Posted on 05/05/2015 6:35:04 AM PDT by wagglebee
ANKENY, IA, May 4, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a private e-mail exchange with a concerned parent, Republican state legislator Josh Byrnes of Iowa said there is “nothing worse than homeschool parents” making their views known on public school policy.
The statement came as Jeff Moorman took exception to a pending bill allegedly dealing with “bullying,” the “Bully Free Iowa Act of 2015” (HSB 39).
The proposal would allow school districts to monitor students outside of school hours and punish – or contact law enforcement officials and state bureaucratic agencies over – any communication it deems “bullying” – even if that behavior takes place inside a private residence or on social media. Some of these complaints may be filed without first notifying parents.
School administrators could accuse a child of bullying if any comment dealing with “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” – as well as a broad swath of categories encompassing everything from “behavior, friendship or relationship with others” to “political party preference, political belief...or any other distinguishing characteristic” – created a “hostile school environment.”
Parents are concerned this would lead to teachers and public education union employees launching surveillance of students' Facebook or Twitter accounts for stray comments about homosexuality or transgender status.
“This bill infringes on parental rights” and allows teachers to “invade [a] student's rights and privacy,” Moorman, who is part of the educational watchdog group Iowa for Student Achievement, told State Rep. Byrnes, R-Osage. Moorman said the proposal grants school officials “overreaching authority.”
Rep. Byrnes replied by asking, “Which Ankeny school are your kids part of?”
After Moorman answered his question, Byrnes wrote, “That’s good. I was making sure you didn’t h[om]e school.”
“Nothing worse than homeschool parents trying to tell us legislators how to run public schools when they don’t use them themselves,” State Rep. Byrnes wrote.
Moorman provided the e-mails to the blog Caffeinated Thoughts. The full exchange may be read here.
“Nowhere in the language of the bill does it restrict the school’s scope to just students enrolled in their school district,” wrote Shane Vander Hart, who broke the story. “Homeschooling parents have reason to be concerned.”
He also blasted Byrnes' dismissal of homeschoolers' right to have a voice in the legislative process. “Actually, there’s nothing worse than a state legislator demonstrating he lacks the maturity and temperament to serve in his current office,” he added. “It seems that the fact that homeschooling parents are taxpayers and that in itself gives them the right to weigh-in on any bill – education policy or otherwise.”
The state teachers union supports passage. Jean Hessberg, a spokeswoman for the Iowa State Educational Association, said the union would oppose any provision requiring the school district to report anti-gay or transgender “bullying” to the victims' parents, since they may not know their children were having sex with members of the same sex or choosing to identify as members of the opposite sex.
The bill's supporters are a hybrid of Republicans and Democrats. Despite the strong political backing of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, it has failed to pass the state legislature after numerous attempts.
Many of us realize that the Democrats pander to minorities simply for votes and then immediately ignore them after the election, so why is it so hard for us to see that the GOP does the EXACT SAME THING to conservatives?
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People who home school their children, people who private school their children, are STILL BEING TAXED to pay for government schools. They're paying; they get to say how their money will be spent.
My experience is that those whose rail against bullying are, themselves, the biggest bullies.
Present exhibit: Home-schoolers should just shut-up and pay their taxes.
Let’s not forget about legislators who send their kids to private schools. Should they get a say in public school policy?
The sooner we wake up and realize the GOP, and anyone who continues to vote for them, are the problem, the better off we'll be.
Not only that. They are citizens — to whom the elected are supposed to accountable.
Now THAT'S a "compromise" I could get behind. What about you, Rep. Moorman?
The thought police are cranking up to full potential in Iowa, of all places.
The ruling class rightfully fears homeschoolers.
They are in the 85th+ percentile in academic performance,
have an average of 4-5 children per family,
and are 14 times more likely to be politically active than the general population.
These same people don’t think ANY taxpayers should have ANY say in what the government does with their money.
http://www.iowahouserepublicans.com/members/josh-byrnes
Address:
1479 380th St
Osage, Iowa 50461
Contact:
Home: (641) 713.3059
josh.byrnes@legis.iowa.gov
DOB: 4/18/1974
Spouse: Colleen
No taxation without representation. There’s a bill that conservatives could wholeheartedly endorse.
I stopped getting GOPe mailers when I started sending them back with an invoice asking for all the money I gave them since 2008 stating they failed to live up to their expectations and I would not be supporting any RINO candidates any longer.
Then why not write a bill that exempts them from paying school taxes?
I’m dealing with a local municipal office
that is greatly offended that the representative branch
is challenging their ability to arbitrarily tax citizens
at different rates.
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