In this Dillon’s Rule State, the Board of Education has FAR more power than the Commissioner (Frank Edelblut) in that all SAUs (School Administrative Units; think School Districts) must either cite NH State Statutes for the basis of their policies or State BoEd regulations/policies.
And it is the BoEd that creates the rules that all SAUs must incorporate/follow in their policies.
But they have fallen short – way short in protecting the rights of NH Parents in making sure, based on numerous SCOTUS decisions affirming the rights of parents to have and own the principal method of raising their kids. And seeing that the NH State Legislature, with Republican majorities, failed in doing so, why hasn’t the BoEd follow Virginia’s example (reformatted, emphasis mine):
Under the leadership of Glenn Younkin, Virginia continues to act more and more like a red state, despite its recent reputation as a toss-up. The most recent example of this trend comes with the state’s Department of Education backing parental rights in the state’s public schools. Under a recently enacted policy, schools will be prohibited from recognizing a child’s request to use a different name or pronoun as part of a “gender transition” unless the child’s parent or guardian provides written consent for the change. The policy doesn’t go so far as to forbid such gender-bending accommodations but keeps the parents involved in what may be an alarming mental health situation for their child. The new policy further stipulates that children must use the bathrooms and other facilities appropriate for their actual gender and bans cross-sex participation in school athletic programs.
And VA Gov. Glenn Youngkin is all in favor:
“The VDOE updated model policies reaffirm my administration’s continued commitment to ensure that every parent is involved in conversations regarding their child’s education, upbringing, and care,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) said of the new policies. “The Department of Education has delivered policies that empower parents, prohibit discrimination, create a safe and vibrant learning environment by addressing bullying incidents immediately, and protect the privacy and dignity of all students through bathroom policies, athletic procedures, and student identification measures.”
I’m betting that the Trevor Project, from whence the now rapidly depreciating “Transgender and non-conforming” school policy was spawned, ain’t gonna keep the good Governor in their prayers any time soon for this. But Parents are, I bet, as control is being returned to them as it is now mandatory that the Parent’s employees must give up what they had taken – control of Parents’ kids when it comes to sexuality and the misbegotten idea that “gender identity” is a person’s primary attribute.
Aye, there be the rub – ALL students. What the Trevor project did with its policy that went nationwide in stealth mode was to make “trans rights human rights” actually be used to create faux rights that only trans students had. Constitutional Right to Free Speech and the open practice of religious beliefs by normal kids in being raised by Parents (by which numerous SCOTUS decisions held were Constitutional)? Nope – normal kids were demoted to have lesser rights as both their speech and beliefs were denigrated and depreciated. All in the of sex.
Did Sununu stand up for Parents? Well, we all know the answer to that given his behavior as COVID King during the pandemic, his granting of the Left’s “promised land” of further dividing E Pluribus Unum into yet another “protected class” called gender identity (which started this nonsense like the green flag at a NASCAR race). And the Republican majority didn’t get it done, either. Too many Republicans took walks come voting time but “Republicans” (aka Democrats in sheeps’ clothing) like Mike Bordes, Travis O’Hara, and David Nagel (all from Belknap County) worked with the Democrats to keep control of kids in the Democrat leaning school staffs.
So, then, we come to the NH Board of Education. After all, the VA BoEd got it done with a sweeping agenda that hews to the traditional “Parents in charge, not Government). Why didn’t THEY get it done? What was their problem in sitting on their hands these past few years since 2019 or so? I haven’t followed them closely, to be sure, but good news like this I would have heard—instead, zippo, nein, ingen, nee, non, nej – absolutely nothing.
So, who was or is the “Weakest Link” in all this on the Board? Frankly, I look at the Chair as if the responsibility is his to shepherd stuff like this across the finish line. And it isn’t like this is off limits when it comes to BoEd “regulations as Law.”
So who to hold responsible? Well, it’s common to hold the person in charge, so if Parents want to apply a bit of pressure, here you go:
District 4
Drew Cline (term expires 1/31/25) Chair
Bedford, NH
Andrew.C.Cline@affiliate.doe.nh.gov
(603) 488-5779
We talk about Live Free or Die – how often do we not realize that Government doesn’t always take our side of things, which, in this case, the freedom of parents to raise their kids their way? Or, as Jazz at Hot Air put it:
…It’s probably easy to lose sight of the fact that this issue runs far deeper than just rules applying to gender transition. That’s clearly an important aspect, of course, since it applies to not only the welfare of children but the protection of girls’ and women’s sports. But the larger battle deals with the fundamental rights of parents to guide the development of their children along the path to adulthood and instill the values they deem important in them.
This is a concept that was once nearly universal and fundamental across society. But the modern Left has gone in a completely opposite direction, arguing that “it takes a village” and, as Joe Biden famously claimed, children should generally be considered the property of the state, not the family. They believe that once a child sets foot in a public school, parents should be locked out of whatever happens in the classroom or anywhere on campus.
This is one of the most alarming aspects of the left’s battle to indoctrinate children and capture their minds while they are still developing and vulnerable to such influences…
“Let my children go!”
HT | Hot Air
