URGENT: BESE Meets December 13th to Discuss Early Childhood Learning and Development Standards
Time Sensitive Call to ACTION!
We rely on our friends at Louisiana Education Alliance, Louisiana Save Our Schools, Moms for Liberty - East Baton Rouge, Parent’s Choice LA, and UnMask Our Kids - Louisiana to keep us informed on issues involving curriculum in the Louisiana school system. They have made us aware that the BESE Board will be meeting on Tuesday, December 13th at 9:00 am to discuss the Louisiana Standards for Early Childhood Care and Education Programs Serving Birth to Five Years.
Of concern is the adoption of standards that incorporate Social Emotional Learning (SEL). We (Health Freedom Louisiana) have concluded that SEL raises first amendment and informed consent issues by imposing beliefs that may be in opposition to a family’s strongly held religious beliefs, and by incorporating “counseling” through unqualified employees without valid informed consent. Read more at Epoch Times:
Trading Academics for Far-Left ‘Social-Emotional Learning’
“The thing I find to be the most disturbing about social emotional learning is how well it disguises its true sinister motives,” she told The Epoch Times. “Parents do not understand that SEL psychologically manipulates children to question (and eventually rebuke) any Christian or conservative beliefs that may be taught in the home.”
While parents are led to believe that SEL is like teaching children The Golden Rule, “it is quite the opposite,” McWilliams said.
“Social emotional learning is rooted in progressive, social justice ideology that divides anyone who questions the radical groupthink agenda,” she said. “From my personal experience, not only do parents not understand it but teachers and administrators don’t either.”
SEL also represents the “brainwashing of our children,” McWilliams continued, noting that it trains children to “compromise on everything” with no consideration of what is taught in the home.
“These programs rely on a bombardment of propaganda, conditioning, and role playing to separate children from God and the nuclear family,” she said, saying SEL was the vehicle used to get children to accept as truth the narratives behind Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and Black Lives Matter (BLM).”
Major points of concern of SEL shared by Louisiana Education Alliance:
Parental Rights - the assurances found in the LA Parental Rights for Public Schools statute are not applicable to the early leaning standards for birth to five years
Mental Health/Non-Professionals conducting psychological and social work - webinars used for certification in EBR come from this website. Notice the December 15th webinar entitled: Gender, Expectations, and Social-Emotional Development in Early Childhood
Origins of SEL (excellent resources available at Louisiana Save Our Schools)
CASEL - Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
“With a growing number of partners, CASEL is creating a more comprehensive approach to education, one that will lead to a more equitable, just, and productive society,” the organization’s website boasts under the headline “SEL as a Lever for Equity,” hitting multiple key buzzwords associated with the far-left “social justice” movement.” Epoch Times
Transformative SEL
Standards are too broad which allows SEL curriculum and professional development to be utilized to meet the social and development aspects of the standards
Traditional values & moral values being taught at home being canceled and replaced by educational instruction, violating the underlying ethics of Louisiana Children’s Code
Long term impacts of this type of pedagogy
Negative cultural shift in educational settings due to the implementation of SEL
Tension between peers due to their identifying markers in society - race, gender, etc.
Removes student individualism and creates collectivism through SEL
What can you do?
If possible, attend the BESE meeting on Tuesday, December 13th and provide public comment. Simply request that the review of the early learning standards and time for public comment be extended.
Claiborne Building
Room 1-100, The Louisiana Purchase Room
1201 N. Third Street, Baton Rouge, 70802
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
9:00 a.m.
Email the BESE Board members AND the members of both the House and Senate Education Committees before the meeting on Tuesday, December 13th at 9:00 am. Why include the legislative committee members too? It is expected that BESE will not acquiesce to the demands of the public. Including the legislative committee members will add impetus to the message.
James.Garvey@la.gov, Kira.OrangeJones@la.gov, sandy.holloway@la.gov, michael.melerine@la.gov, ashley.ellis@la.gov, ronnie.morris@la.gov, Holly.Boffy@la.gov, preston.castille@la.gov, belinda.davis@la.gov, thomas.roque@la.gov, doris.voitier@la.gov, harrisl@legis.la.gov, amedeeb@legis.la.gov, jeffersonpo@legis.la.gov, emersonj@legis.la.gov, hse070@legis.la.gov, hilfertys@legis.la.gov, hse030@legis.la.gov, hse050@legis.la.gov, hse036@legis.la.gov, mageet@legis.la.gov, schexnayderc@legis.la.gov, abrahamm@legis.la.gov, sen36@legis.la.gov, mizellb@legis.la.gov, talbotk@legis.la.gov, whitem@legis.la.gov, sen14@legis.la.gov
Sample letter from Paige Lowry of Louisiana Education Alliance (feel free to draft your own or incorporate your own concerns in this letter) :
Dear BESE Board Members and Legislative Delegates of the Education Committee,
I write to you today to ask you for your support in allowing additional participation from the public on the recently reviewed Early Learning Development Standards. During the time the public portal was opened in May-July 2022 there were only 18 comments of feedback from the public. This clearly shows the public was unaware that this was taking place. There were many letters, emails, and recommendation letters on these standards sent to BESE with zero consideration. Members of the public along with organizations have repeatedly asked for an opportunity to participate in this process and have been denied by BESE to do so.
There are growing concerns around the currently revised standards in regards to the SEL construct coming into the state standards under the guise of Social and Emotional Development.
“Social and Emotional Learning” is a program of instruction for non-academic educational “competencies”. Social-Emotional Learning practitioners insist that social and emotional learning has always been an integral part of education and was therefore always occurring, just not necessarily in an organized, purposed fashion. Social-Emotional Learning is a set of psychological and social work–based interventions (predominantly on children) posing as values education. These psychological and social interventions can be implemented in a wide variety of ways. SEL is composed of psychological and social work–based interventions on children performed by teachers and other non-professionals (in psychology and social work) in uncontrolled, non-therapeutic spaces in order to teach them “right” and “wrong” answers to socially and emotionally relevant circumstances.
Transformative SEL “social awareness” lessons are unabashedly rooted in neo-Marxist social Theories like Critical Race Theory, Gender Theory, Queer Theory, Postcolonial Theory, Fat Studies, and Disability Studies, and “Trans SEL” in that regard is a vehicle and coordinating hub for programming (literally, as in thought reform or brainwashing) into the perspectives of these Critical Theories. The goal of Transformative SEL is to program children to see their world through the lenses provided by those Critical Theories and train them to be “change agents” (that is, activists) on their behalf. Systemic Transformative SEL, which is what CASEL currently promotes, is designed to rearrange the entire school-related life of every child so that it reinforces this programming in a fully immersive way." New Discourse, James Lindsay
The currently revised standards are extremely broad and are not well defined. An example of this is 75% of the old standard being removed. There is no language that speak on parental involvement in the new proposed standards as well. Allowing such broad standards to be accepted will allow a broad range of curriculum to be implemented. SEL being the one of most concerning and CASEL being the most influential in the current market for SEL.
The upbringing of a child’s understanding around their social interactions and emotions is the responsibility of parents and in some circumstances professionals not the states. The bare minimum of reinforcement of these two things is parents entrusting those in an instructional position to not uproot traditional values and morals being taught at home. Traditional values & morals values being taught at home should not be uprooted by educational instruction. The educational aspects of basic literacy and understanding from an academic standpoint is the responsibility of the educational institutions we allow our children to attend.
Parental rights and parental involvement in a child’s education should be protected and be reinforced in all frameworks of educating a child. This would include standards, policy, curriculum, professional development and the like.
As elected representatives of the people's voice I want to thank you for your time and consideration on this matter. We hope that you will allow parents an opportunity to weigh in on these very important state standard changes by reopening the portal for public comment and feedback.
As a reminder:
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA OF 1974
ARTICLE I. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
§1. Origin and Purpose of Government
Section 1. All government, of right, originates with the people, is founded on their will alone, and is instituted to protect the rights of the individual and for the good of the whole. Its only legitimate ends are to secure justice for all, preserve peace, protect the rights, and promote the happiness and general welfare of the people. The rights enumerated in this Article are inalienable by the state and shall be preserved inviolate by the state.
I’d like to further point out that there are no parental rights protections for birth to five year olds regarding education. §406.9. Parents' Bill of Rights for Public Schools
In Liberty,
[Your Name]
The complete agenda for the meeting can be found here.
