Parent Wins Victory For Rutherford County Middle School Students
Photo Credit: Rutherford County Students First / Facebook – Background / Public Domain
Published August 25, 2021
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Earlier this week, a Rutherford County parent reported that a sign was displayed in a classroom of Smyrna Middle School that outlined many left-leaning agendas.
The concerned parent reached out to the respective Rutherford County School board member with the information and yesterday, August 24th, the Tennessee Conservative reached out to the Principal of Smyrna Middle School for comment.
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The school’s media contact replied:
“The principal addressed this poster with the teacher yesterday (August 23rd) and explained classroom walls and bulletin boards are intended to be used for displaying materials related to the academic standards covered in the class. The teacher agreed to remove the poster immediately.”
Prior to the sign being taken down, Rutherford County Students First posted on social media that the sign could potentially be in violation of Rutherford County Schools policies as outlined below:
1. Rutherford County Board of Education Policy Manual addresses “Controversial Issues” in section 4.800.
– The policy says, “The discussion of issues in the classroom which are politically, philosophically or socially controversial shall be relevant to the subject matter being taught, related to educational objectives, appropriate for the age and maturity of students…”
– The policy focuses on framing controversial issues from both sides of an issue, but also says: “Teachers shall place major emphasis upon “why” and “how” to think rather than “what” to think.”
– Potential policy violation: This sign is a statement of advocacy, not neutrality.
– Potential policy violation: Was this sign part of classroom instruction? If so, was the other side of these statements discussed. Also, were both perspectives presented in a neutral way with knowledge as the focus, not advocacy?
Rutherford Students First states that, “if this sign was not part of neutral, two-sided discussion, it is pure advocacy and clear violation of the school policy.”
2. A 2nd potential RCS policy violation may have occurred if the sign was not part of a neutral and two-sided classroom discussion. – – There is a policy for “Political Activities” in section 5.606 of the manual, which says: “Employees may, on their own time, campaign for or against any candidate or referendum, but they shall not use the schools, the classroom or system position for political forum nor engage in any political promotion or solicitation during school hours.”
Rutherford Students First (RSF) states, “We can’t make this more clear. We do NOT want any politics or personal agendas in the classroom. Not “right.” Not “left.” Nothing.”
They go on to say, “Despite what the unions are telling their members, teachers should NOT be activists in the classrooms. This is not their job.”
“Regardless of how you feel about any of the slogans on this sign, it is not the place of teachers to advocate for these perspectives. If a teachers put a sign up opposing all of these viewpoints, we would condemn that sign as well. The problem isn’t the perspective. It’s the advocacy and insertion of personal politics and agenda into the classroom. This is unacceptable, no matter what the perspective,” RSF states.
About the Author:
Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
Ok lets use the lefts tactics on this issue. You’re fired teacher!!!!!! Teach the basics math, reading and writing. Make the teachers name known. So parents that object to this kind of idiocy can pull their children out of this class. Put GOD back into the classrooms and you would not have this confusion on whether there are more than two sexes and all the other nonsense. Follow the science is their mantra, but only when it suits their needs. The “left” really needs a lot of psychological help. Which they should enjoy because most like to self medicate, so can cope with reality. Patriots [not white supremacists as they would like to call us] we need to stand up to this kind of hypocrisy. If we don’t start fighting back, it will be our own fault. We have been silent for too long. Time to get a backbone people. That is our GOD given right. GOD bless America.
I am a conservative and had my post moderated because I must have said some unkind things about the left. No wonder we are in the world of hurt. Goodbye Tennessee [conservative].
great they removed the sign but that teacher needs to be removed as it shows that their motivations are still in that focus. this is not about a sign but they way they act, and this shows that the teacher believes that and felt confident enough to put it up.
The teacher will continue to make comments aligned with that poster even if the poster is removed. The teacher needs to be removed from the class room or they will continue to condition the students with that same leftist ideology.
The reason there is so much agitation over politics in the classroom is the mistaken idea that there is such a thing as “neutral” government. That’s not so. Every idea or action has a positive or negative effect. America lost this battle when it accepted the erroneous notion of “separation of church and state”, leaving us with the notion there is no objective truth. With no objective truth, there is no “right” or “wrong”, just what do you want. Since the U. S. Constitution is the prime example of what the Founders meant by separation of church and state, schools stopped teaching the Constitution and the reason it is the most significant legal document since the Ten Commandments. School children lost the chance to see what politics was supposed to look like, so they now are caught between the internecine battles between rival political parties with no basis for evaluating their claims. This ignorance stays with them as they grow up and follows them into adulthood. It seems that many in the education bureaucracy have decided they should be telling students what to believe rather than identifying the issues they should be putting to the test. Education morphs into indoctrination.