigrants, both legal and illegal “jump right out of the frying pan, straight into the fire” caused by politicians, “celebrities” and others who lie to them about being pro life, pro traditional family. They lie to them about this whole Trump impeachment charade, too, which is nothing but a distraction from all the horrible crimes that went on and are going on against David Deleiden and those who helped him, where the accusers were involved in or enabled aborted children’s body parts being put for sale.
May God do to them what they seek to do to David.
Correction: David Daleiden.
Re Schoool Vouchers, I suggest one start with their elected representatives. Getting vouchers in the US would be a long fight. As I understand it, the ‘freedom of religion clause’ of the First Ammendment is the basis of prohibiting voucher financial support of religious schools. The laws are totally different in Europe and Canada, and they have voucher systems..
They had school vouchers in Washington D.C. when Obama was in office and they were working, but he put a stop to it, probably to appease the teachers’ unions, yet he had his own daughters in private schools. Such hypocrisy is common among politicians.
I can’t imagine my elected representatives caring. Most in California are part of the problem, along with the teacher’s union. All are against public faith and I never hear them speak of God. Honestly more Catholics need to wake up and stop voting for these people who are fighting our faith. I did write into the White House. It may me feel a bit better. I wish more people would get involved, we got here in CA, due to so many people assuming our officials really cared. They only value our vote, not our Catholic values or opinion.
Mike’s comments that “the ‘freedom of religion clause’ of the First Amendment is the basis of prohibiting voucher financial support of religious schools”. is, I believe, not correct. Doesn’t the voucher go directly to the parents to decide which school they will use the voucher for?
Kids do not need “sex ed” — it is not an academic subject! Instead, they all need to be taught their manners and their morals! Chastity, self-control, and virginity until marriage, should be taught and expected. A simple, one-class lesson in human sexuality can be taught to boys and girls, in two separate classes. The “LGBT” info is inappropriate for the schools– it is scientifically and medically an abnormal case, in human sexuality– and not known, in animals. And be kind to the “LGBTs!” Marriage prep classes should be taught to engaged couples in the churches– not in the schools!
Premarital sex should be eradicated from our society, and should be strictly prohibited in the media, and other sources that are currently peddling immorality to the public. Homosexual acts of sex perversion, should be banned– no gay “marriage,” either! The sinful, “extremist radical freak” teen subculture, needs to be destroyed! Kids need a good and successful life of normalcy! And guidance to find a good marriage partner, get married, establish a good and normal home and family, and contribute to their community in a nice, normal, and positive way!
I’m not a Constitutional lawyer, and never claimed to be. However, I would be willing to make a friendly wager say $20 that vouchers paid directly to parents would face both a tough legal and political fight in the US.
I do not think the money has to go to the parents. We have home schooling. I’m checking out school choice or school vouchers on the web. A number of states already have a form of school vouchers in place and working. I found 2 good sites on my 1st search which I briefly looked at edchoice.org and ecs.org. I’m feeling some hope. One of the complaints was schools being certified. Currently running Catholics schools already are. The other complaint was the score testing for some was the same as if they went to public school. Which isn’t an issue for me, since my concern is the anti-God, anti-christian element in public schools. Catholic schools also offer a weekly mass during school hours. There was a 3rd concern I read and it was that money would be taken from public schools, and that again is ok with me. I pay taxes and would like some of it to educate Catholic kids. Right now I’m paying taxes and privately helping support Catholic schools. So I pay twice to have kids educated locally. I’m going to keep reading up. After all schools were not even in existence for the average child in Western Civilization until the Catholic Church came along. We need to get involved.
mike m. — I have read of big legal battles, involving school vouchers, for use at good schools, that teach Christian faith and morals— and the State refuses to certify them! Catholic schools are usually protected, though. But they often struggle with poor Catholic leadership, in faith and morals! Our country badly needs a re-conversion to Christianity!
Homeschool.
A soul is too precious a gift to sacrifice to the devil (i.e. The State).