“Very disappointed in a group of people who claim to be the majority sending out untrue and inflammatory information to parents and community members. #nocrediblyleft “
The above quote was “tweeted” by Clark County School District (CCSD) Board of Trustees President Deanna Wright following an absolute catastrophe of a meeting over which she presided on Thursday night.
It is somewhat unclear exactly which “group” she is referring to. But given her stubborn an indefensible behavior at the meeting; and given some strong comments she made at the end; it may be safe to assume Ms. Wright was referring to parent advocacy groups like Power2Parent, Nevada Family Alliance, various religious organizations, some branches of the media and perhaps, by indirect extension, even the PROGRESS itself. All of these have made efforts to inform and warn parents about the activity of the CCSD board toward shaping a comprehensive policy on gender equity.
Whomever Ms. Wright was referring to, it seems astounding that anyone could be living in a world so separate from reality. This is especially astonishing given the ridiculous comedy of errors that she and her compatriot-in-arms on this issue, Trustee Carolyn Edwards, performed on Thursday night.
First off, Wright’s tweet asserts that this “group” has claimed to be the majority. Here she accidentally hits upon an important truth. They have indeed claimed the majority because, in the observable universe, they have been the majority. Over the past three months alone, no less than seven big public meetings have been held on this subject. Every time, again and again, in all of these meetings, the overwhelming majority in attendance has been parents concerned about this policy being forced on them against their values and wishes. There has never been any question about it! When attendees of these meetings have been asked to show their position by raise of hand, it has always been at least a 3:1 ratio AGAINST the proposed policy – every time! What more indication does Ms. Wright need of where the majority voice lies?
The next statement in her tweet seems to infer that the reason for that strong majority is simply that parents have been manipulated by this “group” with “untrue and inflammatory” information about the intentions behind the policy proposal. Yet the nefarious nature of those intentions, at least as far as Wright and Edwards are concerned, were revealed clearly in Thursday’s meeting. Talk about manipulation! These two pulled out every trick from their bag in attempts to bend, contort and down-right violate open meeting law and to force an extreme agenda on this item. It was their shameful and unlawful behavior that was “inflammatory.” That Ms. Wright’s alleged “group” should actually dare to call foul doesn’t make it “untrue.”
Last week’s meeting; despite all of its chaos, dysfunction and disarray; was useful. It laid bare an unsavory truth. Both Wright and Edwards, and possibly other trustees, are willing to toss absolutely everything overboard – the incontrovertible opposition of parents, the privacy and decency rights of students, the employment of common sense and even the crystal clear dictates of the law – all in their political frenzy to feed an extreme social agenda. In that respect Wright and Edwards have shown their true colors as “activist trustees.”
Certainly, there are some situations in history where activism has been good and necessary. But such inflexible and extreme positions are simply not acceptable when dealing with the rights of schoolchildren or with issues that can affect the very fiber of families in the community. Sadly, the dialog on the CCSD gender equity issue has been driven and manipulated by the activists for far too long.
There is no doubt that sensible guidance ma be needed for school administrators and other professionals on this matter. These caring people could probably use a sensible framework for giving assistance and accommodation to troubled transgender youth. A discussion leading to a moderate, middle path may be needed.
But activists, no matter which side they are on, should not be leading that discussion. No more should extremists be allowed to use school children as political cover on their battlefield for an activist agenda. That has got to stop! It is high time for the activists to be firmly excused from the discussion table on this issue. Cooler, more moderate, heads should eventually convene in a civil discussion.
But given the irresponsible, divisive and harmful way that this issue has commenced, a cooling off period is needed first. Despite what the extremists say, there is no immediate urgency here. This item should be tabled by the board for a time, in order to allow folks on all sides to calm down. Then, at some point in the future, a time may come when people are ready to listen to each other again and reason together.
One thing is certain, activist trustees like Wright and Edwards are incapable of leading that discussion. No confidence can any longer be placed in either of them to guide this controversial issue. These two, and any other closet activist trustees who may sit on the board, need to be removed from the discussion table. They have proven that they cannot be trusted with the future of our children.
Perhaps most puzzling in Wright’s “tweet” was her hastily typed, parting hashtag reference: “#nocrediblyleft”. It is unclear precisely what this means. But if it was a reference to a complete loss of all credibility, it couldn’t be better designed to represent none other than Ms. Wright herself after her behavior in last week’s meeting.
Gold Star Award: This week we will borrow a tradition first established by Dr. Larry Moses, used occasionally in his weekly column. We will award a community Gold Star to our CCSD Trustee Chris Garvey.
Garvey deserves this distinction for standing up firmly for families, parents and children of the CCSD last week. She was one of the only trustees who kept a sensible head at Thursday night’s meeting and was able, quite frankly, to call a spade a spade.
She recognized that the board was far out of compliance with the law and she bravely pointed out the bullying techniques being employed by the activist trustees. Though she was severely criticized by opponents, Garvey did the right thing.
No matter what position one holds on this issue, Garvey deserves credit in striving for fairness and transparency in the process. Whether the extremists recognize it or not, her holding strong to that position ends up helping and protecting everyone.
Ms. Garvey provided honorable and responsible representation in Thursday’s meeting; both to her Moapa Valley constituents and to all of the people in CCSD no matter their position.
Ms. Garvey trod a rough and lonely path last week in doing what she did. She deserves kudos for it! Thank you, Ms. Garvey!
1 thought on “EDITORIAL: Very Disappointed, Indeed!”
Having read this article and the account of the meeting provided by Mr Robison, I have renewed hope for the future of our children and our society as a whole. The seemingly endless assault on the traditional morays of society by extreme leftists and secular progressives simply must stop.
As Mr Robison rightly points out, to be sure there have been times in the past when activism by all is truly warranted. Jim Crow, segregation, anti-semitism, racial discrimination, homophobia and other similar backward thinking philosophies have no place in a society that, dare I say, place high value on the Judeo-Christian way of life. It is, simply put, against God’s will and desire to have all of us love one another.
The notion of providing extra special accommodation to “transgender” students to choose which bathroom or locker room they “identify with” is beyond preposterous. Likewise, mandating classroom activities slanted towards “sensitivity training,” gender identity, etc is comically absurd. That said, however, the two sides of the issue are not mutually exclusive. To my way of thinking, children should be taught at home and in the schools to have respect for one another. Bullying of any kind is absolutely unacceptable. While I may not understand or agree with someone’s sexual preference, that doesn’t give me the right to disrespect them, nor would I want to. But that doesn’t mean I want sexually confused individuals in the locker room with my daughter (if I had one).
The strategy of secular progressives, extreme leftists and the ANTIFA movement is to simply make blanket statements and false characterizations about individuals that disagree with them and proffer their statements as “truth.” For them, there is absolutely no middle ground or willingness to engage in intelligent, meaningful discourse…they simply brand those with whom they disagree as racists, homophones, anti-woman, fascists, “low information individuals” and the list goes on and on. Intellectual dishonesty is there weapon of choice.
Beyond the observations made above, the public school system has steadily deteriorated over the years, taking focus off of “reading, writing and arithmetic” and onto turning our children’s classrooms into a functional, social science fair experiment. I was originally educated in Montgomery County, MD, what was once considered “one of the best school systems in the country.” As a teen I moved west to live with my dad in Stateline Nevada. I attended a very small junior/high school in Zephyr Cove, Douglas County, Nevada, enrollment about 270 (grades 6-12). During that year, I busted my tail just to keep up. The standards were high and all students were held accountable for their performance and behavior. Beyond the great amount of improvement I experienced at that high school the greatest thing I learned is that being a product of “one of the best school systems in the country” didn’t amount to one single thing.
In closing, here’s an idea that school administrators might want to try. How about dusting off some of those old lesson plans and integrating the notion that persons of all races, creeds, colors, ethnic origins and yes, sexual persuasions are rightly entitled to respect and courtesy. Just sayin.’