Starting now.
Commonalities where guests find common ground through uncommon
conversations, politics, religion, finances,
all the topics your grandmother told you not to discuss with friends.
And now your host, Matthew Dowling,
and today's guests commonalities.
Well, everyone, thank you for joining us today on commonalities.
I'm your host, Matt Doley, and I have a wonderful guest with me today.
Uh, Lois.
Lois has been involved in local politics for over 20 years.
Um, she's been involved in school board elections. Uh,
she's an advocate for school choice,
and as many of you have come to know, uh,
this new program is about, uh,
seeing two sides to an issue.
Today we're going to be talking primarily about, uh,
school choice through a, uh,
a school board member and a parent's eyes. Um,
and then at a later point in time,
we'll be talking with some of our advocates for public education, uh,
even though they may not be in favor of the type of choice that we're discussing
today, um,
we'll get them on the show another time to talk about the flip side of this
issue. Lois, thank you so much for being with me today.
I wanted to give you a chance to kind of introduce yourself and to give us a
little bit of background, um,
because you are extremely experienced in what you're gonna be talking about
today.
Well, thank you, Matt. Thank you for having me. I'm,
my name is Lois Kahiki and I, um,
and the Pennsylvania State Coordinator for Moms for Liberty.
And our goal is to defend parents rights and education at all levels of
government. And I came on board, I'm the first state coordinator they've hired,
uh, came on board in June, and we are organized at the county level.
So we have county chapters. Uh, people can go to our website,
moms for liberty.org and see if you have a chapter set up in your county.
And if not, you know, we want to start one. So ,
I'd love to talk to you about people about that. But, uh,
we're trying to empower, uh, parents, grandparents,
community members on how they can have an impact and have a voice in their
local schools. And, uh, of course advocate for, uh,
parental rights and education. And, um, I've been,
I've been interested in education issues forever. I just believe, you know,
a good education is the great leveler of society no matter what it, uh,
circumstances you're born into. If you get a good education,
you can make better, uh, better, uh, life for yourself.
And that's what America's all about, right? Is giving people opportunity, uh,
giving them a chance at the American dream, which I very much, uh, believe in.
But, uh, you need to have a good start in life. You know,
we spend a lot of money on public education,
and we deserve to have an excellent product, and I think we're falling short,
and I think a lot of people feel that way these days.
Yeah, and, and I would tend to agree with you, uh,
while I try to stay kind of neutral on this show as a moderator, there's, uh,
you know,
no lying about the fact that I've been a strong proponent for school choice,
uh, because I think parents know best what their own kids need in the classroom.
Um, so, you know, sometimes I have to put my moderator hat on, but I,
I think people already know my point of view, um,
when it comes to education. And I think there's an important, uh,
piece that we need to kind of mention up front. Um, you know,
I don't wanna speak for you,
but I don't think that those who are educators in our public school system
are bad people by any, uh, stretch of the imagination. You know,
I know we keep funding education at larger and larger,
uh, amounts each year in the, uh, in the state budget.
And I know that we've run into a budget deficit when it comes to
those school teachers retirement funds. Uh,
and I think what's important to remember is that, you know,
these are good people. For the most part.
They're people that are trying to do the best job that they possibly can.
They were made, uh, promises, I'll be them,
bad promises about their retirement. And, uh, as politicians,
we kind have to check the blame up to them,
not to the teachers that we've fallen into the pension crisis that we have that
is making, uh, education so expensive.
So I just wanted to kind of lead with the fact that I, you know,
I don't think educators are bad, and I don't think you do either, Lois.
That's correct. Right?
No, uh, uh, but educators are like every other profession, Matt, you know,
there's a range of, uh, good and not as good, uh, uh,
educators. The same there is in every other profession, right? I mean, uh,
in most, uh, areas of life,
you want to have choice and choose who you go to for your services,
your professional services, whether it's getting your car fixed,
your doctor or lawyer, um,
and you wanna be able to choose who you think is right for you. And, uh,
unfortunately, that, um, that that free market approach doesn't apply,
unfortunately, in our education system. Um, you know,
not all teachers are equally good. There are a lot of excellent teachers,
but there are some that aren't, uh, uh, really measuring up.
And that's the reality of it. And anyone in, in the public schools knows,
knows that. And, uh, I've talked to parents every year, they're like, oh,
we pray we don't get teacher X because the teacher X is no good. You know, and,
and it's just the, it's just the fact. And teachers know it too,
and they don't like the fact that there are teachers that aren't doing, uh,
their job, but the union protects, uh, these, these people.
And that's a blemish on the whole system. But yes, and.
You.
Knows.
You know, I think you made an excellent comparison there,
and I've never really thought of it this way, but, uh,
with the accent that I had last October, I've had to have subsequent surgeries,
uh, several times throughout the last year.
And I've gotten a second opinion many times, uh,
after I've met with one surgeon. And kind of getting that second opinion,
uh, or another point of view,
is something that we don't always have the choice with as parents in the
public education system. And, and I think that's a great comparison, uh,
because even when it comes to doctors,
we have that free market approach where we can pick and choose who our surgeons
going to be. And in education, we don't always get that opportunity.
We're gonna have to pause for a quick commercial break, uh,
just a minute or two to recognize our sponsors for today's show.
When we come back,
Lois and I will be talking about some of the most alarming trends that there are
in education,
as well as the importance to the upcoming school board elections
and so much more. Remember, elections have consequences,
and that's why it's so important that we get ahead of the elections coming up
and we start talking about them early. So we're gonna pause for just a moment,
and we'll be back after these messages from our sponsors.
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Well, thank you so much for sticking with us through that commercial break.
I'm with Lois, uh, today, and we're talking about, uh, education,
primarily school choice, and, uh, we wanna talk now,
we were kind of at the, the 30,000 foot view when we open the show.
Now we wanna talk a little bit about the most alarming trends in education.
So, uh, tell me what some of those trends are looking like, Lois.
Well,
probably the most alarming trend today is what is called social emotional
learning, and that you'll hear the term thrown around a lot,
and it sounds warm and fuzzy, and it sounds like it has good intentions.
It's actually been around for a long time,
but it's being used to data mine. Our children collect a lot,
a lot of data on them for the ultimate goal of grooming their attitudes, values,
and beliefs.
So education is becoming less and less about academic learning and
academic achievement, and more about shaping the,
what kids think and how they think it and what they believe.
And we see this time and time again in the schools, even with young children.
So, uh, and, and this is being done in a variety of ways,
and I want parents to really be on the lookout for surveys that children are be
being given in the classroom. They may be on paper,
they may be on their Chromebooks or their iPads.
They could be done in a variety of different ways,
but you really need to be aware of this,
and you need to talk to your teachers about it,
and it's being integrated into the curriculum. So, uh,
it's, and it's, it could possibly be in every subject in every grade,
and it's being done, uh, standalone surveys, and again,
as part of the curriculum. So, uh, you need to be aware of this. You should,
in my view, uh,
you be well served and your children will be well served to opt out of these
surveys. Uh,
they are relying on gathering lots and lots of data because
gathering this data is going to tell them it's going to, they're,
they're training themselves how they can best reach your child with the most
effective message to groom their attitudes, values, and beliefs.
So they're doing personality surveys, personality tests, um,
they're finding out about your family because they're doing personality profiles
so they can target individual messages through the internet,
through a computerization, uh, a technology, uh,
directly to your child. They can't do if they don't gather the data.
So you should make every effort to opt out of these surveys. And,
um, there are a lot of opt out forms that are available now. Uh,
we have a lot of optout forms, um,
and this is something that parents really need to be aware of. But,
um, with our academic achievement on the decline, again,
the National Association of Education Progress Report just came in.
Our scores are worse than ever. And it's, it's not just covid,
it's because of Common Core that the General Assembly adopted in 2014.
And it, this has been going back for, uh, over a generation,
but now it's just really come to a head.
So the social emotional learning is a very serious problem.
It should be outlawed, in my view. And, um,
and because of the data mining and what they're actually trying to achieve with
it, which is not academic achievement.
And another very alarming trend, which is related,
is the hypersexualization of our children,
particularly at very young ages. And I just read in, uh, Lebanon,
uh, school district, I think it was Lebanon School,
just one of those Lebanon County, uh, Noal, Meer, excuse me,
they just adopted a K through 12 L G B T Q I A
curriculum starting in kindergarten. Matt and I,
I don't know what parent thinks that they want their children learning about L G
T Q, uh, uh, uh, subjects in kindergarten. If you do,
you know, that's your prerogative.
But I think the majority of parents would not want that in the classroom.
And it's not being transparent to the parents about what is going
on. And I'm very much in favor of a curriculum transparency bill,
so that schools have to post curriculum at the beginning of the school year so
parents can see what their kids are gonna be taught, because, uh, um,
there's just no reason to have this in. Uh,
particularly in elementary school,
we're seeing more and more mental health issues, gender transition,
gender confusion issues. This is not normal, that this is really not normal.
And it's being instigated by people pushing subjects on children
in an inappropriate way when they're most vulnerable,
and just really trying to find out who they are. And, and, and it,
it's just very disturbing. We just had a suicide here in, uh,
I think it was the Gettysburg School District this past week.
And then we think it's related to gender, uh, gender confusion issue.
I'm sure you're gonna be hearing more of that, but it's, um, it's just so sad.
We don't wanna lose any more children to this problem. And, uh, we,
we need, we're not following the science.
We're following a political agenda,
and we need to stand up to it, Matt. Um,
and parents really need to talk to their kids in school, especi, you know,
from the time they're very young.
You need to talk to your kids about what's going on in the classroom and,
and keep that line of communication open, because this can happen to anyone.
And one day you wake up and your child just is not the same. And it,
it's just so, it's so sad. And I, I just, I, I just don't, you know,
none of us really wanna see, none of us wanna see that at all. And,
um, it's a very alarming trend,
something that must be fought and parents must be keeping
an eye on.
Well, let me take off my, uh, my radio host hat for a second,
and, uh, and the hat of the retired legislator, um,
and put on my parent hat because I have a nine year old and a 10 year old, uh,
little boys that are at home, um, they attend school at, at, uh,
Commonwealth Charter Academy. Um, but I,
I think what you're talking about is about respecting other
people's way of life. And if you have, um,
people like yourself or like myself who maybe lean, uh, to,
uh, some traditional family values, if that's what we wanna call them, um,
when we send our kids to school,
I don't think we want them hearing a message that is the
antithesis or, or different from, uh, the message that we teach at home.
And, and I think respecting those boundaries is so important.
If you choose to have a talk about the, uh,
about a kid's sexuality with your own child, that's one thing.
When it's done in a classroom, I think that it's something very different.
And, uh, and I think that, uh, when it really comes down to it,
the crux of the issue is, uh, as you would believe, or as I would believe,
is that there's simply no room for sexuality in our classrooms. Um,
you know, we, we wouldn't want our kids to know, uh,
about the sexuality of their teachers.
And we don't want our teachers talking about the sexuality of our kids while
they're at school in the classroom.
It's actually worse than that, Matt.
It's not just a matter of conflicting with parents' values, which is bad enough,
but it's a, it's a matter of psychological and mental health as well.
There are certain topics that are inappropriate age-wise for children at certain
ages that not to discuss certain topics. I mean, in, in certain schools,
children are being exposed to graphic sexual acts in
literature before it, it is age appropriate.
If that's ever age appropriate, I don't know. But certainly at a certain age,
you can be exposed to something and it not have it affect you in a negative way.
But if you're a preteen or a child and you, you know,
these topics have not ever even been brought up or come into your mind before,
and all of a sudden you're, you're exposed to pictures of, uh, of people, of,
of children performing oral sex on adults. And I mean, that,
that can be, if it's presented in, uh, a certain way,
it can be psychologically harmful to a child.
Imagine that child who doesn't feel comfortable going home,
talking to a parent or guardian about this, these topics. And they,
they see it in school and they, they just are confused, right? And they, they,
they feel shame and guilt, and they, they don't know who to turn to. What,
what becomes of that child? Who does that child have? And they, they,
you know, there is an agenda where they want the children to speak to government
employees when they're feeling vulnerable, not their parents.
And that also is a dangerous trend, right? Because, uh, uh,
we want to hold families together. We want families to be strong.
We don't want state workers supplanting or,
or becoming, uh, who children go to further support.
So, uh, there, there's a lot going on that's very, that,
that's wrong on multiple levels.
And sometimes by the time parents find out the damage has been done.
And we wanna try to prevent that by,
by being proactive and making sure these materials don't go
into schools, particularly in elementary schools to begin with.
Let's not wait till the damage has been done,
let's prevent it from happening in the first place.
Well,
you talked a little bit earlier in the program about opt out opportunities,
and I wanna talk a little bit more about, uh,
the specific opt outs that, uh, we want parents to be aware of,
uh, in relation to these alarming trends that are happening in, in education,
but also in regards to that data mining. And, uh,
I'm gonna get to that as soon as we get back from our next commercial break,
cuz we gotta get another sponsor recognition in here.
But when we come back, I wanna, uh, jump on, uh,
alerting parents of some of the ways that they can opt out.
So we'll be back after these messages.
You're listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon Conversations.
We'll be back after this brief break to recognize our sponsors.
Is your business using analog strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we bring in depth knowledge and functional
expertise with a holistic perspective.
Coordinated 360 provides digital marketing, paid ad and media buying services,
web design, social media management, video production, and more for businesses,
organizations, and political campaigns with decades of experience.
Matt and Becky at Coordinated 360 can help you craft your unique message
and share it with the world. For a no risk media evaluation and recommendations,
call 7 2 4 3 2 0 22 12,
or visit us online at
www.coordinatedthreesixty.com. Find us also on Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter,
or email info coordinated three sixty.com.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should call Dave Dowling at View
Inspections at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers, freshly painted walls, granite countertops,
fleeing hardwood floors, and other touches.
What you can't see is the cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that might be revealed when you hire
a home inspector. And when it comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications and experience needed should
be your number one concern.
Dave Dowling with Grand View Inspections is an architectural engineer
with over 30 years of commercial construction experience and
hundreds of inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity for you to hire an expert to walk
through the home and prepare a report out lining the home's major components.
What needs immediate attention and what will require maintenance after you
move in your home is one of your biggest investments.
So make sure your investment is everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You're listening to Commonalities. And I'm your host, Matt Dowling. Uh,
beside my guest Lois today. And it's not just that we are on first name basis,
but she has an extremely difficult last name to pronounce,
and I know I would butcher that. So Lois,
if you wanna throw your last name out there, um, be my guest.
Yes, it's Lois Kahiki and I'm with the Moms for Liberty.
Well, it's so great to have you on the program today.
We were talking a little bit about,
about ways parents should be familiar to opt out their
students of data mining and some of the trends that are happening in education.
So why don't you educate us a little bit about how a parent can take those, uh,
important issues into their own hands and decide that they're gonna opt their
son or daughter, their student out of, uh,
conversations or testing in school.
Right. Well, um, there's a couple things. Uh, there are some, uh,
pre-made optout forms. There's one on courage is habit org.
Courage is habit org.
You can get ahold of someone at Mom's for Liberty and ask for a pre-made form.
But most importantly, I think, uh,
speak for like already into the school year,
but speak to your teachers about surveys given in the classroom and
assessments and social emotional learning assessments.
They are doing social emotional learning assessments.
If your teacher says they aren't,
the teacher either doesn't realize that they're doing it or they're lying,
but they're doing it on the,
they may be doing it on the computer and the teacher doesn't even know because
of the programs that they're using. So, um,
at first I would talk to the teacher, say, um,
that you want to see any surveys before any surveys are given in class.
You want to see the survey and be able to read the survey yourself, uh,
before and you are going to approve any survey. Your,
your child does not have advanced approval from you to give any survey
without a notice in advance. And I would put that in writing.
I would maybe sit down with the teacher, talk to them about it first,
if I put it in writing and, and give it to them,
give them a copy and ask them to sign that they acknowledge and that they will
honor your wishes. And I think it's very important, uh,
to sit down with the teacher if you can, and discuss this in person.
Um,
I just think it's better to look the teacher in the eye and let them know you're
serious. Uh, and um, then, um, you know,
depending on how that conversation goes with a teacher,
you'll get a good enough feel if you think the teacher is going to honor your
wishes. Maybe if you're not sure, you can go up the chain of command.
You can go to the building principal and the superintendent,
but I would definitely go to the teacher first and, um,
and address it in that way.
If you see other material in the classroom that you don't want your child
exposed to, you do have the right to opt out. Your, your, your, uh,
school district should have a policy on curriculum and opting out.
If you go to the,
your school district website and you look under school board policies, uh,
they're organized, but in the hundreds, like hundred, 200,
I think it's in the 200 level, it'll help you find it. If you can't find it,
call the administration office and ask for how to read the district,
uh, policy on curriculum.
And it should be in there how you opt their policy and how you opt
out of cur of any particular curricula. They don't have a policy,
then you should be able to opt out because, uh, uh, I think it's, you know,
you have the right, you have to assume you have the right, you are the parent,
but you just sort of wanna go by their process to, uh, you know,
and they'll make it easier for you. But, um, always assume that as the parent,
you have the right to do what's right for your child. Uh,
then the next question is, well, while the classroom is doing this curriculum,
what is your child going to be doing? And that's something you have to work out.
You can maybe find something on your own that you would prefer your child to do,
or then you're going to have to, um, you know, ask the teacher, uh,
what, what they're gonna provide. But, you know,
then you're getting into risky territory cuz they don't want the extra work.
But, um, those are some, some tips and, you know,
that I would recommend where to start.
And I think if a parent is currently saying, well,
maybe this is happening someplace else in the United States,
it's not happening in my kids' classroom in Fayette County
or Somerset County or Bedford County, uh, I, I,
I unfortunately have to say that I think that assumption is, is wrong.
I was speaking recently to a retired professor from, uh,
my college alma Mater Waynesburg University. And, uh,
this, uh, professor in, uh,
in particular was telling me that part of her decision to,
uh,
retire from educating was that these kind of assessments were
being forced upon her in her classroom.
And the administration of the college, uh,
was not giving her any choice as to whether or not to use these assessments.
Uh, they were being required. Now that's on someone, uh,
students that are a little bit older that maybe have a little bit more of their,
uh,
their own ability to know if they should complete an assessment or
not, uh, their college-aged kids.
But it is happening down to elementary school level, uh,
from what I understand in some of our local classrooms.
Yes, it is. And you should assume it's going on, even starting in kindergarten.
I it, I mean, they're giving even kindergarten students these iPads. Uh,
you know, kindergarten,
there is no academic reason why K through third
graders. I I would say all of elementary school needs, uh,
iPads or Chromebooks. I mean,
and in many ways they can be abused and they can,
they can hinder academic development.
So they're only being used for data collection.
That is the only justification. They're not gonna tell you that,
but that's really what it's all about. Um, so I, I,
you know, I remembered when I was on the school board, uh,
when that came up and I knew that it was going in the wrong path,
but I just knew I couldn't convince my colleagues not to buy those Chromebooks.
But, um, I, I would get rid of the Chromebooks in all of elementary school.
Go back to, there was nothing wrong with textbooks.
There is nothing wrong with pen and paper, you know, uh,
and kids learn better when they write anyway than when they type. So,
um, that's, you know, that's another issue. If, if you,
it's funny if you read about the big tech mobiles, you know, in Silicon Valley,
they, they don't give their young children technology devices to work,
to play on and work on. They don't want them.
They know that stuff isn't good for them. So, um,
it's very interesting because that's their industry and they know not to put
their young children on those devices.
You know, and you talk a little bit about the, uh, the Silicon Valley companies,
those high-tech, uh, organizations that are out there. And, uh,
you know, I'm, it's not directly related to education,
but I'm looking at our election process and the fact that, uh,
companies like Facebook were putting money into our independent elections
here within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Uh, we refer to that, uh,
in the legislature as Zucker bucks, uh, that were being spent to help,
uh, help operate, um,
elections and kind of gave an in, uh, unfair advantage. Uh,
my question to you, and, and maybe you know this, maybe you don't,
are some of those same tech companies, because remember,
if we're not paying for something, uh, likely we are the product. And,
uh, my question is, are some of those tech companies, um,
donating or facilitating the use of their technology to our
children because they want, uh, some of that data that's being mined as well?
And then in that process, our kids become the product, uh,
that's out there for monetary gain?
Yeah,
I don't know if it's so much they want the data or that it's just a big money
for them and it's a multi-billion dollar industry right now.
They want a piece of that, uh, public education pie. Um,
you know, I I, I may be different than other people. I,
I know that they're collecting data on me every time I do a Google search.
And I kind of don't care that they're marketing to me cuz I'm an adult and I can
choose what I wanna buy and what I don't wanna buy. But I,
when it comes to our children and our education, it,
it bothers me a lot because we are substituting Ed
something else for what is supposed to be happening in school. It's a,
it's the biggest scam and rip off of our lifetime mat.
And that is what really concerns me.
Well, we do have to, we have to get one more break in here.
It'll be our final break of the program, and then we'll close to, uh,
come to close things up. And in our final segment,
I wanna be able to get time in there to talk about upcoming school board
elections and what people should know about their local school boards and the
candidates that are putting their names forward to go on that ballot. Um,
so we'll be talking about elections here in our final segment today. Also,
we're talking about, um, the kind of right side, uh,
not right or left, uh, right or left, excuse me,
not right or wrong side of this issue.
If you happen to disagree with anything that's mentioned on today's podcast
and you'd like to be a guest of mine in a future podcast to help debate both
sides of this issue, please uh,
drop me an email@infocommonalities.online or
info coordinated three sixty.com.
We have to get to a quick break and we'll be back to talk with Lois about school
board elections.
You're listening to commonalities or guests find Common ground through
Uncommon Conversations.
We'll be back after this brief break to recognize our sponsors.
Is your business using analog strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we bring in-depth knowledge and functional
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Well, thank you for tuning in today to commonalities, uh,
which is found any place that you download your podcasts or on
WBS five 90 am 1 0 1 1 FM on
your, uh, radio dial. This is, uh, Matt Dowling, and, uh,
I'm your host for today's show and we're with speaking to Lois,
and we wanted to talk a little bit about elections and their
consequences and the school board elections,
which are very important that will be coming up here in the near future.
Yes, yes. So I know everybody's, uh, thinking about next week,
which they should be. It's an important, very important election as well. Uh,
but these elections keep getting more and more important it seems like every
year. Uh, next spring already,
we have primaries for local elections,
which includes local school boards and half of your school boards.
Uh, for directors, you have nine school directors in every school district and,
uh,
at least five of them will be up for election in the spring and anyone can
run for school board. Uh, you just need to file the paperwork in, uh,
March and you're on the primary ballot. Um, and, um,
we need people who are going to, uh,
stand up to these alarming trends that we've discussed in education,
the hypersexual sexualization of our children, and, uh,
data mining and social emotional learning. It's all, uh, it's all bad.
And every day that goes by, uh,
our children are losing more academic learning because we don't have school
boards that are asking the tough questions or taking the bull by the horns.
You know, we have these, uh,
this culture and school boards where school directors go to meetings and they
allow the superintendent to just throw a bunch of stuff in front of them,
and then they rubber stamp everything and then they go home. And,
and I know I'm, I'm trivializing what school directors do.
I was a school director for four years. But in, in essence,
that's what it mostly is, uh, with, with very few exceptions.
And those days are over met.
We need school directors to be proactive and to start developing
policies and procedures that are fighting back against, uh, the,
the stuff and making sure when they hire district administrators that they are
on the same page. And, uh, we,
we have to hire district administrators that aren't going to put up with this.
And I'll give you a quick example. Um, in a,
in a school district that I'm close to, um,
apparently there was a brand new teacher in third grade that it got back to
school director, I guess that first day of class, this new,
this new teacher asked her third graders, these are seven,
six and seven year olds, Matt, which pronoun they wanted to use.
Now can, can you imagine that?
So this got back to the superintendent and to his credit,
he went to the teacher quietly and didn't make a big deal at him.
He went to the teacher quietly and said, we don't do that here,
just very firmly. And she said, oh, okay. She said,
that's what they taught us to do in teacher school. You see,
this is another problem is our teacher certification programs,
which we could hopefully change legislatively, I, I hope in the future. Um,
but because we had this superintendent that understood common sense,
in my view, he nipped it in the bud.
But if you have a woke superintendent who thinks this is now what we
have to do in third grade for goodness sake, uh, you know,
now you have a battle on your hands. You don't wanna hire people like that.
So the school directors have to make sure the superintendent is on the same
page and that they have all these policies in place.
They know what's going on in the classroom.
If you're hiring new teachers straight out of college, you better be careful.
I I think they almost need re-education before they start in the classroom.
But, um,
but school directors are very important Next year we have a majority up for
election, and we need, we desperately need, uh,
citizens to run who will help us. It, it's,
it's definitely giving back to your community. You are not paid. Um, we,
we desperately need people who are gonna defend, uh,
what's right in education for our children. And, um, uh, I,
I can't overemphasize. I think today, in my view personally,
the most important people in our country are governors and school directors.
And I firmly believe that. And, uh, moms for Liberty,
our chapters are looking for candidates and they,
a lot of them will be endorsing candidates next year.
So we gonna be watching these races very closely. And, um,
and there's a lot at stake.
You know, you mentioned, uh, the importance of school directors and, you know,
sometimes it is a very thankless job.
So we have to be thankful for the people that, uh,
put their name on that ballot and allow us to vote for them, uh,
for that position because they're stepping up and, and they're taking, uh,
a position that not everyone wants to do.
As someone who has put their name on a ballot before, uh, you know,
I can attest to the fact that that's not always the simplest decision to make.
There's an old joke in politics that says that school boards are a place for
good politicians to go to die, uh,
because you can either raise taxes or cut services. Um,
but those aren't the only things that they're able to do.
So I would have to say that that jokes a little, um, outdated. You know,
right now they are frontline defenders for basically our way
of life. Uh, and so it's extremely important that we get,
uh, valuable people, people that are willing to, uh,
stand up and make hard decisions for no pay and perhaps make some enemies in
the process of doing it. Uh, but it is so important that those people step up.
And, you know, in my local area,
I would say if I can be a resource to anyone who's thinking about putting their
name on a ballot, you can always contact me. I'll give you my opinion, uh,
about that and encouragement and help, uh,
if we sit in the same location, uh,
point of view on some of the issues. But, um, you know,
it is so important that we get people geared up for these elections.
We have just about two minutes left,
and I wanted to give you a chance to give your organization's website and
social media, uh,
contact information out so that people who have been listening today,
if they wanna connect with you or get further information,
they know how to do it.
Great again. Well, I'm with Moms for Liberty,
and our mission is to defend parents rights,
parents rights in education at all levels of government. And,
um,
our website is moms for liberty.org and my email
address is Lois, that's l o i s,
moms for liberty.org. And, um,
these school board elections are so important. Uh,
I just wanna add that quickly,
that these school boards can do things the legislature refuses to do.
They can enact curriculum transparency, get you good curriculum, and, uh,
can oversee everything going on in this school.
So it's really important that people step up and, uh,
take the bull by the horns and really, really stand up to what's going on.
And we're here to support those kinds of candidates and to give them whatever we
can to, uh, make sure that they're successful.
Hey, Lois, it has been great to have you on the program today. Uh,
maybe in the future you can be back to educate us more about what is happening
in, uh, trends of education. Um, again,
you were a great GU guest. Before you come on the next time, thank,
I will learn how to pronounce your last name, I promise . Uh, but,
uh, but it's, it's a tricky one for me, so we'll,
we'll learn that before you come on. Again,
just wanted to thank you for being with us today and, uh,
if you have any questions for Lois, my guest today, she, uh,
rattle off her contact info. You,
my contact info can be found@commonalities.online,
and we'll also post the information that Lois gave you to get ahold of her or
her organization. Thank you so much for listening today. Have, uh,
a great week and God bless you all.
Thank you, Matt. Starting now common.
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