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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Keeping Youth Safe and Healthy Act into law in August 2021, making Illinois the first state in the U.S. to formally pass legislation codifying new national sex education standards developed by SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change. […]
Now, as students return to classrooms where most pandemic virus restrictions including masking have been lifted, the revival of a so-called normal school year is riven with dissent at some districts over the new sex ed standards, which have prompted both pushback and praise. […]
In some cases, the dissent is mingled with upset over efforts to add literature to school libraries that some parents feel is inappropriate for children. In Barrington, police were called to investigate after a recent dust-up over the addition of the book “Gender Queer” to a school library prompted threats against school board members. […]
In Illinois, passage of the new law does not override local decision-making granted to school districts, which are not mandated to teach sex education. Parents can also opt their children out of sex education lessons and review the curriculum before it is taught in the classroom. […]
The majority of school districts in Illinois are unaffected by the new law, which only applies to those teaching comprehensive health and sex education. A recent ISBE survey found that during the 2021-2022 school year, 218 Illinois school districts offered such instruction and 480 districts did not.
Tweets about that Barrington Board of Education meeting…
@libsoftiktok I’m the first to criticize the insanity out there, but this is a gross misrepresentation. The teacher sent a letter with SUGGESTED books and warned parents to preview the books since sone had mature content. This book was on a list of award winners- not assigned.
— teachforchicago (@teachforchicago) June 23, 2022
💥 The board votes to approve the district committee recommendation.
Gender Queer is staying in the library. pic.twitter.com/f1OAHO56v4
— chicagofreemedia (@chifreemedia) August 17, 2022
Democratic lawmakers passed a bill that aligned the state’s standards with a national model. School districts were given the option to opt-out, and they have in droves.
According to the website Awake-Illinois, only 20 school districts have decided to fully follow the standards, with 534 opting out.
Rockford, Mundelein and East. St. Louis are three of the largest school districts to adopt the standards, while Normal schools in McLean County did so for 8th and 9th grades only.
In accordance with the National Sex Education Standards, the Illinois State Board of Education said elementary students, including kindergartners, will learn about consent, gender identity, hormone blockers and healthy relationships. Middle schoolers will learn about dating violence prevention, different types of sex and sexual harassment. High schoolers will learn more about their bodies, pregnancy and sexual health.
Another 298 school districts apparently did not respond to Awake Illinois’ survey. More about the group from the Tribune…
On one day last week, Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey of Xenia spoke at an event sponsored by Awake Illinois, an organization rooted in the suburbs and born from the anti-mask, anti-vaccine fervor of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group, which gathered in front of the Abraham Lincoln statue at the statehouse, has in the past year shifted some of its focus to oppose school sex education standards and has used inflammatory rhetoric in opposing LGBTQ+ rights, in particular those involving the transgender community.
* Hinsdale’s superintendent said lessons won’t be “instruction on lifestyle.” Patch…
A top Hinsdale High School District 86 official on Thursday explained the district’s plans for sex education, with some parents and at least one board member expressing disapproval.
Earlier this year, the board voted unanimously to go with the latest update of the national sex education standards. Superintendent Tammy Prentiss said the district has been doing so for nearly a decade.
“Many K-through-8 (school districts) are choosing to opt out, but that’s a different conversation and that is their business,” Prentiss told the school board. “High school is different. As always, there is a process. The parent can reach out to any department when they would like to opt out of curriculum materials. That has not changed in District 86.”
The district, Prentiss said, is making no substantial changes to its sex education curriculum. One change is for students to understand the definition of different terms, she said.
* From Rep. Adam Niemerg’s op-ed to the Sun Times…
Meanwhile, parents are asking how schools can justify teaching a radical sex education curriculum when so many of our students, across the state, are not meeting basic standards of learning in core subjects.
According to the most recent Illinois Assessment of Readiness text scores, fewer than one in five Chicago third-graders met or exceeded state standards in reading and math. And it is not just Chicago — school districts across the state have similar problems with low scores.
The focus in our schools should be on giving children the building blocks they need to learn — how to read, write, add, subtract and have a basic understanding of science and history. It is not the job of schools to teach graphic sexual content, especially when our kids are not meeting our state’s basic academic standards of learning.
My colleagues and I worked to stop the National Sex Education Standards from becoming a part of our state’s school curriculum, but we fell just short of defeating the legislation. The battleground now moves to parents and local school boards to opt out of teaching these standards. It is a battle we can and will win, as long as parents stay engaged.
[Nora Gelperin, the director of sex education and training at Advocates for Youth] was one of the writers of the National Sex Education Standards, which Illinois has adopted. The national standards also influenced New Jersey’s guidelines. […]
Sex education advocates linked this resistance to the anti-LGBTQ legislation that at least 15 states have considered or passed this legislative session. The most well-known of these laws, Florida’s, prevents teachers from instructing K-3 students about gender or sexuality. Other proposed legislation would limit how teachers can use students’ pronouns, restrict use of materials featuring LGBTQ characters or themes, or regulate clubs for LGBTQ students.
And the outrage about sex education has once again put a spotlight on schools’ instructional choices, a situation that some advocates fear could make educators hesitant to address certain topics altogether.
“I have no problem with someone deciding for their own child, but when you get out there and start hijacking the narrative for everyone else’s kid, that’s dangerous,” said LoBianco.
* Hannah Meisel earlier this month…
Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey on Tuesday said he’d prioritize eliminating “critical race theory” and “egregious” sex education standards from Illinois schools if elected to replace Gov. JB Pritzker in November, courting a relatively new coalition of voters radicalized during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bailey made those comments to a small rally outside the state Capitol building in Springfield organized by activist group Awake IL, which in recent weeks has come under fire for its social media posts, including a tweet in June that called Pritzker a “groomer” for signing new sex education standards into law. […]
Bailey, however, leaned into the group’s messaging on Tuesday, telling a crowd of about 40 that Pritzker has “stripped away” decision-making powers from Illinois parents. Bailey referenced last fall’s repeal of Illinois’ Parental Notice of Abortion Act, but also alluded to state-mandated curriculum standards, which in recent years have grown to include the history and contributions of Asian Americans, LGBT individuals and an overhaul for sex education.
“Children are our most valuable asset,” Bailey told the few dozen gathered for the lengthy program that began more than an hour late. “But our children and our rights as parents are being stripped from us.”
* WTTW…
State Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Democrat from Chicago and one of the law’s sponsors, says the new standards are “age and developmentally appropriate, medically accurate, and inclusive.”
“There’s been a rise in child sex abuse scandals, sexual harassment in the workplace, sexual assault on college campuses, and bullying of LGBTQ students and people of color,” Villivalam said. “Our youth … need medically and factually accurate information, as well as a safe environment to develop the skills they need to navigate our modern world.” […]
But Villivalam says the focus for younger grades, for example, is topics like “personal safety, what it means to be a good friend, good touch and bad touch, being able to talk to parents and trusted adults.”
Parents can still opt their children out of sex education, and districts that don’t teach it won’t have to follow the new standards.
[Note from Rich Miller: Proponents of the original bill fought against the governor’s ultimately successful efforts to allow school districts to opt-out, predicting that doing so would spark hot-tempered local culture wars. They turned out to be right. Whether their alternative proposal would’ve been better can probably never be known, however.]
posted by Isabel Miller
Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 12:16 pm
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Responding to the Libs of TikTok account that their post is a “gross misrepresentation” is like walking up to a boulder and informing it that it’s blocking your path. You’re missing the point of the boulder.
Comment by Roadrager Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 12:30 pm
An Adam Niemurg op-ed in the … Chicago … Sun-Times.
LOL.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 12:31 pm
== Whether their alternative proposal would’ve been better can probably never be known ==
I’m not sure their alternative (no opt-out) proposal could have passed. The culture war would have happened in Springfield instead of the districts.
Comment by TNR Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 12:32 pm
Here to inform the less-online in this community that Libs of TikTok is a hate speech account that violates Twitter’s policies against inciting violence on a daily basis. It should have been deplatformed months ago after inciting mob violence against trans people, minorities, and even a hospital.
We also have documented evidence that Twitter and Facebook are fully aware of this, yet refuse to do anything to substantively punish them because they’re afraid of the right’s accusations of “censorship”.
https://twitter.com/Esqueer_/status/1550573101947138048
https://www.glaad.org/blog/meta-and-twitter-refuse-action-libs-tiktok-posts-doctors-and-staff-boston-childrens
https://xtramagazine.com/power/libs-of-tiktok-temporarily-banned-234457
Comment by Commissar Gritty Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 12:47 pm
I’m just amazed my entire class didn’t turn out to be serial killers, after our required reading on King Henry VIII.
Or maybe, just maybe, that’s not how books work.
I try to understand the other perspective here, and the only thing I can come close to, is because they accept the bible as a book to take life lessons from, that means that is also the purpose of every book.
It sounds silly, but I can’t think of another reason for such opposition to books.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 12:51 pm
==upset over efforts to add literature to school libraries==
Funny how decades of ’straight’ reading material didn’t convince LGTBQ+ students the error of their ways. /S
Comment by Jocko Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 12:52 pm
Allowing districts to opt out of comprehensive sex ed is a terrible idea.
Comment by Suburban Mom Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 12:53 pm
Someone should ask Bailey what Critical Race Theory is, while being armed with the actual definition. Guarantee he will not know what it is.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 12:59 pm
Pritzker was right to seek an opt-out. Better for the heat that politics will bring up to be in local school boards than in the General Assembly when it can be.
Comment by Blake Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:03 pm
=== … predicting that doing so would spark hot-tempered local culture wars. ===
Chicken or the egg. IMHO, the culture war was coming anyway. It’s become a MAGA GOP culture theme. The MAGA cancer has metastasized into local school boards. I can’t help but think of the trials and tribulations of educators like our JS Mills.
Comment by Norseman Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:05 pm
I, for one, am glad to hear that if Darren Bailey wins he will be saving us big on our tax bills by not teaching graduate level material (”Critical Race Theory”) to our children.
Comment by Jerry Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:06 pm
I thought Libs of Tik Tok was banned. Borderline terrorist group when working in conjunction with Proud Boys, hate groups, other people the seek to “inspire” and act on their agenda. Locally Awake IL embracing that model.
Comment by P Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:17 pm
“I thought Libs of Tik Tok was banned. Borderline terrorist group”
I’m no fan, their MO is to re-post content that liberal groups create and highlight it to a wider audience. Certainly can lead to topics being taken out of proper context. I’m not sure making groups defend their own content is terroristic. If you don’t like it don’t read it.
Comment by Donnie Elgin Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:29 pm
This is just the latest dumpster fire of misinformation from the far right and yet another example of how wrong Dan Brady is with his “both sides” stuff.
On a weekly basis I have to tell people “no, we do not have kitty litter in our bathrooms for students who are “furries” and identify themselves as cats or other animals. WHen I tell them “no” they swear our neighboring district or some district their relative lives in does. This sickening lie is spread by fanatics on the right.
=It is not the job of schools to teach graphic sexual content, especially when our kids are not meeting our state’s basic academic standards of learning.=
No time is a good time to teach ‘graphic sexual content” but good to know that Niemerg thinks it is ok to teach graphic sexual content if kids do well on their tests.
The “Awake” people have been contacting districts (usually under false pretenses from my experience and what I have heard from others) and wanting schools to respond to their survey. I refused, we do not owe them a response, and I will not engage with awake and other like it under any circumstance. They have lied and caused grief to thousands of people.
The sex ed standards are only required if your school/district teaches a class titled sex ed. We teach health and are not required to adopt the standards. Within our health curriculum we do teach human sexuality.
The far right cranks are the ones creating an issue here. They have become addicted to being outraged and victimized so they needed another fix once masks were gone and this is it.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:37 pm
“to re-post content that liberal groups create” is it’s own gross misrepresentation.
The account owner has garnered a following of radical, far-right agitators. They are not “highlighting it to a wider audience”, they are painting targets on peoples’ backs. Ignoring the problem does not change the problem. It creates darkness for rats like these to promulgate and become more dangerous.
Comment by Commissar Gritty Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:38 pm
==I’m no fan, their MO is to re-post content that liberal groups create and highlight it to a wider audience.==
Chaya Raichik’s motivation is to lie about what liberals are saying in the hopes of scaring right-wingers and defaming actual liberals. They said The Trevor Project, a suicide hotline, is a grooming organization.
Comment by Nuke The Whales Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:39 pm
==I’m no fan, their MO is to re-post content that liberal groups create and highlight it to a wider audience.==
And deceptively edit it to deliver the message they want, and strip things of context or add their own to encourage incitement, and not light the fuse, but helpfully point out to anyone with matches exactly where the fuse is located.
Sometimes they like funneling death threats in the direction of teachers who look too gay for their liking.
If you defend/minimize what they do, either you aren’t paying attention or it says volumes about who you are.
Comment by Roadrager Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:43 pm
Once Bailey gives his definition of CRT, he needs to specifically ID the districts/schools where it is being taught at the grade and high school levels.
Comment by zatoichi Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:44 pm
First, this made me chuckle: “According to the website Awake-Illinois”. Second, LoTT engages in stochastic terrorism with every post. They should be deplatformed everywhere.
Comment by Loyal Virus Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 1:53 pm
When viewing this “matter” please remember the “antis” support people who labeled “Saving Private Ryan” obscene (Rev. Wildmon, the language & beach landing scene) & “Schindler’s List” pornographic (the late Sen. Tom Coburn, male frontal nudity in death camp scenes). They don’t have much credibility with me.
Comment by Anyone Remember Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 2:05 pm
= Proponents of the original bill fought against the governor’s ultimately successful efforts to allow school districts to opt-out, predicting that doing so would spark hot-tempered local culture wars. They turned out to be right. Whether their alternative proposal would’ve been better can probably never be known, however. =
It *could* be known if the legislature decides to undercut the MAGA school boards and pass a bill to remove the opt-out.
Comment by cover Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 2:07 pm
Maybe if I’d known my high school library had interesting things to read I would have spent more time in it. (I usually hit the town’s public lib instead) Jr High was a different story because we ahd the world’s best librarian who recommended books. Awesome lady!
Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 2:11 pm
When I was in high school I spent about a year of lunches in the library because I wasn’t really in the mood for the BS that happened in the cafeteria.
Perhaps the best way to keep what anyone would consider “harmful” material away from a high school student would be to put it in the library.
Any kid motivated enough to find it in the library is going to be able to find it on the internet today much faster. These folks are going to succeed in demonstrating the Streisand Effect.
Comment by OneMan Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 2:24 pm
JS Mill, I am nowhere near you, yet I’ve fought the litterbox rumor over and over again in the last six months - three times in the last week alone. And yes, everyone who talks to me about it swears it’s really happening in whatever district they heard about. I’m shocked Bailey hasn’t tried to blame Pritzker for this yet.
Comment by Lagertha's Shield Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 3:15 pm
Removing the opt-out wouldn’t stop the rancorous school board meetings or protests, unfortunately. Demanding that schools and libraries remove certain books seems to be an American pastime for some folks. Usually, the protests center around literature, e.g. “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and “Catcher in the Rye”.
Comment by Bourbon Street Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 3:32 pm
Luckily, the best way to keep kids away from things you don’t want them to read - is to constantly point out the exact names and authors of books they shouldn’t read.
I remember when these same types of parent groups at my catholic grade school who were surreptitiously giving ‘cheat-sheets’ to students on what to watch out for. It was all centered around devil worship hysteria, dungeons and dragons, and punk rock. Once one student saw the sheet, other students wanted to know where they could get their own sheet. I’m sure the parents thought the kids were interested in what they were saying - and the students were, just not in the way the parents thought.
It made it exceptionally easy for me to look into and find more specific information after being given a list of things not to look into. These were the same parents groups then, who are today creating the next generation of agnostics.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 3:47 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur7pHRRKhV4
Field of Dreams had one of the best scenes involving right wing nuts trying to ban books and that was 1989. I remember as a college student wondering why people were doing this and then seeing turn up in a movie.
It is so apt today. Breaks my heart.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 4:08 pm
I only really became interested in books after reading Henry Miller’s exciting (and banned) trilogy…bans backfire loudly.
Humans are most afraid of their own shadow.
Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 4:30 pm
We don’t have drive-ins anymore so how are kids going learn About sex? /s
Comment by Big Rocker Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 5:50 pm
Will be interesting to see enrollment numbers come through this year in IL public schools. Most Christian parents in our church didn’t/won’t protest. They just walked. I can count 100 kids in our community that I personally know that have left over these issues. Its not worth fighting them. Its for the best for Christian families. Read Battle for the American Mind by Pete Hegseth.
Comment by Bolingbrook party of 7 Monday, Aug 29, 22 @ 7:15 pm