Schools should refocus

On March 8, the General Assembly held a public hearing regarding SB1 called “An Act Concerning Transparency in Education.” As an educator, a parent and grandparent, I’d like to weigh in on this bill. First of all, this bill is certainly not transparent as it has not been fully defined. We only know that if this bill passes, comprehensive sex education will be mandated to all students in K through 12. What is transparent about this bill is that it seeks to supersede parental authority to teach children extremely sensitive material.

How and why did it become the state’s job to mandate sex education? Is the state designating itself as the better parent? It’s an act of arrogance to assume the role of parent and putting a mandate on something so sensitive as sex education.

After looking at some of the wording in this bill, I have to wonder what the real objective is, and why is our state more concerned about our children’s sexuality than their pathetically plummeting reading and math grades. I would think that would be far more concerning than sex ed especially when Connecticut 4th graders read at only a 35 percent proficiency rate and a 37 percent proficiency rate in math. Am I missing something?

One more point: I am a woman. If a man spoke to me with the language you are trying to push on our kids in sex ed, I would be able to sue him for sexual harassment. Why is it acceptable to speak to little children in that way?

Lastly, I think we’ve had enough of government mandates and in addition to that, government is nobody’s parent. So stop trying to usurp our authority and start teaching our children reading, writing, and arithmetic!