Good Superintendents are hard to find, and yet, they are the leaders of our schools. We can learn a lot from the problems that plagued SAU16/Exeter school district under the leadership of David Ryan- so let’s start by looking at what parents can do when it’s time to hire a new Superintendent.
David Ryan was the former Assistant Superintendent in the Manchester public schools. Manchester School Board members discovered problems during his tenure as you can see in this video below. If the board members in SAU16 had done some google searching, they would have realized that the Superintendent they were hiring had some issues while working in the Manchester school district.
Ryan exposed his agenda to politicize schools and children when he presented to the Manchester School Board what a Civics Class would look like in the district under his leadership:
You can clearly see that the focus was not on quality academic content. Instead, the focus was on turning Manchester children, into community organizers. This education political agenda is called action civics. This is what Stanley Kurtz warned about in his article titled: “Action Civics” Replaces Citizenship with Partisanship. He writes:
Unfortunately, widespread adoption of Action Civics will definitively politicize an already politically tainted K-12 educational system, irrevocably cementing the partisan Left’s hold upon our culture. Action civics amounts to school-sponsored indoctrination and political action in support of progressive policy positions………
Do you see the difference? Action Civics denies a child academic knowledge, and instead, seeks to indoctrinate the child with political partisan viewpoints. This is a way to turn a child into an illiterate community activist. Deny them knowledge, and instead focus on teaching them how to become community organizers.
David Ryan eventually left the Manchester school district, and was hired in SAU16. Critical Race Theory became his next political agenda in SAU16/Exeter.
He collaborated with the radical political group 2Revolutions to train the teachers in SAU16. 2Rev’s categorizes every home-owner in New Hampshire as a White Supremacist because they pay property taxes to their local schools. They spent taxpayer money, so that the teachers would get a good dose of political indoctrination too.
Books were purchased for middle school students that categorized children as either in the dominant culture, or the subculture. Children would be instructed to break down their identity so that they fit into one of two boxes: the oppressor box or the victim box. Regardless of what they have done in their 12 years of life on earth, many of the children would be categorized as oppressor, and the rest would find themselves as victims. This wasn’t an education, this was an indoctrination using pseudo-psychology in the classroom.
Not only would this violate the civil rights of some of the teachers, but many of the children too. Thankfully the legislature stepped in and affirmed our civil rights in the anti-discrimination law that was recently passed. School personnel cannot humiliate, or blame and shame children for what some people have done in history. We have equal protection under the law, and the Civil Rights Act applies to all of us.
So how do you avoid hiring a Superintendent who is following a national agenda to dumb down public schools, and replace a quality education with an indoctrination? Good luck, they are hard to find. Many just manage the garbage instead of lead their respective schools to excellence.
You can start by demanding that the selection process be transparent. Too many parents have lost trust in their public schools under this kind of failed leadership. SAU16/Exeter is in court right now because the plaintiff alleges that the Superintendent hasn’t turned over documentation that was requested in a Right to Know Request (91-a). Instead of making everything as transparent as possible, parents are left asking, what are they trying to hide?
Make sure that any candidates up for this position are vetted, and that this process is transparent.
Do a Google Search. It is amazing how school boards in charge of hiring Superintendents miss numerous articles or information that exposes the problems that are causing candidates to leave their current position.
David Ryan hired Tonja Neve as Principal of Main Street School in Exeter. The Blaze covered a story on how Neve referred to the parents in her school district as wackos and pushy for contesting Critical Race Theory taught to their children. So either no one did any kind of examination of her performance in her prior school where she was employed, or Ryan purposely hired another administrator who would assist him in his quest to push the radicalized CRT agenda on children. If the board members fail to search for information, then it will be up to you to conduct that search, and bring those results before your school board members.
Parents across the country and especially in SAU16/Exeter want to return their public schools into places where their children are learning quality academic content. Instead, the focus is shifting to remolding the child with a narrow political viewpoint. These are the same people who scream about social justice, but as you can see, they are denying a child their basic right to a quality public education. These social justice warriors are peddling illiteracy cloaked in diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.
Ask questions of the candidates about academics. Have they read the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards? Do they have a list of the numerous flaws in these academic standards. How have they worked to make sure that the children in the schools where they’ve worked, addressed the problems, and fixed them? This should have been an easy task.
Professor James Milgram, who served on the Common Core Math Validation Committee drafted a document that points to the flaws in the Common Core Math Standards. Can the candidates for Superintendent show how they worked to choose math programs that corrected the numerous flaws?
There are missing math concepts in the Common Core Math Standards, did they make sure that any math program they chose included those missing concepts?
Common Core Math puts children on a path to Algebra I by 9th grade, however; children in Singapore reach Algebra I by 6th and 7th grade. How did the candidate for Superintendent select a math program in their school so their students would have those same opportunities as children in Singapore?
Here are some of the many flaws with the Common Core English Standards.
The Next Generation Science Standards are worse than the Common Core Math and English Standards. What did the candidate do to DE-politicize the science standards used in their school? Read the testimony I presented to the New Hampshire Board of Education, and ask the candidates if they intend to use the NGSS as written. Will they support the effort to attack property rights in the NGSS? Parents are fed up with the politicization in the classroom, and want their children educated.
Keep the focus on academics.
What about an exit survey from parents who withdraw their children from the school district? I was once interviewed by a private school principal on why I was withdrawing my children from the school. I listed the problems that finally drove us to send our children to another private school. Changes were made after several parents withdrew their children. They took the time to listen and act.
What was their position on school closing, and masking children?
How will they make sure that books in the school are not pornographic or contain sexually explicit material? Do you need a judge to rule on this, or will the Superintendent act to protect children?
How are they respecting both the families from the LGBT community AND families who hold religious sacred views? In SAU16/Exeter, we heard from parents about the hostility aimed at children who were Christian.
Will they continue to support the DEIJ Director who shares his sexuality with children:
IMG_2707
What if a parent in the district objects to this kind of sexual discussion with their children? How do they know what will be discussed ahead of time so they can remove their children from these sexualized discussion?
One SAU16/Exeter parent posted this after watching the video:
At the Exeter Elementary SB meeting recently.
‘I’m excited that students will see someone who identifies as bisexual in their space’
Unpack that.
K-5
Why and how would it come up that you’re bisexual? Also, if and when you tell the 5,6,7 year olds that you’re bisexual, how do you answer questions from there?
In our house we are focused on reading, writing and math. We haven’t exactly covered sex education yet.
Anything more then, ‘I have a partner,’ ‘they have two moms or two dads,’ you’re crossing a line.
If kids have questions in K-5 tell them to go ask their parents.
How are you an “inclusive” school if you are violating the rights of parents to direct the education of their children?
The district administrator does not have to subscribe to religious tenets in order to show respect their religious families. They simply need to stop stepping all over their values in an effort to change the values in their children. How can they do that in a public school? A good leader should be able to produce that information.
They can teach children some basic human characteristics like, kindness, compassion, and empathy. They do not have to push a religion or a sexual lifestyle to teach those characteristics. Remove the politicization and focus on the characteristics. Assign books that are not politicized but teach the reader that showing dignity and respect to others is an honorable characteristic to possess. You cannot claim you are inclusive while at the same time, undermine the religious families you are serving.
Families of any political persuasion will appreciate messages of kindness, compassion, and empathy. Leaving the political messages out will prevent the division that has taken over the community in SAU16/Exeter. Politicized schools become communities divided.
Public schools serve a diverse community, and anyone claiming to be for social justice, need to show they respect all viewpoints. Rise above the politicalization we are seeing in public schools across this country, and go back to focusing on providing children a quality public education in a building that is joyful and welcoming to all children.
How will a new Superintendent deal with teachers who also push a political narrative on children? A teacher is there to teach, not indoctrinate their students. Will a new Superintendent require teachers to remain neutral in the classroom? Teachers want and deserve respect, but when they cross the line and begin pushing a political narrative, that is a ticket to losing respect from parents and the community.
Children shouldn’t be able to determine where a teacher is on the political spectrum when they are teaching in a classroom. The best teachers will present information from varying viewpoints.
Safety is now a concern for many parents across America. We make sure our judges are protected if we enter a courthouse, so how will the district secure the buildings so teachers and children are not at risk of violence?
What about Social and Emotional Learning/SEL? Teachers, in general, have always tried to support children socially and emotionally. But even this has been standardized to the point where children are now graded on emotions, and their values. SEL data are now collected and shared. This has parents questioning the data that is collected. Who has access to this information, and how will parents be informed on the SEL assessments? This is another area where transparency is a must. Parents must be able to analyze how teachers are grading and collecting SEL data on their children.
Parents across New Hampshire are showing up to school board meetings and demanding a better quality academic education for their children. They are voicing their concerns that the public schools have turned away from quality academic content in favor of social engineering. They have seen what is going on in the classrooms, and they want better for their children. That is why the next step of choosing a new Superintendent is so important. SAU16/Exeter parents saw how one leader could lead their district in a direction they didn’t want to go. This one position has a significant impact on all of the children served in the school district. This is why it is important to choose the right leader in the future. One who prioritizes academic excellence, creates a safe and joyful environment, and respects all of the families they are serving.
