Posted on 02/18/2005 10:51:50 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Leave it to a California high school, a charter member of a state now ranked 48th out of 50 states in academic proficiency, to demonstrate exactly why so many parents are pulling their kids out of government educational institutions.
Silverado High School, located in the city of Victorville in the California high-desert region, has had its share of student-body challenges, most recently an outbreak of racially motivated fisticuffs between black and Latino students during an assembly on February 4.
"It was divided along racial lines," said Superintendent Greg Lundeen, of the Victor Valley Union High School District. "A lot of the issues are from students that are new to the area and new to the system."
This wasn't just a simple fight. The incident involved a reported 100 students. A similar fracas, involving 75 students, erupted last October, resulting in the suspension of 32, and the cancellation of assemblies for the remainder of the school year.
But this account isn't about California's ethnic tensions, nor about out-of-control immigration impacting school demographics, it's about the pro-gay indoctrination of impressionable children, and apparent disdain government officials have for the rights of parents and for California voters.
On Friday, February 11 (Valentine's Day weekend), 18 gay students were united, married in "mock gay marriages," with the permission of Silverado Principal Susan Levine. The local district attorney also gave the green light to Gay-Straight Alliance event.
On Saturday, February 12, the LA Times reported in "Gay 'Weddings' at School Protested," that: "Mock gay marriages of 18 students at Silverado High School on Friday drew dozens of angry community and parent protesters to a campus already plagued by controversy.
"The lunchtime 'wedding' ceremonies of six female couples and three male couples in the school's outdoor central gathering area were part of a demonstration by members of the school's Gay-Straight Alliance in support of same-sex marriage and to mark National Freedom to Marry Day today. The day was declared by a gay and non-gay partnership advocating same-sex marriage."
The Times made sure to include in the story subhead the important qualifier: "No violence is reported at the Victorville campus."
Where Do Wishes of Parents Fit In?
In the California educational system, where tolerance, safe schools, and diversity are code words for progressive indoctrination, parents need to be engaged and informed on where government officials are taking their children.
Back in August 2002, I described what former Governor Gray Davis and then California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin were doing with school curricula and implementation of "safe schools" laws passed by the far-Left legislature in "Stealth Agenda Trumps Academic Success in Schools,"
The issues and questions were as important then, as they are urgent now.
Do you, the parent, have a moral right, based upon your beliefs, to decide when, where and how sexual orientation will be described to your children?
Do you, the low-income parent with children in harm's way, have a right to get your child into a real school where your kid can learn English and have a better life?
Should "safe schools" be measured by the effectiveness of preventing guns, drugs or teen pregnancy from ruining young lives? Or should school safety be determined by reducing mental trauma caused to the still unknown numbers of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and transsexual students?
Are we in fact being led by agenda-driven demagogues who exploit your children to increase their power?
The Laws Impacting Your Children Now
Assembly Bill 1785: Hate Crimes. Requires all schoolchildren to be taught acceptance of homosexual behavior beginning in the elementary grades. Senate Bill 225: Hate Crimes and Schools. Requires junior and senior high schools to adopt "non-discrimination" policies including "sexual orientation" (that's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexuals and transgender students) or be prevented from participating in sporting events. Assembly Bill 537: The California Student Safety and Violence Protection Act. Adds actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity to state nondiscrimination policy. In the spirit of "fostering appreciation" for diversity, superintendent Eastin took it upon herself to form an unauthorized 36-member advisory task force to translate AB 537 into state Education Codes. Here are several of the recommendations:
Survey children to probe their attitudes about homosexuality. Incorporate pro-homosexual and pro-transgender language into "all" curricula, including science, history, language arts and even math. Prominently display sexual orientation and gender identity anti-discrimination posters on campuses. Fund and place on each campus a person knowledgeable about sexual orientation and gender identity issues to ensure AB 537 compliance (i.e., thought police). Now, three years later, things have gotten more out of control, especially in divided schools like Silverado.
According to a Victorville Daily Press report the day before the February 11 event "Mock gay weddings at Silverado," February 10:
Roxana O'Harra, the mother of three Silverado students, is organizing a protest against the simulated weddings.
O'Harra's children plan to join others who disagree with same-sex marriage to protest the ceremonies. Dissenting students plan to wear red T-shirts — the color of courage, they say — and stand with their backs to the ceremony with signs reading "I don't" — meant to oppose the "I dos" that are the traditional vows of a wedding ceremony, O'Harra said.
"The fact that the Gay-Straight Alliance Club is conducting a mock gay wedding of students on campus — an event that factually opposes the initiative passed into law by the California voters — is outrageous and demoralizing to the institution of marriage," O'Harra said.
Academics Subordinated to Chaos
After reading about the astonishing turn of events at this school, I began to wonder whether I was reading about a prison, a site for sensitivity training, or a Gay-Straight assembly, but in no sense did the academic purpose of education ever enter the picture.
After the most recent fights at Silverado earlier this month, the students were hurriedly commandeered to the buildings housing their sixth period classes. Some teachers videotaped the fighting in order to identify pugilists, then later set aside their cameras and participated in the lockdown mode. Eventually buses were assembled to usher the students to their homes.
I truly feel for the parents, caught up in the daily battle of work and paying bills while striving to prepare a solid future for their kids. There are so many social ills impacting the delivery of a quality education that few in government have the courage to identify core problems, focus on priorities we all used to take for granted, and defend the values that were once the bedrock of a now silenced educational ethos: citizenship and the responsibility that goes with it.
In the meantime, increasingly irrelevant legislators in Sacramento disdain reality, and stay quiet about an imploding educational crisis. Our governor tiptoes around the deeper demographic, language, and cultural issues and instead focuses his rhetoric on merit pay for teachers.
At least there was one irrefutable comment within the fray. Silverado Principal Susan Levine said that she could not guarantee the safety of the participants in the mock weddings. Nonetheless, the "nuptials" were conducted with only one incident; an egg was hurled during vows.
Is this what things have really come to in California schools?
Maybe Victorville should change their name to 'Newsom'ville instead.
Fear the future......if California is still a trend-setter.
I lived in Las Vegas for many years. Passed through Victorville hundreds of times back and forth to LA. Never stopped there. Never even thought about stopping there. When I'm back on that road again, someday, I'll make a POINT of not stopping there.
Victor-Victoria-Ville (Vile)
More like Victor/Victoriaville.
But, just to be fair, if it was an event solely sponsored by a student group and the only administration involvement was giving permission for use of school grounds, how is it any different than the "meet me at the pole" prayer events sponsored by many christian student clubs and simply receiving permission from school administrations? I wouldn't want to ban the prayers, so how can I in good conscience argue to ban the mock marriages?
I fall back on the adage that I may hate what you say, but I defend your right to say it.
VICTORVILLE — Parents and community members expressed their frustration Thursday night to the Victor Valley Union High School District's board of trustees for not stopping controversial simulated gay "marriage" ceremonies that happened last week.
The parents and community members wanted to know why the board didn't postpone or change the location and time of the nine simulated ceremonies conducted during the lunch periods at Silverado High School on Feb. 11.
The district officials have repeatedly said that banning the ceremonies put on by students in the Gay-Straight Alliance Club would have violated the students' free speech rights.
"We did the best we could with the time we had," said Trustee Valerie Emick.
Emick said the board had little time to take action. The district notified them of the ceremonies only three days before they took place. The school district's attorney advised the board not to ban it or postpone it, Emick said.
Trustees Carl Tate and Emick said in the future they will work to find a less prominent time and location for controversial events.
"If we can't prevent it at least put it in a location that will have the least impact," Tate said.
Parents also said they would like notification of controversial events in the future.
"With freedom of speech comes great responsibility," said Angel Hull, a parent. "(Students) have to have some kind of guidelines to keep them in order."
I've said in previous posts...the school board members need to be recalled or voted off. Two of them commented that they didn't want to take a position because they didn't want to "offend anyone's beliefs".Talk about weak willed.
I hate to see Victorville slammed because of this. The Victor Valley is still overwhelming conservative. Lots of retired military there. But like any community...there are kooks and liberals.
This is also the high school that can't get a handle on it's racial problems. Lots of riots/fights. I think the problems lie at the administrative/school board level. That's not to mention the parents.
Place sounds like a piss pot. Glad my CA nieces attend a Christian school (founded by people who truly realize what is going on in the once great CA public schools). Expensive though.
Difference is, gay marriage is illegal - prayer isn't.
The school is supporting and condoning acceptance of something that is illegal. Not cool.
One event celebrates faith in a higher power, the other event celebrates perversion.
Mo-rons...
Not at all - because gay marriage should never be legal as it's morally wrong and offers no positive benefit to society. The same cannot be said for prayer.
Would you condone a public school holding a "Heroin Shoot-Up" ceremony?
Will this bill prohibit public schools from playing Catholic Schools in football?
The students were not actually doing anything illegal, they were advocating for a change in the marraige laws. Similarly, if students wanted to advocate for a change in the drug laws, I'd support their right to do so.
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