Tag: Parents Defending Education (PDE)

Florida Fifth-Grade Teacher Scolds Parents: ‘Your Rights Are Gone When Your Child Is In the Public School System’

Susan Berry, PhD

A Florida fifth-grade teacher justified her decision on CNN to show her students an LGBT-themed Disney movie claiming that parents who complained about it are “ignorant.”

Journalist and Grabien founder Tom Elliott tweeted a clip of CNN’s interview Monday night with Jenna Barbee, a fifth-grade teacher at Winding Waters School, a K-8 school in the Hernando County district, who is under investigation over possible violation of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, recently expanded to prohibit classroom instruction in sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades from K-12, rather than only K-3.

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Maine Elementary School Skips Math, Literacy Classes to Organize Children in Black Lives Matter March

Susan Berry, PhD

Videos and other documents obtained by Parents Defending Education (PDE) have revealed an elementary school in Portland, Maine, cancelled its math and literacy classes to enable teachers to organize students in a social justice march that included children chanting “Black Lives Matter (BLM)” and waving signs.

The national parental rights organization that opposes indoctrination in schools submitted a public records request to Portland Public Schools for the documents and emails related to the BLM march that was reported to have been originally planned at Presumpscot Elementary School on February 28 – the end of “black history month,” but was ultimately delayed until March 3.

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Administration Directs Top School to Break Ties with Chinese Communist Party

Susan Berry, PhD

Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera directed a top public high school in the United States to stop accepting financial contributions from entities with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Grassroots parental advocacy organization Parents Defending Education (PDE) reported that, on March 9, Guidera wrote to Dr. Michelle Reid, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), following PDE’s report that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) and the school’s Partnership Fund (Fund) had “received over $1,000,000 worth of donations from Chinese interests since 2014.”

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Chicago Mayor Lightfoot’s Campaign Asks Teachers to Urge Children to Work for Her Re-Election in Exchange for Class Credit

Susan Berry, PhD

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s re-election campaign’s move to send an email to Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers asking them to urge their students to volunteer for the mayor’s campaign – in exchange for class credit – is drawing fire.

The report of the email letters sent to teachers has evoked strong reactions from various corners, including Parents Defending Education (PDE), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), and Chicago Public Schools.

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Grassroots Parents Organization Files Complaints Claiming Discrimination in Schools Separating Students Based on Race

Susan Berry, PhD

Parents Defending Education (PDE), a grassroots parental rights organization, filed three complaints Tuesday with the Biden Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that allege discrimination in schools that formed “racial affinity” groups or “community circles” to separate students based on their race.

The complaints allege that discrimination occurred in schools in Oregon, Maine, and Vermont where students were organized according to their race, which, the complaints argue, is in violation of the 14th Amendment.

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