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A school district near Milwaukee, Wisconsin has banned political and religious messaging inside the classroom, which will prohibit teachers from hanging Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ pride flags or putting preferred pronouns in their email signatures.
The pushback has been swift and certain.
However, if this new policy stands legally, it will have national implications.
Be informed, not misled.
Seattle's KOMO TV News is, along with many other news organizations, carrying the story.
The ban.
The Kettle Moraine School District (KMSD) Superintendent, Stephen Plum, issued a new legal analysis of the district's code of conduct.
The analysis ultimately interpreted the policy as saying teachers were prohibited from displaying political and religious messages in their classrooms, according to Plum.
Plum said at a recent board meeting, "The expectation is that teachers and administration will not have political flags or religious messaging in their classroom or on their person. This expectation includes Pride flags."
AP notes that the policy also bans the practice of teachers listing their "preferred pronouns" next to their names in email messages.
During last week's board meeting, one member asked if it was possible for teachers to wear crosses.
"If it's something on their person and it's in a necklace or something like that and it's not in your face, shall I say. I think that is acceptable. I would say that that is a personal item." Plum said. "As opposed to something like a t-shirt that has large letters on it."
"Back the Badge, Thin Blue Line and Black Lives Matter flags and signs would also not be allowed, as those have 'political leaning'," Plum noted.
The pushback is swift and strong.
The policy was passed in July and affirmed unanimously at last week's board meeting.
An online petition against the policy has already collected more than 14,000 signatures.
The petition reads:
"A pride flag is not a political thing, loving someone is not political. Think of all the students/kids who are scared to go home because they don't have the support of their families, but when they walk into the school and their teacher has a pride flag hanging on the wall, they finally feel safe and supported,"
It also adds that "Pro-nouns are a part of English class," and urged the district to let teachers "actually teach students what they are instead of banning them from sharing their preferred pronouns."
"Because like it or not everyone has a pro-noun. she/her he/him are pro-nouns," the petition continues. "You use them in everyday life. So is it a crime for our teachers to say what they would like to be referred by?"
Two students appear to have taken a strong leadership role in the resistance to the policy.
They have posted this:
We already walk through the halls with fear. We both have experienced very hateful and homophobic comments in the halls of our high school.
A pride flag is not a political thing, loving someone is not political. Think of all the students/kids who are scared to go home because they don't have the support of their families, but when they walk into school and their teacher has a pride flag hanging on the wall, they finally feel safe and supported.
Taking away this flag may seem simple to you, but it is NOT for the students.
Trey Korte, who is gay and taught English at Kettle Moraine High School from 2009 to 2019, said he was angry and sad about the policy disallowing pride flags.
Korte said, “When you remove something that had been there awhile that represented a marginalized group when you take that away, it does make people feel unwelcome,”
Critics said the ban conflicts with the school district’s motto “Learning Without Boundaries,” as promoted on its website.
The board is standing strong.
“We live in a world where politics are highlighted, and it puts people in uncomfortable positions. I feel the staff can fully support students. I feel that every staff member, custodian and teacher ought to know that it’s really in the best interest of the students to look out for them and to have strong, healthy relationships that develop therefrom,” Plum told the school board at a July 26 meeting.
Kettle Moraine School Board President Gary Vose backed the decision.
“This isn’t a case where we’re trying to discriminate against any group or groups for that matter, but rather just to bring clarity to allow staff to know where the line is drawn on these various things. It’s not a popularity contest. Regardless what we do here, we’re going to have some that are going to love it, some that are going to hate it. Regardless of that, I think it’s the right thing to do. I’m fully behind it,” Vose said.
Have we lost this generation to the "woke" godless, anti-American influence of today?
No. Not all.
Yesterday I came across an article written by William "Bill" Biagini. He wrote the article last year as a freshman at Florida State University. He's a history major, and he isn't buying the "revisionist, woke, line" being fed to American kids in so-called "public education." He is also a staff writer for the Florida State University newspaper. I don't know him, and there are thousands more like him in our country today---some of whom I do know.
His article is titled, "The United States Was Founded on Judeo-Christian Values."
He opens with this:
In our day and age, it is popular to believe that the United States was founded by secular, white men who were not religious. Not only is this untrue, but rather, it is a back-handed slap in the face of history. One would only need to get a glimpse into our nation’s past to realize that the US was founded on principles and beliefs that are directly from the Bible. Here, I will explain — using our founding documents and direct quotes from our Founders as evidence — the obvious proof that we are a people who stand on a ground that was meant to be set apart from the rest of the world as a “holy ground.”
He then details how the Bible and biblical truth guided the Founders of our country.
And concludes with this:
It is for these reasons that one is able to clearly see that our great nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values. For one to say anything otherwise would be forced to not only disregard the evidence provided here but they would be faced with the choice of whether or not they want to “change the story” of the United States’ founding, for that is the only way that someone can state that we have no Judeo-Christian roots.
Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Public education in America is obsessed with rewriting history, remaking America, and renouncing God as Creator of all things.
But there are those kids among us who are not buying it.
Be Grateful. Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.