Image Credit: Nick Youngson-Nyphotographic / CC
-By Allison Ulfeng (Secretary, Moms For Liberty Hamilton County)
Virtual learning surprised parents across the nation as they heard inappropriate, agenda driven lessons. Viral videos created curiosity about whether or not similar teachings were in Hamilton County Schools.
An open records request was submitted for the ELA curriculum taught to K-12 students in Hamilton County Schools. The curriculum for K-5 is called EL Education and for grades 6-12 it is My Perspectives by Savvas.
For the past 3 months parents, with the local Moms for Liberty organization, have read through hours of books and teacher materials. There is a heavy focus on environmentalism in the early elementary years. As the children enter into 3rd grade, they are taught to think like an activist. They are told to “right the wrongs” in stories like Peter Pan, create a PSA (Public Service Announcement); they learn a skewed view of global human rights, and are even taught rewritten history.
As they continue through middle and high school, students are continually exposed to inappropriate materials and taught to view America as less than exceptional. Immigration is a heavy focus. While no one should be opposed to welcoming immigrants into our wonderful melting pot, the view on immigration for Hamilton County students is that life is always hard and unfair. There is no American dream for those who are not “privileged.”
The suggested reading list provided by Hamilton County Schools is also concerning. These books are supplied to school libraries and classrooms. Parents should be able to trust a list of books recommended by the schools. Many of the books have dark themes such as: foul language, drugs, murder, occult-like themes, death, grooming, teen sex, divorce, mental illness, gang violence, anti-American themes, anti-family themes, anti-police themes, and more.
Naturally, after discovering these findings, answers were sought. Several parents went to state representatives to seek advice and learn the state’s role in curriculum. They claimed responsibility lies with the school board.
Parents then went to the school board chairman, then Joe Wingate. He generously sat down for an hour with the parents. He was told about what was found in the curriculum and the concerns they had, but he indicated the responsibility falls to Neelie Parker, the Chief Schools Officer.
Expecting action from this final person in the chain of command, Neelie Parker was reached. She claimed the curriculum was a school board and state issue and that action steps should first be done through them.
As anyone can imagine, this is incredibly frustrating to get the runaround from these representatives. No one wants to claim responsibility or fix the highly concerning materials being taught to our children. This is why I am writing. I believe the public should be aware of what is going on in Hamilton County Schools. This is only scratching the surface. A little over half of the curriculum review is completed and this is just Language Arts.
Our students deserve better.
