Survey Responses Part 1
COALITION UTAH asked State Board 7 candidates about CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOM. Here's what they had to say...
Protecting Constitutional Freedom - 1
A) How will you honor parents’ natural and Constitutionally-protected right to direct the education of their own children when this right appears to come into conflict with local or state education policies?
B) Can you provide an example of when you have done this in either a professional or individual capacity?
A) The Constitution is the law Supreme according to Article 6 Sec 2. I will vote against any local or state education policies that violate the Constitution.
B) As a citizen, I attended a Salt Lake County Council Meeting durning COVID, to speak against a mask mandate being enforced by the council. It violated parental rights. Parents are the best expert with regards to their children’s health.
A) When state policies or practices conflict with our constitutional rights, I have the right to vote and talk about why. Utah code (53G-6-802) states, “A student’s parent is the primary person responsible for the education of the student, and the state is in a secondary and supportive role to the parent.” This is language is very clear. Policies should reflect and follow this code.
B) Three years ago, I decided to run for local school board in the Canyons School District, because they were introducing a program called Second Step. This program encompassed social and emotional learning. Several moms, including myself, watched lessons and read the elementary curriculum and quickly saw red flags. Some alarming findings consisted of,
teaching kids to trust school personal over their parents. The lessons were embedded with social activism.
After attending many board meetings and discussing this with school administration, the program was abandoned. It is so important for parents to be involved for this reason and know what is happening in the classroom. Teachers, administration, and other parents should be thankful for the hard work of these parents for catching this.
Teachers are not authorized or qualified to teach things that would come from social workers, psychologists, or counselors. Parents send their kids for reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is very important that schools stay in their lane when it comes to education.
A) This is why I’m running. My votes will be to overturn such policies.
B) During covid I studied at Great length for the dangers of covid 19 to school-age children. As well as the recommendations of the MRNA vaccine technology regarding giving those vaccines to 25 and under age groups. I attempted to educate anyone I could on that matter and attended vaccine mandate protests at the Capitol.
All individuals and certainly parents should be the final word on any chemicals injected into their own or their children’s bodies
A) I support the Utah Constitution. Code 53E-2-101 ‘Parents have the
primary responsibility for the education of their children.’ Besides seeking parental input when creating policy, school boards must honor parental rights to be in charge of their childrens’ education.
B) As a teacher, I consistently seek parental input from IEP meetings,
504 meetings, parent teacher conferences etc. Parents should always have the right to direct their child’s education.
A) As a parent, I have the right to make sure my child is educated in a manner I see fit. I, nonetheless, need to respect the wishes of other parents and how they wish to educate their children.
We have school boards at the State and local levels to make sure that a majority of parents are satisfied with how our public schools are educating students according to those community standards and desires. Charter schools and private schools have their boards. In the public schools we add a Communty Council which meets with each building Principal monthly to relate community concerns and help to set how the LAND Trust money can be spent to assist in meeting the needs of students in their schools.
B) Each school is able to offer a student in which the parents might not agree with the content or manner that an educational standard is being taught an optional method to reach the goal of that standard without penalty. As a building principal, I have facilitated such desires by parents. Parents have always been appreciative of the alternate option and appreciated the teacher for caring for their child.
A) Parents are children’s first and primary educators. Parents’ right to direct the education of their children should never be circumvented by other policies. If there is a conflict, I will work with the board to resolve that as quickly as possible.
B) I have a problem that we are currently trying to fix. My homeschooling daughter is 17 and is ready to take her GED so that she can take classes at a local community college. However, there is a rule that states that we must obtain a form from our district school that says that my daughter will not be able to enroll in public school anymore. She has never been enrolled in a public school – even for dual enrollment. It is ridiculous that this is stopping her from being able to schedule a test for her to continue with formal education.
Protecting Constitutional Freedom - 2
As a Board member, you are entrusted by the state Constitution with “general control and supervision” over the public education system.
A) What actions will you take if a local district’s policy or practice is out of compliance with the plain language of state code 53G-10-205, which affirms students’ and parents’ Constitutionally-protected rights of conscience and religious belief?
A) I would work to address the problem. The USBE should ensure a student’s right of conscience and religious belief is protected as stated in the 1st Amendment.
A) The state school board is prohibited from attempting to manage the local board. In this situation, the code is very straight forward as far as the parents’ rights when a religious belief or right is being violated and what the school needs to do. The school is held accountable if these violations are not addressed according to the law. If things are not handled I will use my Constitutional right and free speech right to alert the public and notify the ELA that they are out of compliance.
A) See my answer to question one!
Rights of conscience supersede all other
Individual rights when they do not harm or infringe upon the others individual rights.
Of course yelling fire in a movie theater when there is no fire is neither a religious belief nor a right of conscience.
A) If I was on the state school board and I became aware of a school district violating this constitutional right of parents, I would investigate the issue in the district and hold individuals accountable. For example, if a teacher or administrator is encouraging students to participate in religious ceremonies or celebrations, or promoting their personal social agenda, said teacher or administrator should face a disciplinary committee and appropriate consequences given.
A) As a teacher and principal, I have found it takes some communication and understanding to meet the needs of each student. I know the district in which I work is very concerned about our students and recognizing parental rights.
I would do as I have done with teachers that may be out of compliance with a board policy. I found usually I just needed to educate the teacher about the policy and give them the why followed by what it looks like when the policy is followed.
If that did not work, then it was followed by a “crucial conversation” where directives were given and how I might assist the teacher in following the policy.
If that did not work then we stepped up to the next level of corrective discipline. I must admit I never had to go past the persuasive first step. In rare instances, I might have to start off with with a corrective discpline given the situation, but I will emphasize that it was corrective and successful for everyone involved.
As a board member put the district in place of the teacher and you have my answer. Most people in education want to do the right thing.
A) First, the state board should try to work with the district to bring their policies into compliance with state code. If they refuse to comply, the board should meet to determine a course of action. Obviously, the state code needs to take precedence, and the district policies must reflect that.
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