Dateline Sacramento (9/10/2009)
Dateline Sacramento
News with a View from the California Capitol
September 10, 2009
President Obama visits your child’s classroom
As many children returned to school last Tuesday, President Barack Obama addressed them via the Web and CSPAN. As Dateline Sacramento reported last week, the President’s proposed speech – accompanied by Department of Education (DOE) curriculum guidelines – proved to be quite controversial. Parents and pro-family policy experts feared that, like so many aspects of this charismatic President’s policies, the speech would serve as a “bully pulpit” to circumvent parents and reach school children directly with partisan issues. The DOE curriculum amplified these concerns by asking children to discern what they could do to help Obama and by promoting learning about the current President.
School districts nationwide received calls from concerned parents, and most districts that chose to show the speech provided an alternative activity for those students whose parents objected to the Obama presentation. In Elk Grove, CA, the school district advised schools to send home opt-out forms last week. It appeared the administration had gotten the message as an advanced copy of the President’s remarks was released, and the DOE guidelines were softened. Instead of blatant support of the President, the amended curriculum guidelines called for students to write out personal goals and responsibilities. The “corrected” lessons still include reading and studying about Obama and posting his quotes (but not those of other Presidents) on classroom walls.
While the President’s remarks – for the most part – were a non-partisan promotion of education and personal responsibility, the danger remains in the classroom, as on the airwaves, of promoting a “cult of personality” around this personable President. Secondly, parents, who have access to the speech itself, are not able to be part of classroom discussions, where the personal politics of teachers are inappropriate.
Parents, who for years have trustingly sent their children off to the neighborhood school, where they have learned far more than basic academics, are awakening to the dangers that lurk in many public schools. The homosexual agenda, which has redefined tolerance and promoted full-blown acceptance of homosexuality under the guise of safe schools, and the comprehensive sex education movement, which promotes condom usage over abstinence, have been unmasked. Parents are becoming aware of the “progressive” messages in public schools, and responding with actions that better protect their children.
As your child returns to school this fall, resolve now to stay involved – know your child’s teacher, his/her friends (and their parents), examine curricula and lessons, and stay informed of district policies and state legislation. Pray for your child, his/her school, and district policy makers. It will make a world of difference in your child’s education and your community.
Remembering 9/11/01
Tomorrow marks the 8th anniversary of the brutal terrorist attacks which shocked our nation. Who can forget the images of hijacked airliners crashing into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania? We remember the images of the brave firefighters, police officers and safety personnel running into the burning buildings to save the lives of others, never returning to their own families and loved ones.
The series of coordinated suicide attacks by 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists killed 2,993 people.The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including people from over 90 foreign countries.
It is imperative that we not only remember that fateful day forever, but teach our children about it as well. Fox News reported that there is a new program that will teach students about 9/11. September 11th family members (those who lost loved ones in the attacks) and college professors have unveiled a plan to teach junior and senior high school students about the 2001 terrorist attacks. The 9/11 curriculum was announced Tuesday in New York City, and will be taught in pilot programs this year in California, among other states.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was among those interviewed by the educators who developed the curriculum. Giuliani said that the curriculum can help students to think critically about the attacks as both a historical event and one that shapes the present, noting the continued threat of terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mayor Giuliani says there is a natural tendency to forget the events as the years pass.
But he says the threat of terrorism still exists, and it’s important for children to develop an understanding of 9/11. He says this curriculum offers a sensitive way to do that.
The curriculum is taught through videos, lessons, and interactive exercises, including one that requires students to use Google Earth software to map global terrorist activity.
One of the main goals is to help students entering middle and high school that may have been too young to have strong memories of the attacks, to develop a tangible connection to what happened.
“In a few years, we will be teaching students who were not even alive at the time of the attacks,” said Anthony Gardner, the executive director of the Sept. 11 Education Trust. “We’re not sugarcoating the event,” said Gardner, whose brother died in the World Trade Center. “We’ve included images that are challenging.”
Final week of the Legislature sees Leno bills approved and an unexpected resignation
With the Legislature scheduled to adjourn for the year on Friday, Legislators identified several policy issues they stated must be accomplished before the Legislature adjourns. According to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders, it was imperative that Legislature resolve the agreed upon $1.2 billion Department of Corrections budget cuts, develop a workable water plan that would address agricultural needs and environmental concerns, and approve a new state energy renewal portfolio standard.
In an effort to address these legislative priorities and review over 500 pieces of legislation, members of the Legislature (Assembly and Senate) have been in session daily since last Monday. However, with less than 48 hours remaining, resolution on their top priorities remains elusive. Despite intense meetings and negotiations, legislators and the Governor continue to be at odds over water, the corrections cuts and renewable energy.
Despite the Legislature’s inability or willingness to find solutions to their stated top legislative priorities, the Legislature’s majority had the will to approve legislation that is a direct assault on the family and California voters. This week, the Assembly and Senate approved Senate Bills 54 and 572, authored by Senator Mark Leno, on party-line votes. The Legislature’s approval of these measures illustrates the political majority’s proclivity to succumb to the will of special interest groups over the values of their constituents.
SB 54 requires the state of California to validate and recognize same-sex marriages performed outside the state of California prior to November 5, 2008. The bill specifically violates Article 1, Section 7.5 of the California Constitution which states “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
SB 572, the “Harvey Milk” bill, requires the governor to annually proclaim May 22 a “day of significance” in honor of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly homosexual politician. SB 572 wrongly encourages schools to supplant students’ classroom time in order to conduct “commemorative exercises” and activities related to Milk’s contributions and sexual orientation.
Both measures will be sent to Governor Schwarzenegger for his signature or veto. Join the California Family Council in opposing SB 54 and SB 572 by contacting the governor at his Capitol or district offices:
Capitol Office: 916-445-2841
Fresno Office: 559-477-1804
Los Angeles Office: 213-897-0322
Riverside Office: 951-680-6860
San Diego Office: 619-525-4641
San Francisco Office: 415-703-2218.
Fresno Office: 559-477-1804
Los Angeles Office: 213-897-0322
Riverside Office: 951-680-6860
San Diego Office: 619-525-4641
San Francisco Office: 415-703-2218.
As the legislative year draws to a close, revelations of adulterous activities by a legislator with two Sacramento lobbyists have become an unfortunate distraction in the Legislature. The flurry of media attention surrounding the inappropriate behavior of Assemblyman Mike Duvall (R-Yorba Linda) has resulted in his resignation from office. Please pray that God will work in the lives of all those impacted by the Assemblyman’s actions and that God will heal and strengthen damaged marriages and relationships.
Local Links
SACRAMENTO — On Labor Day weekend, many Californians found themselves more in need of work than a holiday. A report released on Sunday found that two of five working-age Californians do not have a job, underscoring the challenges in one of the toughest job markets in decades. The last time employment levels among this group were this high was February 1977, according to a study by the California Budget Project, a Sacramento-based nonprofit research group that advocates for lower- and middle-income families. Read more in the Californian.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Board of Education voted Tuesday to adopt a controversial resolution that could turn a third of the schools in the nation's second-largest school district over to private operators. The proposal, which gives Superintendent Ramon Cortines 60 days to develop a plan, was approved 6-1 after a contentious four-hour public hearing and board debate. Proposals will be accepted from private charter school operators, local communities and the mayor's office for the operation of 50 new schools that will open over the next four years, as well as 200 existing schools that are chronic underperformers. Read more on the MyPhil17 website.
SAN DIEGO – As financially strapped schools open across California, educators are turning to outside sources like never before in an attempt to ease the effects of multibillion-dollar cuts, giving rise to the new three Rs: retailing, raising money and recouping lost budget income. San Diego County educators are selling the naming rights to two sixth-grade science camps. South Pasadena officials are wooing Hollywood producers to film TV shows at district headquarters. Read more on the Fox5 San Diego website.
Truth Project Opportunities
RIVERSIDE – California Family Council continues to expand its offerings of the acclaimed Truth Project group leader training seminars. Training in biblical worldview is a prerequisite to living out authentic Christianity in today’s postmodern culture, with its subjective claims of truth.
The next Truth Project group leader training seminar:
Saturday, September 12, 2009
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Host Church: Arcadia Presbyterian Church
121 Alice Street
Arcadia, CA 91006
For more information on attending or hosting a seminar, call the California Family Council at 951.354.8362 and ask for Trudy. Register online for seminars at: www.californiafamily.org.
