Districts for Democracy Weekly Newsletter

͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ Hi friends, There’s a lot to cover this week, so let’s jump right in. It Starts With Sex Ed… Fear-based tactics are effective. It’s why they’re regularly exploited by political groups or individuals seeking to rally support or gain political advantage. And right now, we’re seeing everyone from legislative candidates, to presidential contenders, to school board members, to regular citizens gin up anti-gay and anti-trans panics to appeal to certain voter bases or advance their own agendas under the guise of “parent’s rights” or “protecting student’s innocence.” Just this week,[New Jersey Project-endorsed BOE members]( ignored pleas from students, parents, educators, and members of their communities and chose to institute politically motivated, fear-driven policy revisions that could increase the risk of [kids being kicked out of their homes or committing suicide:]( Middletown: [N.J. school board meeting erupts as district votes to change transgender student guidelines]( Marlboro: [Marlboro, N.J. parents take sides on proposal to require teachers to notify parents if students identify as transgender]( Manalapan-Englishtown: [The Manalapan-Englishtown Regional Board of Education on Tuesday adopted a policy of parental notification regarding transgender students.]( In response, NJ Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office filed Division on Civil Rights complaints against each school district, and is asking superior court judges for preliminary injunctions and temporary restraints to keep the measures from being implemented. Platkin’s office is also [continuing to negotiate with Hanover schools]( after suing that district over a policy that specifically listed “sexual activity; sexuality; sexual orientation; transitioning; gender identity or expression" among reasons schools should notify parents about developments that might affect their children’s well-being. Hanover’s school board adopted a revised version of its policy that dropped any language about sexual or gender identity. But the attorney general’s office said it wasn't satisfied it wouldn’t be used to out LGBTQ students, and the parties are due back in court next week, [NorthJersey.com reports.]( …But Then They Move on to Civics Right now, extremists are focusing on removing age-appropriate health information from school curricula, including discussions of sex ed and gender identity, because they know these are effective wedge issues. But while this fight is starting with sex ed, it’s not going to stop there. Case in point: [School sociology book rejected again in Bernards Township]( As you know, MAGA candidates won a majority on the Ridge High School BOE. This year, the extremist majority has rejected not one, but two high school sociology textbooks, ones widely used across the US, because board members personally disagree with their accurate portrayal of current events. [Check out Greg Sargent’s article about it here](. A timeline: March 2023: Teachers' new textbook recommendation, "Sociology: A Brief Introduction," by Richard T. Schaefer, failed to advance past the board's curriculum committee after being viewed as biased by the committee's extremist members. April 2023: The board's extremists led a 5-4 vote to reject the teachers' second choice, "The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology," by Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein, after that was also faulted as biased. June 12, 2023: The extremist majority agreed to have the full board give the Schaefer book a second look as a potential alternative to the current text. June 22, 2023: The Schaefer book went down in a 4-3 board vote along ideological lines, with Board President Keith Molinari, Kirsten Light, Larry Rascio and Csilla Csipak - all identified with the extremist faction - voting for denial, while Robin McKeon, Timothy Salmon, and Jennifer White voted for approval. These mini-MAGA candidates told members of their community they were running on fiscal responsibility, keeping schools academically excellent, and supporting students. Instead, they’re wasting taxpayer money on legal fees, destroying teacher morale, trying to manipulate the curriculum to align with their personal political views and silence opposing viewpoints and perspectives–and by censoring free and open discussions of current events and other topics, destroying the academic excellence they claim they want to uphold. It’s appalling. How Can You Help? We still need great candidates to come forward and run for school board in districts across the state. Petitions are due July 31, so the window is starting to close on making this decision. You can help in this recruitment effort by supporting Action Together New Jersey’s non-partisan school board project, which is working to help find and support “sane and decent” BOE candidates. Fill in this referral sheet if you are interested in running for BOE yourself, and put down Districts for Democracy as the one referring you: [( Find local candidates in your school district to run and refer them to ATNJ: [( (Put your name down as the person referring.) Let potential candidates know about ATNJ’s program easily by emailing this link to explain the work and all they’re doing this year to help. [( I’d like to learn more: New York Magazine published [The Transgender Family Handbook: 144 specific suggestions, from trans young people and their loved ones, that parents may find helpful]( this week. We encourage you to check it out. I have five minutes: Grassroots activism takes time, but it also needs money: [You can join Districts for Democracy in financially supporting ATNJ’s public education work by clicking here.]( Thank you all again for your attention, and your time. Together we’re going to keep New Jersey public schools number one in the nation. Sincerely, Darcy Executive Director Districts for Democracy --------------------------------------------------------------- Districts for Democracy will work one school board, legislative, and congressional district at a time to recruit and support candidates committed to freedom of inquiry, thought, and speech for everyone. We want to keep the culture wars out of our schools, return school board elections to their nonpartisan roots, and keep our schools and universities focused on their central mission: helping our kids become educated and engaged citizens of these United States. ONCE]( MONTHLY]( Paid for by Districts for Democracy Districts for Democracy P.O. Box 01 Ringoes, NJ 08851-0001 United States If you need to you can unsubscribe here: [unsubscribe]( You can also [click here to donate](.