It is no secret that the Democrat Party has disdain for parents being involved in their children’s education. From Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe saying “ I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach” which essentially tanked his campaign, to Joe Biden recently saying kids belong to teachers when in schools and not parents. Now, a California State Senator is making similar statements regarding parental involvement in education.
State Senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino) said that parents need to learn “a lesson” during a committee meeting regarding a bill that would require more transparency in public education. The bill, SB 1045, was introduced by Senator Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore). The bill would allow parents to view public school curricula more easily. In the discussions, Leyva said, “I don’t know the last time you attended a school board meeting. But I think parent involvement is essential, but someone needs to give some of these parents a lesson on how to be professional”. Leyva said that she has concerns about screaming and yelling at school board meetings. In recent years, school board meetings have gone from relatively calm to epicenters of debate in many communities. Debates ranging from COVID mandates to CRT have caused many parents to question the schools and its leadership and some have even pulled their children out of public schools and enrolled them in private or charter schools.
The comment by Leyva did not go unnoticed, especially by Senator Melendez. Melendez said, “Democrats like Senator Leyva have nothing but contempt for parents who exercise their right to be heard, and they’re more than willing to make that contempt known. Unfortunately for Senator Leyva and those who think like her, parents have no intention of being silenced.”
While Leyva says that school board meetings have essentially become shouting matches, founder of ReOpen CA Schools Jonathan Zachreson says otherwise. Zachreson says that people are making their voices heard but it is not as extreme on a day-to-day basis as Leyva makes it out to be, “The vast majority of board meetings I see and attend to on a day-to-day basis are just fine. And yeah, parents can sometimes be stern, but they’re not, you know, crazy running down the aisles, you know, heckling”.
Once again, Democrats double down on a policy that is becoming more unpopular by the day.
Photo Cred: The Daily Bulletin
