NO on Prop. 8
I'm a teacher, and I have been watching the ads for Yes on 8 since they started months ago. Quite frankly, they disgust me.
As a teacher, I am offended by the ads. They don't simply imply that children will be taught about gay marriage in schools...they flat out LIE. So as a teacher well versed in the content standards for all of the grades in elementary school, let's get the facts straight.
1) TEACHERS ARE NOT REQUIRED TO TEACH ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE IN SCHOOLS. In fact, we aren't required to teach about MARRIAGE in schools. The idea that we are forced to teach family values in our classrooms is ludicrous. Logically, it is impossible to teach ONE VALUE for every child in our nation. Every family has their own values, specific to the well-being of their members. Who am I to teach children from all different walks of life, socio-economic situations and cultures that ONE VALUE is the ONLY VALUE acceptable in the United States?!
Once again, TEACHERS ARE NOT REQUIRED TO TEACH ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE IN SCHOOLS. Just for comparison's sake, I'm not even allowed to wear an OBAMA '08 button while at work.
2) THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS DOES NOT REQUIRE TEACHERS TO TEACH GAY MARRIAGE IN SCHOOLS. In one ad, the Yes on 8 people erroneously claimed that Jack O'Connell requires teachers to teach marriage (in general) in schools, and that according to his own website, 96% (and what of the other 4%?!) of schools in California are currently teaching marriage in their curriculum, and that parents are not allowed to opt out of that lesson. THIS IS A LIE.
It may be true that parents are not allowed to "opt out" of the CONTENT STANDARDS, which do NOT include marriage. However, parents are allowed to "opt out" of anything other than the CONTENT STANDARDS, including a recent poll about drugs and alcohol that was distributed to the children in my classroom (ONLY AFTER THEIR PARENTS HAD AGREED IN WRITING.) Those kids' parents who did not want their kids polled about drugs and alcohol were NOT polled. Period. Parents have the final say of any NON-CURRICULUM BASED LESSON in the schools.
This parent manipulation is just another lie. Check the website, and search for the word "marriage." It simply doesn't come up because it is not a required curriculum.
We did show this excellent video called "That's a Family" to the entire student body, however. It described all different kinds of families, from a child being raised by his grandmother to divorced families to single parent families to aunts and uncles raising nephews and nieces to heterosexual and homosexual families. It had NOTHING TO DO WITH MARRIAGE, btw. It had everything to do with acceptance, tolerance, and love...in other words, family values that transcend race, color, religion, and sexual orientation.
In the same ad that claimed that parents would lose their parental rights over their children's education (ridiculous), they also claimed that a class in San Francisco attended a gay marriage which was considered a "teachable moment." This is partially true, actually. Some elementary school students from a SF public charter school attended the wedding of their teacher to her longtime partner at City Hall.
First, if they were allowed to attend the event, their parents were required to sign a FIELD TRIP SLIP or their child would not have been able to attend. This is a required form for all trips that are held off campus. I asked permission to take my students two blocks away to the library and was told by my principal that I had to have SIGNED PERMISSION SLIPS from the parents before taking any of the children off campus.
Second, this was the wedding of the children's teacher, not some random gay wedding at City Hall. The trip had a purpose...perhaps it was a "teachable moment" in some way, but more importantly, the children were there to support and celebrate their teacher's happiness. The ad makes it sound like the kids were dragged to City Hall against their will to witness an abomination. They were there because their parents supported the trip and signed permission slips.
Ok, rant over. But my last word on this topic is this: I am DISGUSTED by the people who are trying to pass their proposition by USING CHILDREN AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM and with BLATANT LYING. This is the most outlandish display of bigotry and hatred I have ever seen in my life.
If you consider marriage so sacred and hold it on such a pedestal that only heterosexual people should be honored to partake in its institution...THEN BAN DIVORCE.
