Sacramento, CA - The California Department of Education's Task Force has finalized twelve pro-homosexual recommended mandates for public schools to follow. These recommended mandates include:
"When implemented, we intend to challenge these overreaching state mandates which will virtually shut the coffin on the rights of parents with children in all California public schools," said Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute.
The Pacific Justice Institute is a non-profit 501(c)(3) legal defense
organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental
rights, and other civil liberties.
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2.
Capitol Resource Institute (anti-gay)
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Contact: | Karen Holgate |
| April 12, 2001 | 909-302-1350 |
SACRAMENTO: California's Department of Education released the final version of an advisory task force report yesterday. The report outlines strategies for implementing recently passed legislation. When passed, AB 537 and AB 1785 were supposedly designed to reduce hate violence, says Karen Holgate, director of policy for Sacramento-based Capitol Resource Institute, California's leading pro-family grassroots citizen group. "No one wants to see any child mistreated or harassed, even by other children; but the laws that were passed and the task force's new policy recommendations and strategies go far beyond just protecting children. They lay out a plan that includes teaching all California students what the state believes they should know about homosexuality, even if that is different from what parents want their children to know."
The original AB 537 Advisory Task Force 'draft' report was a well-kept secret until, with the help of Dr. James Dobson, CRI made public the draft report in Focus on the Family's national radio broadcast. "We were told that while the original report was a 'draft,' it was pretty much a 'done deal,'" says Natalie Williams, CRI's executive director. "Because we wanted parents to know what was going on, we did a complete analysis of the 'draft' report, contacted the media and brought it to the attention of Focus on the Family. After the broadcast we had to bring in extra people to help answer phones and our Web site hits more than tripled. Parents were appalled to learn that the task force recommended removing 'positive parental consent' before children take certain surveys and wanted to force all school districts to implement all the strategies outlined by the task force."
To defeat the "draft" report, CRI asked parents to call their legislators, the governor and Delaine Eastin, California's Superintendent of Public Instruction. "We wanted them to let the elected leaders in this state know how they felt about the heavy-handed task force report," says Holgate. "It is quite apparent the calls made a difference. Some of the most egregious language is missing from the final report. However, in an awkward attempt to confuse and mislead, the new report renumbered its twelve recommendations and rephrased some of its language. Unfortunately, the result will be the same-imposing mandates on schools that include infusing curriculum with messages about homosexuality and using surveys to probe children's minds to find if they exhibit the state's predetermined correct attitudes about this controversial subject."
"The new laws and recommendations create a potential minefield," says Williams. "They put in place a system that could label any child who holds beliefs different from those being taught by the school as a hate monger. These children could then be either reported on the school's annual crime report form and/or sent for 'rehabilitation.'"
Other recommendations include posting positive visual images around the school that include all sexual orientations and gender identities, (gender is defined as actual or perceived, even if different from that traditionally associated with the person's sex at birth), creating policies to address transgender segregation in locker rooms, restrooms and dress codes, and creating a permanent advisory task force to continually monitor and suggest revisions for curriculum updates.
For parents who want to know what they can do to protect their children, CRI recommends submitting an exemption form to each child's school and teacher. "The exemption form prohibits the school from including children whose parents have submitted the form from being included in any of the above activities," says Holgate.
The exemption form can be found on Capitol Resource Institute's Web site at:
http://www.capitolresource.org.
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3.
Focus on the Family
April 17, 2001
Rules Undermine Bible Clubs
By Karen Johnson, California correspondent
The The California Board of Education has adopted new regulations requiring Bible clubs to grant membership privileges to homosexual students.
The change is coming in the name of "tolerance," but Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, said parents should be concerned.
"The assumption by many is that homosexual activists would stay away from a Bible club, but the actual agenda trend in the homosexual movement these days is to infiltrate . . . society," Dacus said. "That would include those clubs and students which don't agree with their perspective."
Dacus added that the education board's move is inviting a lawsuit.
"(The regulation) infringes upon basic freedom-of-association rights of religious students to be able to determine who they are, who they will invite as a speaker, and what they intend to believe and to advocate."
High school student Kurt Duggleby, who leads a Bible study on his school campus, said he wonders why homosexual students are getting special attention.
"I think its unfair to other people just that they are working so hard to help this one group feel accepted," Duggleby said. "I mean . . . all high-schoolers want to be accepted. Why don't they work more with the handicapped children, people with only one parent, or, like, eating disorders?"
The new regulation will go into effect in the fall.
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Find the Task Force Report and other documents here:
California Department of Education
Safe Schools and Violence
Prevention Office Web Site
http://www.cde.ca.gov/spbranch/safety/
Return to P.E.R.S.O.N. Project Home Page
Last updated 4/18/2001 by Jean Richter, richter@eecs.Berkeley.EDU