Democrats Play Politics With Parents and Children - Granite Grok

Democrats Play Politics With Parents and Children

Frank Edelblut and Maggie Hassan

Last Sunday, parents had an opportunity to listen to some of the people involved with public education in New Hampshire. One of those people was Commissioner Frank Edelblut.

The Government Integrity Project (GIP) sent an invitation to attend an event titled “Empowering Parents and Taxpayers.” “Commissioner Edelblut’s goal is to help parents understand the educational system so they can successfully help their students achieve their best possible outcomes for their bright future.” Of course, I signed up and then shared that invitation with parents around New Hampshire.” I attended along with several parents I invited.

The presentation by Commissioner Edelblut was informative. The parents who attended were looking for information on navigating challenges they’re facing in their school district. Commissioner Edelblut provided detailed information on current laws, state rules, and his limitations as a state official.  Some parents may have wanted him to become involved in their districts, but Commissioner Edelblut informed them of what he could do and what he couldn’t do.

The parents listened, asked questions, and were better informed on what laws were in place that could help support them. For instance, if parents object to material assigned to their children, parents can object and have it replaced. I suspect many in the audience had no idea that they could do that.

I worked for years to get that law passed. Instead of disrupting the entire class because one child may not be ready for the assigned book, parents can now choose a more appropriate book for their child.

This is why I was so shocked to hear Democrats call for Edelblut’s resignation. What did he do that was so offensive? I asked many parents to attend this meeting. It was informative and appropriate.

Is GIP anti-government? Anti-government seems to imply anarchists. No, they are not anarchists. The founder of GIP, Ken Eyring, in the beginning, talked about a Constitutional government.  Senator Maggie Hassan recently posted that she is co-sponsoring legislation directed towards civics in public education. In her statement, she referenced the U.S. Constitution.

It seems there is some bipartisan agreement on support for the U.S. Constitution between Democrat Maggie Hassan and GIP.

There was no anti-Government rhetoric. Instead, it sounds like the Democrats are trying to paint GIP into something it is not.

Is GIP critical of some elected officials serving? YES, if you look at what they’ve posted on their website. But we heard a lot of criticism from Democrats directed at President Trump.

Should parents be respectful when they are engaging government officials? Of course. But parents are passionate, and some are even angry at boards that seem unresponsive to their concerns. The message wasn’t one of disruption but of using the laws in place and looking to elections to replace ineffective representatives serving on the school boards.

This looks to be a political ploy to try to discredit the Commissioner. I would hope that he would talk to any group as long as they were respectful.

I help parents all over the state of New Hampshire. Never have I asked them about their political affiliation.  No one has any idea about the political affiliation of many of those parents who attended the meeting. It was open to the public, and anyone could attend.

The parents I know who attended appreciated the opportunity to hear directly from the Commissioner. He took his time to come to meet and with them. While Democrats may disagree with some of his initiatives or political views, meeting with parents under these circumstances wasn’t worthy of any of this kind of criticism.

Resign? That’s absurd.

 

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