Social conservatives are again trying to get rid of California's SB-48,
The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act. I wrote about
the details of this law which mandates inclusion and respectful teaching of various minority groups. There was an attempt to put a
repeal of SB-48 on the November 2012 California ballot which failed.
Last week the
Christian Coalition of California's Chairman, Richard Rios,
filed two petitions to effectively undo FAIR, each sponsored by a separate organization.
Talking Points Memo discusses the petitions. The first removes inclusion language for the LGBTQ Community.
The Committee to Repeal SB48’s initiative would eliminate the part of the law that mandates lessons about the contributions of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans,” because, as the filing says, “the public school system is responsible to educate our children in the basic education of reading, writing, and math and not to promote political and sociology dogma to students as young as five.”
The second is an opt-out for families.
The one submitted by the Committee for Parental Rights for Education would allow parents to write a note that excuses their kid from lessons if it conflicts with “religious training and beliefs.”
The
Bay Area Reporter includes an interview with Mr. Rios.
Rios said the committees behind the ballot proposals, on which he sits – the Committee to Repeal SB 48 and the Committee for Parental Rights in Education – have just started raising money. He said they have about 400 distribution centers committed to their effort, for activities such as distributing petitions, but he wouldn't share any details, such as where they are.
He also wouldn't say much about their fundraising plans. However, he said, "We've got commitments in the six figures right now." Rios estimated each campaign around the proposals he submitted would cost about $13 million to win approval from voters in November.
This round of defending FAIR may be complicated because
Equality California is struggling with new leadership and endeavoring to regain its footing (see the bottom of the Bay Area Reporter article). There is an
online effort to protect FAIR.
This is very important as the anti-equality groups are going to do their best to eliminate FAIR. For example,
Political Vel Craft writes
SB 48 mandates positive teaching of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyles to children of ALL ages. That means that any child attending public school starting with kindergarten on, in the state of California will be indoctrinated to accept lifestyles that God refers to as being an ‘abomination’ and punishable by death; Lev. 20:13 (God’s words, not mine).
According to them that which does not "reflect adversely" must be positive. SB-48 is not about indoctrination, but that highly charged word will scare some people. And Leviticus 20 includes prohibitions of worshiping Molech, witchcraft, cursing one's parents, adultery (hello Mr. Cain and Mr. Gingrich), incest, sex during menstruation, being naked with relatives, bestiality, psychics, and necromancers. Nearby chapters include prohibitions on eating shrimp and bacon, wearing clothing of blended materials, tattoos, and much more that are commonly violated by those who only remember prohibitions against the LGBTQ community.
FAIR is about equality, not brainwashing and not indoctrination. It is going to take a lot of effort to get the truth out there and prevent the half million signatures from being gathered. There are going to be even
more lies this time.
Thanks to
Joe My God for the heads up.
12 October 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.
23 October 2011, FollowUp 1.
9 December 2011, FollowUp 3.
28 January 2012, FollowUp 4.
