Who's quibbling? This guy should get a medal. Public schools are out of hand. Indoctrination is a weak term for it. While kids can't read or solve math problems, liberal teachers think it's their duty to "teach diversity", get kids against the military, you name it.
What about the champion trap shooter in NH, who could not have a yearbook picture with his shotgun, broken open, and hanging over his shoulder. Meanwhile, perfectly o.k. for him to pose in a dress, or for a girl to pose with her illegitimate baby!
It all started with gay cartoon charaters; now this. Watch very closely. The shameless left has made our children the new battleground in gay rights.

Disagree. If the schools had to take time to figure planning out out everything that's going to be mentioned every day in class, and then sending notice to each parent each time something that some parent doesn't like is going to be discussed, the schools aren't going to have time to teach anything

It's fair game to ask what the schools are teaching, and to bitch about it if you don't like it. It's fair to take them out of special units if you don't like them. It's fair to take your kids out of those schools if you don't approve of what they're teaching. But it strikes me as unfair to but the burden on the schools to have to vet everything that happens every day.

...are his demands that he be notified about what material is being taught to his son about a clearly controversial issue unreasonable?

Historically, parents have been notified (and given right-of-veto) about their children being taught sex ed in school. This is not unreasonable.

While Spoons is correct that it is difficult to vet everything that a school does, a little control can go a long way. Currently, in most places, the teachers are relatively immune from the consequences of these type things. The administration takes the blame and the union protects the teacher. When you make the teacher reponsible for the content in the classroom, he/she will be less likely to do something stupid.

It's incomprehensible to me that a public school thinks kindergarten kids need to be educated about alternate or homosexual lifestyles. Little 5 yr old kids don't need to think or know about sex. Come on! What happened to finger-painting? Learning to read? A little light arithmetic?

The father in the story would do well to take his kid out of that school and find a more wholesome alternative. If I were raising a child today, I would NOT have him or her in a public school. They are cesspools of PC idiocy.

Spoons said:
If the schools had to take time to figure planning out out everything that's going to be mentioned every day in class, and then sending notice to each parent each time something that some parent doesn't like is going to be discussed, the schools aren't going to have time to teach anything

Therein lies the problem. I dare say that teaching things pertinent to education wouldn't need any such vetting and/or parental approval. The teaching aspect is not the problem. On the other hand, school should be essentially a political vacuum, a place for facts to be taught, and arguments left aside, especially in the primary classrooms.

To further address your point, the teachers are supposed to plan out everything that they are teaching in class--that's called a lesson plan, and it's required of every teacher in every classroom of which I have any knowledge. This wasn't something that came up incidentally in discussion, but rather an effort made by a teacher to present a "nontraditional" family as perfectly normal to her class--a view that is particularly controversial in today's political climate.

The underlying issue is that for too long, teachers and school administrators have been taught that they are the "professionals," and that because of their extensive training on child behaviour, development, and discipline, they inherently know better than parents what children really need. For a teacher to accept the responsibility to teach certain social skills that are neglected in the child's home is a noble endeavor. To teach a child that his parents' morals and belief system are antiquated and foolish, however, is to assume a place of authority that very few parents are willing to knowingly concede.

LJD--you're dead wrong on one point. Our children are not the "new" battleground in gay rights--they've been the battleground for 20 years.

In fairness to the school, the material taught wasn't about sex. It talked about different family structures, including a family where both adults were female. The man's objection is not to the school teaching about gay sex -- it was doing nothing of the kind -- but rather to them "mainstreaming" gay couples by describing their families as just another family arrangement.

I can see why this would be controversial to those who believe that gay couples are some form of aberration -- if you take that view, having such couples presented as normal to your 5-year-old amounts to outright indoctrination. On the flipside, there are children that live in such households, and in my humble opinion, regardless of anyone's view on same-sex households, those kids deserve to think that their family is as good as anyone else's.

I have to agree that KINDERGARDEN for crying out LOUD! Is NOT where kids should be learning about alternative lifestyles. Gimme a break..........
Can't we wait?? Kids graduate out of highschools and can't read and write but they know about "alternative lifestyles" what the.......
Kudos to Mr. Parker! I think it should be a law that EVERY single parent gets a curriculum, outline of everything a child will learn for that quarter and if they choose to act on it, they have the right.
it's all very tough but the bottom line is, if a parent wants to be involved - the school should be willing to work with the parent.

Give the guy a medal and sue the pants off of the schools. They are teachers and not political officers. Teachers, teach the three R's!

And yes, all teachers do have leason plans and the do script each and every day.

And yes, PARENTS SHOULD BE NOTIFIED AND AWARE OF THOSE LEASON PLANS. IT IS NOT A STATE SECRET, IT IS A LEASON PLAN. PARENTS COULD AND SHOULD BE PART OF THE PLAN.

I heard the superintendant on the radio this morning and he was calling same sex couples 'nuclear families'. The parent is right, the school has absolutely no business in promoting, discouraging or indoctrinating children's social values. I heard the superintendant lie about how it was only offered as a benefit to the parents as a discussion tool. I'm sure it was right next to the book on Bible stories that was there for a discussion tool. To me what's more offensive then the same sex equivalency is the single and divorced parent equivalency. Just make sure you indoctrinate kids that all those lifestyles are consequence free!

I was unaware anthropology was now part of the K2 curriculum. Actually I knew it was but you'd think they'd have enough sense to at least try
to play it off like it was something worthwhile other than an indoctrination tool.

For those out of the area, you need to understand that Lexington, MA is among the MOST LIBERAL towns in greater Boston, along with nearby Lincoln, Wayland, Concord and Carlisle --- its sort of the west-suburban leftie axis.

Kindergarten. There's only one objective for starting with this type of information so early.

It's called "indoctrination."

These are the people who would scream to high heaven if you tried to include intelligent design in the biology curriculum.

It's all part of the plan.

It's one thing to teach children to tolerate someone that they (or their parents) disagree with. That's fine, IMO. But tolerance is not the same as acceptance, and teaching kids to accept something that their parents don't want them to accept is wrong. Jesus tolerated sinners, but did not accept their sins. That is what I'm going to teach my kids as they grow.

And, of course, the liberals will condemn me as a hateful, bigotted, gay-hating, right-wing wingnut because of it.

Kindergarten and early elementary are way too young to be introducing these topics to anyway.

Also I don't buy the "it is too difficult to make parents aware" crap. Teachers write their lesson plans and know what they are teaching, and they should notify parents of things they ask to be notified of beforehand.

The school is way out of line, and if you are fine and dandy with same sex couple issues being addressed to your kindergartener, then just pretend for a moment that the topic is something else you would personally object to your Kindergartener being introduced to, and decide if you still think the school is correct.

1. Kids in classrooms are truly a "captive audience."
2. We need more involvement from parents, not less.
3. There's really no justification for that kind of instruction in a Kindergarten class. A few years later, sure, whatever, but not at such a young age.

It is interesting how we have high School Seniors who can't read or write!...Hmmm I wonder if they would spend less time on educating our children about alternative life styles it might help with the three R's?...I hate to think what they are going to be learning at nap time and recess!

How can this father dare question the wisdom of "the village"?

Dear E. Nough

With respect to your comment that "there are children that live in such households, and...those kids deserve to think that their family is as good as anyone else's."

Let's take your premise ad absurdum.

Did the young women who lived with Charles Manson "deserve to think that their family is as good as anyone else's"?

Did Eva Braun "deserve to think that [her] family is as good as anyone else's"?

There is overwhelming statistical data (in re stability, violence, substance abuse and distressing outcomes for children) that gay households are not as functional ("good") as heteronormative households. Children deserve to know that.

Umm.. they read a BOOK. SO the SCHOOL or the TEACHER had to BUY THE BOOK. Unless they didn't know what was in the book they bought to use in the classroom there is no excuse for not notifying the parent in question.

Already well stated here (Just Me, wavemaker, Jim, Jack Tanner, Sue Dohnim, lisa, BoDiddly, BARRY, LJD, decatur...) and about which I agree: schools prepare lesson plans, and when requested if not as course of policy, should make those plans available to parents.

And that, what/who the school 'believes' "represents a family" isn't material for kindergarten age children (why aren't they using their time with children in KINDERGARTEN for the 'three r's' if not for naps, cookies and time to play.

Yes, this is indoctrination. Yes, it's planned. Yes, it's wrong of the most egregious kind.

About the parent, the cops, him being arrested, OBVIOUSLY, to my view, the school used law enforcement as another form of extended indocrtination, undoubtedly just relying on certain steps taken to conclude with the obvious step later taken...arresting the parent rather than discuss their own behavior. At least, arranging, setting up, so to speak, the reasons why the parent had to be.

This has nothing to do with 'teaching diversity' but with indoctrinating children and presuming upon children and their families in a highly offensive manner. Highly offensive.

And yet the child is expected to not say "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, or even the Pledge itself in some areas. Socialism run amok.

Going to Jail, a threat or a badge of courage. Being a parent, and being a teacher, talk about a conflict of interests here. First my personal life stirs in me the need to want to stay informed, but then the attitude of seeing someone with different beliefs and concerns then mine make me pause, add to that my background in ED where so many parents raise a fuss but don't seem to care about the big picture ( not really a lot. but they seem a lot because they make noise) and in politics and education . loud makes more changes. As a teacher, I don't want to be second guessed and have to please everyone because you never do.

welcome to the chaos and growth of our education system. Where the attitudes of voting adults are shaped by their memories of teachers 20+ years earlier

scary

I just want to know WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO NAP TIME!!??

Seriously, if the education system stuck to actaully providing kids the ability to read, write, and perform arithmetic, do you think they'd have time for this horse-crap?

Remember that the next time you give the teenager at McDonalds 3 cents extra change and they give you that blank look trying to figure out in their head how much change to give you back.

The theory is that children are socialized to be anti-gay, and therefore it is appropriate for the schools to socialize the kids against what they perceive as homophobia. I don't buy the premise myself and I think these efforts are doomed to failure.

Decatur said . . .
There is overwhelming statistical data (in re stability, violence, substance abuse and distressing outcomes for children) that gay households are not as functional ("good") as heteronormative households.

There is? Please provide your basis for this, links to these studies, or at least a title for one of the studies from a reputable organization, without an obvious bias.

At best it appears that you are resorting to a hasty generalization here. There is more then enough statistical data available to show that these societal problems are not the result of a single characteristic in the makeup of the famliy unit. Income, education level, social standing, self esteem and many other factors contribute to these problems.

There are many people who have been raised by same sex couples that are normal functioning individuals, just as there are many abnormally functioning individuals that have been raised by hetero-sexual couples.

This is not the first incident like this that has come from Massachusetts. It's just plain ol' indoctrination. Coming from a left that believes in no absolute truth, they sure are quick to say that homosexuality is normal, natural and good.

Schools will not stopped this behavior until parents protest enmass. Don't stand for it!

Teachers already plan thier lessons well in advance. Or they SHOULD.

What would be wrong with passing a calendar of lesson plans to all the parents on ALL the topics?

Parents who care can know (and should) whether their child is learning colors or state capitals. Parents who don't care can do with it like they do with every other document the kid brings home.

Lunacy

Jay Tea writes: are his demands that he be notified about what material is being taught to his son about a clearly controversial issue unreasonable?

Yes, they're unreasonable. It's reasonable for him to expect he wouldn't be denied access to the teaching materials used in his son's classes. It's totally unreasonable for him to expect to receive unsolicited announcements of every little update in the curriculum.

It's called parental responsibility, Jay. Think about it. It's your responsibility to obey the law. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, so you're on the hook to stay current with changes in the law. It's totally unreasonable to expect that every time the law changes that you'll get a letter in the mail warning you about it. This is exactly the same thing as what this guys is complaining about.

Jeez. It's like you people think the nanny state is supposed to take care of you from cradle to grave, never doing anything without first notifying you and seeking your explicit permission for everything.

Thought you might be interested in learning more about the controversial K-12 book issue.

PABBIS - Parents Against Bad Books In Schools.
www.pabbis.com

PABBIS is in existence because there is more and more explicit and graphic material in K-12 books. They have explicit descriptions of rapes, incest,
oral sex, bestiality, pedophilia, homosexuality, sex associated with violence, torture, excessive vulgarity, anti-religious material and other
extreme content. These books are being used with younger and younger students. They are usually used without parental consent. Parents are
generally not aware of this problem and when they find out they often get very upset.

To learn more about this issue, and to see how explicit some of the book content can be, see the PABBIS website.

Teachers have no business conducting gay indoctrination sessions - ever!

Has the world turned upside down? Sure seems like it sometimes when one reads a litany such as this one.

Now it looks like the state has decided what our kids are to believe. It is a tyranny upon the citizen who does not believe his children should buy into to collective morality.

Brainster wrote...
The theory is that children are socialized to be anti-gay, and therefore it is appropriate for the schools to socialize the kids against what they perceive as homophobia. I don't buy the premise myself and I think these efforts are doomed to failure.

...and while I agree with what's written there (speculation about where the crazed "educators" are going and what's fueling their process in reference to this issue about the kindergartner and parent)...it ALSO points out the gross and presumptuous nature of just what a public school system is engaged in, as in...

I can imagine that "people" and/or "children" are "indoctrinated" to, say, hate spaghetti so as a public official, I take it upon myself to spend taxpayer dollars and my employee hours "counter" indoctrinating the hapless indoctrinated spawn under my "care" about why they should NOT hate spaghetti. Or even bears in the woods.

I mean, it just points out the foolishness and irresponsibility that potentially can and does result about very personal things (to parents and their children) that public officials of any area have no privilege in accessing in a public forum using taxpayer dollars.

As in, you can speculate as to any sort of wrongdoing, spend your senior year in college as an assistant to some socialist in one of the colleges who is sure there's reason there to think society is in need of a finer tune about something and then go on to graduate and teach all your subjects that very same fine tune. Simple as a perception, which leads to all sorts of possible violations of position, particularly in education.

About the "curriculum" for the kindergartners, very school and every teacher in those schools has to prepare and file a teaching plan (some really abuse this process by simply copying the plans of others, filing them and then 'teaching' whatever they decide to do off the plan based upon the assumption that no one will find out).

So, this teacher expecting to be informed about a plan for a kindergarten class is not unusual and not at all exceptional/outrageous as request. What IS outrageous is that the parent found out afterward that the teaching plan wasn't followed and/or was amplified to include socially subjective requirements that intrude into the integrity of the individual (that is, the whole area of family sexual relationships, particularly of the 'alternative' kind is not at all appropriate for kindergarten and/or any child without parental knowledge and acceptance).

These were kindergarten age children. The school was so egregiously into an area of irresponsibility in allowing what took place to take place that I can understand the parent's upset. I hope he finds another school or else gets his taxes back. Honestly, I do. People should be refunded their tax dollars under situations like this, given the public nature of the offense, the outrage involved to and about private areas of belief and psychology.

Typo...should read...

"So, this PARENT expecting to be informed about a plan for a kindergarten class..."