As we move closer to the vote on House File 9, I continue to grieve the damage school districts like Linn Mar have created in Iowa with our teachers and families. Their creation of school policies that interpose the state in-between parents and their children is unconscionable. It threatens the essential trust parents need with teachers and erodes those “safe” relationships and places we desire for our children to have with their teachers and at their schools.
I grieve the necessity of HF 9. It’s mind-boggling that a school district would choose to openly express such disdain for parents’ ultimate responsibility for their children. It’s frustrating that a school district believes they know better than a child’s parents. It’s disappointing that a school district would choose to engage in cultural warfare through the lives of students. And it’s greatly concerning that a school district would purposely conceal a child’s life changing experience from parents. This is the definition of overreach by the state that necessitates HF 9.
HF 9 can stop such bad policies, but it can’t repair the damage. We have work to do. It starts with recognizing the diversity that exists in our schools and respecting the different approaches to gender identity. The cultural war fight in our schools needs to end. Schools should be promoting respect for diversity and not specific ideologies, including the LGTBQ+ agenda. And finally, we all need to be reminded of the important role our teachers play in the lives of our children, not as parental substitutes but as helps for the family.
The Linn Mar School District Policy
http://policy.linnmar.k12.ia.us/policy/50413-r-administrative-regulations-regarding-transgender-and-students-nonconforming-gender
House File 9
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=90&ba=Hf9
