March 30, 2021 – West Bend, Wi – Dear Editor:
Many local residents are not aware that the West Bend School Board has made a radical shift to the left in the last few years. Most of the votes taken by the School Board are unanimous, 7-0, and are often in line with the District administration’s recommendations. This happened a year ago when a new biology textbook came up for approval. There’s a good chance that the School Board will again “rubber stamp” the District’s choice of a new 6th grade social studies curriculum called Global Issues.
Global Issues is produced by the National Geographic Society and features 12 lesson books (and an online version) featuring political topics such as Climate Change, Energy Resources, Human Rights, and Globalization. National Geographic is not your grandfather’s familiar yellow-covered magazine of nature and travel articles. The January 2017 issue entitled “Gender Revolution” was devoted entirely to “gender identity and fluidity,” and it featured a cover photo of a transgender girl.
The Global Issues books proposed by our school district leaders for Silverbrook 6th graders follow the left-leaning politics of its creators at Nat Geo. In the book titled “Migration,” the following is a description of illegal immigrants: “They leave their home countries for the same reasons legal migrants do—to escape poverty, war, or political strife.” There is no mention of the costs of illegal immigration on the U.S. welfare system and taxpayers as well as no discussion of the drug cartels, youth gangs, human smugglers, disease, and anchor babies that go hand-in-hand with “migration.” Leaning one way without providing the whole picture, or omitting opposing information, is biased manipulation of a subject and has no place in the education of unsuspecting children.
Almost as bad are the lessons called “What Can I Do?” that are featured in each book, where “students …work together to act on what they have learned and express their opinions.” Straight out of the liberal playbook, children are being taught at an early age to engage in political activism and advocacy.
“Further Reading for Teachers,” another feature in each book, typically lists websites and books produced by leftist organizations like the Environmental Defense Fund and Human Rights Watch. Al Gore’s infamous “An Inconvenient Truth” is recommended reading for students.
Global Issues is a biased curriculum, and West Bend students deserve better. Jody Geenen, who is running for a seat on the School Board, should be given credit for bringing this Global Issues curriculum to the attention of residents like myself. She learned that this curriculum was being proposed by the District and asked that copies be available for review by parents and the public. She also talked with members of the District curriculum committee and pointed out the bias of the Global Issues books.
I believe West Bend needs a new voice on the School Board, and I ask you to support Jody Geenen. She will demand greater transparency and accountability from both the School Board and the District administrators. She will help root out “woke” classroom lessons, such as Badger Middle School’s “white privilege test,” and she will support a student’s right to freedom of speech, another recent Badger situation where a student was asked to remove a Trump mask. She will be a watchdog when it comes to progressive programming, such as last fall’s social justice training for teachers.
The School Board needs more diverse viewpoints that reflect the whole West Bend community. Jody Geenen will shake up the 7-0 voting block composition of the current School Board.
In order for your vote to have its greatest impact, mark your ballot for just one candidate. Vote for Jody Geenen for West Bend School Board on or before April 6.
Sincerely,
Carol Heger
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