For anyone who despairs that our small rural community has no hope for exerting a meaningful political influence in our huge urban-centric region, there was a glimpse of hope that shined out briefly last week.
The recent battle over sex education reform in Clark County School District (CCSD) has been raging for a year now. It began last fall when it was revealed that CCSD officials were trying to sneak some shockingly liberal topics into the sex ed curriculum without any public input at all. It has continued throughout the past year in numerous meetings and hearings where parents throughout the district have voiced indignation and opposition to having been locked out of the process and having their children being treated as pawns of a very liberal agenda.
All along the way, at the very forefront of that battle has been the parents of the Moapa Valley. So many persistent and determined local residents have fought fiercely at the very tip of the spear on this issue; ensuring that there was someone watching and commenting on every move, at every CCSD public meeting where sex ed, or anything like it, appeared on the agenda. In reality, it has been the relentless defense played by this group of tenacious Moapa Valley folks over the past year that have turned the tide on this issue and have kept the liberal agenda in check.
The most recent proof of that was shown at an all-night CCSD Trustee meeting held Tuesday, September 29 (and into Wednesday morning) in Las Vegas. Approximately 500 people came out to that meeting.
The parents of Moapa Valley students were there in full force; and they were well organized. At the beginning of every public comment period, a string of Moapa Valley parents; who had the foresight to sign up in advance; were first in line to make their comments. They stood boldly leading off the discussion, setting the tone on each question and framing the issues. What’s more they were always respectful, dignified, decent, thoughtful and pertinent in their comments.
The broader community support which fell in behind them was overwhelming. It exhibited a wide spectrum of races, religions, demographics, economic stations and social positions. Though the Moapa Valley parents were leading the charge, it was an remarkably diverse group that arose last week to fight alongside them. In the end the meeting was another victory in an important battle for local advocates. All those who left homes and families to spend these late night hours in this struggle should be commended for a job well done!
But though this battle may have been a decisive victory, the war is far from over. A careful observer of Tuesday night’s meeting would note that about 90 percent of the crowd were in overwhelming support of maintaining the state’s opt in policy: the more conservative option being discussed. The trustees certainly couldn’t ignore that! But it also didn’t move them much. All that this solid majority merited when the dust settled was a no-action vote from the board. The trustees unanimously agreed to do nothing to settle the issue! And even after more than six hours of a consistent message from the public, advocating for opt in, Trustee Carolyn Edwards, an avid opt out supporter, was still trying to piece together support for a task force to consider opt out-like possibilities! How much more clear did it need to be?
If the tables had been turned and 90 percent of the crowd had been advocating for the more liberal stance on sex ed, would the trustees have taken a similarly cautious, on-the-fence stance to this issue? Or would they have, more likely, pushed full steam ahead into action to form a proactive legislative position that would change the current policy? Hard to say. But we must suspect the latter.
In any case, it is clear that the war is far from over. New skirmishes led by the liberal left, LGBTQ groups and the Planned Parenthood crowd are sure to break out again. Indeed discussion on the more controversial items on Tuesday’s agenda had to be postponed due to lateness of the hour: all battles to be fought another day.
Who knows how many times Moapa Valley parents will be called upon to help fill auditoriums in future late-night meetings? It will likely be many. Hopefully, they will always be there to heed that call and fight the battle for local students when they are needed.
