A poster at an RSU 22 school suggests that it's more interesting to make your own gender than to be born a man or woman. Photo was taken in Maine's RSU school district. Courtesy of Kevin, Hannah, and Lucy
A parents revolt against school boards is roiling local elections in counties across Maryland, according to activists speaking to The Epoch Times.
Many parents have pulled their students from public schools and joined parent co-operatives for home schooling.
They have been dubbed “Mama Grizzlies,” but they include dads and granddads, and they are steamed up about vaccination policy and radical new gender ideology.
“School systems have been pulling kids away from the parents for years, but parents have not been paying attention,” said school reform activist April Montgomery to The Epoch Times.
Montgomery, a Frederick County mother, decided to homeschool her three children in late September.
Activist parent April Montgomery in Frederick County, Maryland. Courtesy of April Montgomery
“My children have learned during the last two weeks more than they learned all of last year,” she said.
“The schools opened after lockdowns and emphasized emotional learning instead of focusing on the loss of learning during the long school closures. Academics went out the window,” said Montgomery who ran as a candidate for the Frederick County school board but failed to get her name on the ballot.
A salient issue for many is the new approach to sex education, which she believes encourages some teens to identify as transgender.
“Kids are taught that if you are not comfortable in your body you might be transgender,” she said. “Yet I know of no girl between the ages of 11 and 14 who is comfortable with her body. I wasn’t at that age.”
Her views reflect the findings of Abigail Shrier, author of Irreversible Damage, who argues that the recent phenomenon of teen girls coming out as boys is an example of a new social contagion.
Montgomery, a former specialist in kindergarten enrichment in another school system, noticed that the new gender ideology is being emphasized in most classes, not only those dubbed “family life.”
“My daughter, who is 14, brought home a photo of a lesson on inclusive pronouns in English class, which taught the new pronouns of “ze” and “zir” to be used with persons who did not identify as either male or female,” she said.
“We were surprised because the administration had told parents that gender studies would be restricted to family life,” Montgomery said.
Heather Fletcher, field director for Our Voices for Freedom, a Frederick County citizens' advocacy group. Courtesy of Heather Fletcher
The faculty members ask every child in the 9th Grade to register pronouns that may be used in class, as opposed to being used with their peers or their parents, to enable students to hide their transgender names from their parents, according to Montgomery.
“The schools are giving children the idea that bodily autonomy is their children’s decision without involving the parents at all,” she said.
Maryland public schools are known to encourage transgender clubs in several counties.
All of Montgomery County’s 26 high schools and 40 of its middle schools have transgender clubs that meet during the school day or at close of it. Most Frederick High Schools have these clubs, according to Montgomery, who has been active in Moms for Liberty in Frederick County, a parents’ rights advocacy group.
“Frederick County public schools are not a safe place for children,” says Heather Fletcher, field director for Our Voices for Freedom, a two-year-old citizens’ advocacy group in the county.
Fletcher pulled her three children out of elementary public school in October of 2021 and ran for Frederick County School Board during the primaries.
The schools are not on the side of parents if they oppose a child’s decision to identify as a member of the opposite sex, according to Fletcher.
“The way school psychologists are doing this, they meet a child with confusion about his or her sex, and the law requires the counselor to affirm the gender the child chooses. That’s not helping the child,” Fletcher said to The Epoch Times.
Lisa Ruth, a mother in Kent County, Maryland, whose daughter has identified as transgender. Courtesy of Don Makowski
Some parents are in shock that school counselors won’t help them when their teenage children announce to them that they are transgender.
For Kent County working mother Lisa Ruth, that moment came in January when her 17-year-old daughter told her that she was determined to transition into a boy.
After some research, Ruth found out that the school counselors and teachers were required by law to provide gender-affirming care to her daughter.
“All they asked of my daughter was ‘which pronoun will you be using to describe yourself?'”
Ruth tells The Epoch Times she is heartbroken and frustrated that in the school system teachers, as well as therapists and counselors, are prevented by law from intervening with what she believes is her daughter’s temporary confusion about her sexual identity.
A person of faith, Ruth says, “If I keep pushing against this I may do more harm. So, at this point, I’m ready to let go, and let God.”
Some parents are in shock that school counselors won’t help them when their teenage children announce to them that they are transgender.
Moms for Liberty chapters in nine Maryland counties have focused on school board elections that will be decided on Nov. 8.
The Harford County chapter of Moms for Liberty welcomed Republican candidate for attorney general Michael Peroutka at their Oct. 5 meeting where he signed a Parents’ Pledge, according to chapter chair Suzie Scott.
Moms for Liberty chapter in Harford County stand with candidate for attorney general Michael Peroutka on Oct 5, 2022. Courtesy of Susan Scott
The text of the pledge: “I pledge to honor the fundamental rights of parents including, but not limited to the right to direct the education, medical care, and moral upbringing of their children.
“I pledge to advance policies that strengthen parental involvement and decision-making, increase transparency, defend against government overreach, and secure parental rights at all levels of government.”
A group of concerned citizens in Montgomery County, bordering Washington and the wealthiest county in Maryland, has published a sample ballot for county voters that identifies candidates who are aligned with parents’ rights, financial transparency, and academic excellence, according to Dee Reuben, the founder of United Against Racism in Education.
“The Maryland teacher unions have endorsed candidates they favor in a list they call the Red Apple ballot,” Reuben said to The Epoch Times. “The opposing slate is what we call the Blue Book ballot,” she said.
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Douglas Burton is a former U.S. State Department official who was stationed in Kirkuk, Iraq. He writes news and commentary from Washington, D.C.
Parents Pulling Their Kids From Maryland Schools Over Radical Curricula, Transgender Policies
A parents revolt against school boards is roiling local elections in counties across Maryland, according to activists speaking to The Epoch Times.
Many parents have pulled their students from public schools and joined parent co-operatives for home schooling.
They have been dubbed “Mama Grizzlies,” but they include dads and granddads, and they are steamed up about vaccination policy and radical new gender ideology.
“School systems have been pulling kids away from the parents for years, but parents have not been paying attention,” said school reform activist April Montgomery to The Epoch Times.
Montgomery, a Frederick County mother, decided to homeschool her three children in late September.
“My children have learned during the last two weeks more than they learned all of last year,” she said.
“The schools opened after lockdowns and emphasized emotional learning instead of focusing on the loss of learning during the long school closures. Academics went out the window,” said Montgomery who ran as a candidate for the Frederick County school board but failed to get her name on the ballot.
A salient issue for many is the new approach to sex education, which she believes encourages some teens to identify as transgender.
“Kids are taught that if you are not comfortable in your body you might be transgender,” she said. “Yet I know of no girl between the ages of 11 and 14 who is comfortable with her body. I wasn’t at that age.”
Montgomery, a former specialist in kindergarten enrichment in another school system, noticed that the new gender ideology is being emphasized in most classes, not only those dubbed “family life.”
“My daughter, who is 14, brought home a photo of a lesson on inclusive pronouns in English class, which taught the new pronouns of “ze” and “zir” to be used with persons who did not identify as either male or female,” she said.
“We were surprised because the administration had told parents that gender studies would be restricted to family life,” Montgomery said.
The faculty members ask every child in the 9th Grade to register pronouns that may be used in class, as opposed to being used with their peers or their parents, to enable students to hide their transgender names from their parents, according to Montgomery.
“The schools are giving children the idea that bodily autonomy is their children’s decision without involving the parents at all,” she said.
Maryland public schools are known to encourage transgender clubs in several counties.
Fletcher pulled her three children out of elementary public school in October of 2021 and ran for Frederick County School Board during the primaries.
The schools are not on the side of parents if they oppose a child’s decision to identify as a member of the opposite sex, according to Fletcher.
“The way school psychologists are doing this, they meet a child with confusion about his or her sex, and the law requires the counselor to affirm the gender the child chooses. That’s not helping the child,” Fletcher said to The Epoch Times.
Some parents are in shock that school counselors won’t help them when their teenage children announce to them that they are transgender.
For Kent County working mother Lisa Ruth, that moment came in January when her 17-year-old daughter told her that she was determined to transition into a boy.
After some research, Ruth found out that the school counselors and teachers were required by law to provide gender-affirming care to her daughter.
“All they asked of my daughter was ‘which pronoun will you be using to describe yourself?'”
Ruth tells The Epoch Times she is heartbroken and frustrated that in the school system teachers, as well as therapists and counselors, are prevented by law from intervening with what she believes is her daughter’s temporary confusion about her sexual identity.
A person of faith, Ruth says, “If I keep pushing against this I may do more harm. So, at this point, I’m ready to let go, and let God.”
Some parents are in shock that school counselors won’t help them when their teenage children announce to them that they are transgender.
Moms for Liberty chapters in nine Maryland counties have focused on school board elections that will be decided on Nov. 8.
The Harford County chapter of Moms for Liberty welcomed Republican candidate for attorney general Michael Peroutka at their Oct. 5 meeting where he signed a Parents’ Pledge, according to chapter chair Suzie Scott.
The text of the pledge: “I pledge to honor the fundamental rights of parents including, but not limited to the right to direct the education, medical care, and moral upbringing of their children.
“I pledge to advance policies that strengthen parental involvement and decision-making, increase transparency, defend against government overreach, and secure parental rights at all levels of government.”
A group of concerned citizens in Montgomery County, bordering Washington and the wealthiest county in Maryland, has published a sample ballot for county voters that identifies candidates who are aligned with parents’ rights, financial transparency, and academic excellence, according to Dee Reuben, the founder of United Against Racism in Education.
“The Maryland teacher unions have endorsed candidates they favor in a list they call the Red Apple ballot,” Reuben said to The Epoch Times. “The opposing slate is what we call the Blue Book ballot,” she said.
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