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California to be first state to teach LGBT history in schools

July 18, 2016

Gay_flag.svgCalifornia second graders will soon learn that some families have two moms or two dads. The State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to adopt new K-12 curricula that incorporates LGBT history into public school classes. [The Guardian]

The vote will make California the first state in the nation to teach LGBT history in schools.

In 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act. The law requires educators to better incorporate the LGBT community, as well as other minority groups, into history and social science curricula. The legislation took effect in 2012, but attempts to overturn the law slowed its implementation.

Following Thursday’s vote, second grade students will now have discussions about diverse families. Fourth graders will learn about California’s role in the gay rights movement.

Additions to the fifth and eight grade curricula will include lessons on gender roles in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as on individuals who defied them. In high school, U.S. government students will begin studying the 2015 supreme court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The U.S. government curriculum will also include recent court cases involving transgender bathroom laws.

The FAIR Education Act also requires educators to add lessons on historical contributions made by people with disabilities. The law prohibits textbooks or other classroom materials that reflect adversely on gays or particular religions.

LGBT groups celebrated the changes.

Opponents of the law argued parents should be the ones to decide how and and at what age to expose children to the topic of sexual orientation. Critics have also expressed concern that important historical figures would be booted from school curricula to make room for LGBT individuals.


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Home School has a great network of families. North County Christian School is available. There’s no reason to send your most precious asset to public school.


Many public school teachers strive to do a good job, but their hands are tied by the Federal and State governments, and then tied even further by cowardly local administrators who need to check of the boxes to ensure they keep their jobs.


Administrators generally do not care for children, some do, but most don’t. They get out of the classroom asap because mostly they hate teaching and are generally on a quest for power.


If you are a conservative, walk your talk and remove your child from public education. Otherwise, just quit spewing your rhetoric, because it’s meaningless if you are going to throw your child to the wolves.


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Well said. Though, I imagine it is very scary to just up and quit Public Screwl and start home-schooling; however, the government makes it easier and easier to decide that route every year.


Our school system is a lost cause. Sorry, it’s the truth. I know Ms. So-and-so is really nice, etc., but at the end of the day, the entirety of the system and it’s direction must be weighed.


I highly recommend watching “Waiting for Superman” – it was very well-done and takes a very (politically) neutral look at public schooling and the “system” of it.


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Jay Leno interviews prove most young people don’t even know who the first president was. Public schools suck. Want to solve the violence problem? MANDATE High education standards, not social engineering and censorship of uncomfortable history.


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No, Jay Leno’s interviews are edited to show Some young people are educated stupid.


I learned about editing in film class, in a public school.


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If it didn’t involve a razor blade it wasn’t editing film. Hooray, you learned a trade skill. Public schools fail to teach the basics.


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Too bad that public school didn’t work on your grammar.


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Kettle is correct, whether you want to agree with him/her or not. Those “man-on-the-street” interviews are done for entertainment (i.e. show the stupid or sexy – or best yet, stupid AND sexy people).


Still, I would argue that a great many public school “graduates” would not know many basic things, whether from history, math, finance, or science (real science, not the “follow-the-money” scare-science).


I had to work over-time just repairing the “mal-education” that my kids got in SLCUSD these past many years. It has gotten even worse now (or maybe that’s just the high school level).


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Glad they had a solid film class because it appears the spelling and grammar classes were nonexistent.


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Programming children to be predisposed toward sexual orientation? Absurd.


Two words: HOME SCHOOL!


Keeping them out of the “system” will also enable parents to have control

on matters regarding mandatory vaccinations, one of which is known to cause autism (MMR) if received prior to 3 years of age.


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How about a class on divorce since that is the majority social issue facing our families and don’t forget polygamy too? Maybe we should require 13th grade for just sex studies and fund it through PayPal. Ridiculous has not boundaries!


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Very interesting.Teaching the “3 R’s” has become an almost impossible task of the California educational system and now this? What is next?


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Remember when they just wanted to get married??

Remember when gun control started with just one law?


I wonder how many people in Europe today would like to own a gun for protection now that the politicians have flooded their country with “immigrants”.


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Sad.


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Brainwashing our young children


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How can we put a stop to it NOW?


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Home school or private, let the market speak.


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I’m unsure if this requirement affects private/home schools. If so, flee.


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It doesn’t, you have to have a butt in a public school seat to be brainwashed


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Right because being “educated” about flying babies with wings, talking bushes (hemp) and a thousand other wacky things is not brainwashed?


Will this really help them be productive people in society and get jobs in the early days of the robots?


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Maybe they will be taught to assume all home-schooling is based on a religion you have no tolerance for? Assuming = Always Winning, right?


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It can and does happen in some church pews too — as well as only paying attention to news sources that reinforce ones own pre-existing views.


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It does not affect private/home schools.


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Also does not affect compounds, bunkers or “retreat centers”.


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You can’t, flee to a bible belt state.


Or train some clones in the rec room.


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Sodom and Gomorrah in the classroom, the return of the Bible to public schools


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No, the Government stays out of the houses of worship and the religion stays out of the chambers of government.


This is America.


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Tell that to our asshole president who wants Islam history to be taught in school.


You lefties can’t have it both ways


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Are you telling me that ISLAM got more page-coverage than was given to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and John Kennedy combined in the latest editions of the world history and US history books? *gasp*


(actually, that is accurate; I read my kids’ high school “history” books, they are God-awful, pardon the pun)


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What happened to shop, woodworking, home economics or something else that might help these kids in life, where did that go? But we can teach them about LGBT, Next thing you know it will be BLM. When are our schools going to teach them something that gets them a skill to earn money later in life?


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They’ll be able to profit off this later in life as the new “Protected Class” in society.You know…via law suits, extortion of businesses, etc?


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Whatever happended to teaching civics so that the students will know how our government functions and how they can participate?


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Taxpayer, this IS how your new and improved FAIR government functions. Your handle says it all…YOUR tax dollars and MY tax dollars will be mandatorily paying for this.


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Hate to break the bad news, but it is about BLM already.


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In public school I was taught about the black panthers, slavery and cooking, sewing, building things, nothing bad happened, no one became radicalised or gay because of it.


The kids in my school that went to prison, junkies etc mostly had screwed up homes lives and were schooled to be screwups by family and friends.


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