Anti-Bullying Curriculum - Literature Recommendations
On April 13th, what was supposed have been for an "anti-bullying" curriculum, the Board voted 4 to 1 in favor of the final literature book list. No surprise there.... as once again, Board Member Trish Spencer, being the lone voice of common sense, and equitable respect, stood with unrelenting resolve to get the truth to the public. The fact of the matter is, that this whole saga has had very little to do with anti-bullying. We agree with Member Spencer's assertion that parents have the right to ask that our children to be excused from any offensive book or lesson. Quite frankly, we are entitled to know what our children are being exposed to in order to protect them! CBS Reports.
S.E.R.V.E. Alameda does not see this as a defeat, however. We may have lost some votes for books that actually deal with anti-bullying, but the good news is that "Lesson Nine" is finished as of next school year. Not only that, we have an amazing Steps To Respect program to look forward to which will help kids stand up to any bully! It actually teaches children to just respect one another! What a concept! We take solace in Member's Mike McMahon admission, that these books have nothing to do with bullying, so at minimum, the district now has an obligation to protect more children than just the sexually confused, or kids who come from families who self-identify with homosexuality.
At the March 23rd, 2010 meeting of the AUSD, the board took up agenda item F-4 to address Draft Literature Recommendations. Last year's adoption of class-balanced anti-bullying depends on these supplemental teaching materials. The community has been asked to review and comment on the long list of books. Dr. Reuben Zepeda presented findings of over 100 books reviewed by teachers and the community thus far. The final recommendations will be presented for adoption on April 13th, 2010 meeting.
Board Member Spencer asked if the books supporting Lesson 9 (L9) were included in the list presently being evaluated by both teachers and the public. Ms. Spencer also asked if the subject of gangs was mentioned in the suggested list of literature. From her comments Board Member Jensen is still justifying her vote for L9 and wants the products of L9 to continue to be discussed in classrooms regardless if the new anti-bullying program is fully adopted. Member Jensen's "take" on the chart is that "sexual preference" is not mentioned enough in the literature within AUSD classrooms.
Comments from member Jensen's seat on the board butress S.E.R.V.E. Alameda's longstanding contention that L9 never dealt with anti-bullying but sought to indoctrinate children about "sexual orientation". Therefore if true anti-bullying is adopted, her desire to continue to give public view to private homosexual lifestyle choices will not be satisfied.
At the December 8th, 2009 School Board Meeting, a decision was made on a curriculum that replaces the unwelcomed Lesson 9. Details: The Curricula that is on the table to replace Lesson 9 (L9), are Caring Schools Curriculum (without the controversial L9) K-2 or K-5 alongside a comprehensive anti-bullying program called Steps to Respect. It has K-2 & 3-5 Grades for this program. This curriculum gives thorough and complete steps to anti-bullying including underlying and causes of bullying. It is an excellent stand alone curriculum for bullying prevention. Dr. Ruben Zepeda has recommended to the board to continue the use of Caring Schools Curriculum K-5 for cost effectiveness alongside Steps to Respect. In addition, a resource called "Links to Literature" will be added to represent people based on race, religion, national origin, disability or sexual preference/orientation. The problem with this is, parents or the community may not be given a say in which books will be read to our children may solely be in the hands of the teachers.
Our children need your support! Yes, we should respond in loving, patient and kind ways, even while enduring name-calling. However, we must remain firm and not feel pressured to water down, neither our values nor our convictions, especially when it comes to what our children are being taught.
Admission By The School Board
The existing Caring Schools curriculum in AUSD does not include the words "race" or "religion" (link to the curriculum at the Resouces page). Tracey Jensen, Ron Mooney and Neilsen Tam, who all face recall, in open session questions - appeared dumbfounded to learn this fact from the District's own manager during the August 25th board meeting. The curriculum undermines parental rights and undeniably failed to provide for equal treatment of other constitutionally protected groups. By the Superintendent's own admission, "...this is not a curriculum that the community wanted." Yet, in fiscal irresponsibility the district and the same Board Members dug in their heels to spend a minimum of $10,000 and push the undesired curriculum through, even though they had planned to put the Advisory Committee together to replace "lesson 9". These are seminal grounds for concerned parents' disapproval of the its vote in favor of lesson 9, and the foundation of the Recall of Jensen, Mooney and Tam.
-- History of: Alameda Parents for the Recall of Jensen, Mooney & Tam --
We appreciate the overwhelming support from the Alameda community. We thank you for your tireless efforts and sacrifices. While we recognize that our community needs healing, there remains work to be done to ensure that all children are safe from harassment and bullying for any reason. That, we can all agree on.
This decision to recall the board members did not come lightly. However, we maintain that parents not loose their right to having a say in what their children are taught, by merely enrolling them in the public schools, especially when it comes to sexual preference. We maintain that the three Board Members were biased in this matter, and also being short-sighted, did not think through the longer-term ramifications. They should reconsider catering to a special interests group's propaganda push and insatiable need for acceptance and approval. They will again come to us by ballot, to raise more funds for the district. Parents will rightly see this diversion of scarce funds to cater to a politically motivated group, as a violation of public trust. We maintain that if anti-bullying was the true premise of Lesson 9, then the entire "caring schools" curriculum should have been redrafted, enacted, and supported throughout AUSD before May 26th.
We congratulate parents who have stood with us and signed the petitions to recall them. We encourage other concerned parents to continue taking concerted action to gather signatures among your network and sphere of influence. Learn more about the issues for which we stand, by thoroughly reading this web site, especially the Resources links described in brief below. We do not conduct "surveys" or gather email addresses to bombard any with misinformation, propaganda or worse still, requests for campaign contributions. If you would like information on how to support us in the Recall, just click on the Email Updates tab and send us a note that would like to sign. We will respond to you within the hour.
