Eve Lederhouse, a parent in the Ames Community School District, had a simple ask for the board – stop telling parents how to raise their children.
She said that while everyone shares the common ideal of providing the best education for the Ames community, district and students, it is important to remember that the students are vastly different individuals coming from vastly different family backgrounds.
“The way we define what is best in education though is also going to vary significantly,” she said. “I understand that, I respect that and I value the diversity of those opinions. The challenge is when the schoolboard’s actions creep over the line of parental rights and responsibilities.”
Lederhouse said the board has already trampled parental choice by not allowing them to choose to send their kids back to school and now by introducing the Black Lives Matter curriculum which will redefine issues ranging from “human sexuality to family values.”
“Contrary to what my husband and I, and millions of others globally believe,” she said. “Please understand we embrace diversity of thought and, like you, we teach our children to love all people no matter how they look, think or act. Similarly, we are sensitive to the feelings of those who are taking more precautions in how they contend with the global COVID-19 pandemic. In the same way I am not in the place to tell any of you how to raise your own children, please stop making decisions that are doing the same to us.”
