Matt Shaw, an individual in the Bettendorf School District, told the Bettendorf School Board they should use their positions to influence policy and that they can, indeed, know right from wrong.
His comments came during the public forum portion of Thursday night’s meeting and addressed the district’s policy on transgender students.
Shaw started by explaining how a month ago the board talked about its budget.
“Why don’t we just buy whatever we want,” he asked. “Why is there any constraints or limits? I guess the answer would be because there’s a fixed value to a dollar and there’s a fixed number of dollars available. Almost like you can’t manipulate how many dollars are available. Like it’s fixed and knowable.
“But then we’ll come to the exact same board, exact same people and (they’ll) act like somebody’s sex is unknowable and manipulatable and open for feelings. The exact same people will hold that position. The value of a dollar is fixed, but what comes out of a mother at birth is unknowable and can be manipulated. And you’re allowing this to happen.”
Shaw asked if it was possible to know anything for sure.
“How do I know I’m even talking to you,” he asked. “Is that quantifiable? If the biological characteristics are open for interpretation, is my existence open for interpretation? Can anything be known for sure? Is there anything that’s wrong? How do you define something as right and wrong?”
He said the board never considered debating spending more money than what was in the budget because it has absolute certainty in the value of a dollar and the laws that govern it and what it can or can’t do with its budget.
“We’ve all taken for granted how easy it is to know what is going on with the human body,” he said. “But you’re allowing teachers to act like that’s unknowable. It all comes back to the most fundamental question — can anything be known for sure — including what is right and what is wrong?
“And is it necessary for parents and people in this community to even raise these issues? We’re no longer living in a time when we need to blame perpetrators who do things that we know are wrong. Because we know who these people are, we know what they’re doing. It’s time to hold the people responsible who have sought out the positions of responsibility and said we will handle the moral issues of our time. That’s you guys. You begged for this position, now influence. Use your position to influence the behavior of the people that are doing this in our communities. You can know right from wrong.”
