Educational Equity Emancipation
“We have to do better”… That’s Dr. Almitra Berry’s heart-felt answer when asked about educating children from diverse cultural and language backgrounds.
Dr. Berry has a strong message for educators and school system leaders who don’t understand that cultural differences can profoundly affect the quality of education these children experience…
“You have children with failing test scores. You have teachers who want to teach but aren’t given the freedom or allowed to use the tools and strategies they need. You have teachers leaving the profession in droves.
And you have tax-paying parents who are very dissatisfied with their children’s education but don’t know how to effect change.”
In other words, our education system has a crisis on its hands. And this crisis affects all of us, not just teachers and those in the educational establishment.
It’s a crisis we must address if we’re going to have an exceptional nation with school systems free of systemic oppression.
We need to take it to heart. We need to act on Dr. Berry’s message. It’s a message she’s deeply passionate about.
As an educator, speaker, and author, she focuses on the education of the most historically marginalized: culturally and linguistically diverse learners.
She has worked diligently for over 30 years to help marginalized learners, learners of color, of linguistic and cultural diversity in low-wealth urban school districts, experience higher academic achievements.
Dr. Berry is on a mission. A mission bigger than herself. A mission to change the conversation happening around the topics of education, equity, and intellectual emancipation for culturally and linguistically diverse learners.
But she can’t do it alone. So she’s looking for leaders to join her. Is that you?
If you’re nodding your head and saying “Yes!” as you read this, we invite you to subscribe and listen to The Educational Equity, Emancipation Podcast.
Educational Equity Emancipation
Episode 116: The Impact of Project 2025 on Inclusive School Policies
What if protecting parental rights means jeopardizing the safety and autonomy of LGBTQ+ students? In this thought-provoking episode of the 3E Podcast, guest host Christina Pipkin, known as Pip, tackles the contentious topic of Project 2025's Suggested Mandates for Parental Rights in Education. We dissect the implications of these proposed mandates on LGBTQ+ student issues, scrutinizing the push to define sex solely in biological terms and the call to remove LGBTQ+ initiatives from U.S. foreign policy. Pip raises critical questions about the exclusion of the LGBTQ+ community from human rights protections, urging listeners to consider the broader consequences of these controversial policies.
As we navigate through the heated debate surrounding parental rights in education, we delve into the essence of Project 2025's Parents' Bill of Rights. This episode explores the tension between parental authority and the need for schools to support LGBTQ+ students, touching on issues of gender identity and curriculum content. Pip challenges us to rethink the balance between parental control and the rights of every child to thrive, highlighting the potential dangers of elevating parental rights above all. Tune in for a compelling discussion that sheds light on one of the most polarizing issues in education today.
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If you're a parent, teacher or school leader and you're sick and tired of the frustration, anger and unfair treatment of children at high risk in our public schools, then perhaps it's time for all of us to do something about it. In this podcast, dr Amitra Berry brings you tips, tools, strategies and tactics to build successful solutions, while touching, moving and inspiring all of us to transform our schools so that every child thrives. Here's your host, dr Berry.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the 3E Podcast. I am Christina Pipkin, better known as Pip, and I have the pleasure of being your guest host for this episode. Today, we're discussing a particularly timely and controversial topic Project 2025 Suggested Mandates for Parental Rights in Education and how they Intersect with the LGBTQ Plus Student Issues in Schools. They intersect with the LGBTQ plus student issues in schools. Project 2025, as we all know, is a conservative policy agenda. Many have heard rumblings of what this mandate says in regards to the LGBTQ plus students and the rights of both them and their parents within education. It proposes several significant changes to the current structure of education and parental rights. At the heart of this debate is the tension between schools supporting LGBTQ plus students, especially those exploring their gender identity, and parents' rights to control what their children learn, experience and express within the school environment. So let's break down some key aspects of Project 2025's proposed changes.
Speaker 2:We have already noticed a trend, but there's a strong opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within government frameworks, emphasizing a return to the traditional values over what they like to call progressive reforms. To the traditional values over what they like to call progressive reforms On a global scale. We're going to start big and then go down more granular. Project 2025 calls for removing LGBTQ plus initiatives from US foreign policy. The document argues that the US should focus on core security, economics and human rights. I'm going to repeat that the US should focus on core security, economics and human rights. I'm going to repeat that the US should focus on core security, economics and human rights. For me, my immediate question is how does the LGBTQ plus community not fall under human rights? How does excluding this community fit into the notion of protecting all humans and providing core security? Removing these rights would lead to increased discrimination for a community of people who have constantly been scrutinized and rejected already. The LGBTQ plus initiatives are vital for safeguarding human rights and promoting equality worldwide. Project 25 also insists on defining sex strictly in biological terms and opposing expanding the definition to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Once again, this is excluding a community of people simply because of who and how they love, complexities of gender identity and sexual orientation, leading to more discrimination and rejection of services, especially related to health care and education.
Speaker 2:Now let's get into the parental rights within education. What is Project 2025 saying? In recent years, the question of parental rights in education has sparked significant legal and policy debates across the United States. I'm sure everybody has heard something about it in the last few years and you might have even been following it a bit closely. While courts recognize parental authority as fundamental, there's an ongoing discrepancy in how these rights are safeguarded compared to other constitutional liberties such as free speech and religious freedom. The US Supreme Court and federal courts have upheld parental rights as paramount in raising and educating children. However, these rights often face challenges such as inconsistent judicial scrutiny, which can regulate them into a lower tier in legal disputes. Elevating parental rights to a top tier status could undermine efforts to protect children's autonomy and safety, particularly in sensitive matters like gender identity and curriculum content. Remember CRT I think Dr Berry has done an episode about that. So all of these things are connected and they're wanting to address them.
Speaker 2:In the regard of parental rights and what they can and can't have students learn and participate in in schools, project 2025 makes it clear that parental rights must be protected and prioritized. One of its major points is that parents should have the ultimate authority over decisions involving their children's education, particularly when it comes to sensitive topics like gender identity. This involves a parent's bill of rights, which would require schools to inform parents about their child's gender identity exploration, name changes and even the pronouns they choose to use in school. The argument here is based on a fundamental belief that parents, not schools or government agencies, should be the primary decision makers in their children's lives. The project calls for strict scrutiny to be applied whenever parental rights are at stake, but here's where it gets even more controversial. Many LGBTQ plus advocacy groups argue that requiring parental notification for issues of gender identity could put some students at risk, especially those who come from unsupportive or even hostile home environments. By opposing schools assisting with gender transitions or withholding information about a child's gender identity from parents. This approach could harm transgender youth, as they are a vulnerable population. Eliminating safe spaces for students that need an adult to speak with and advocate for them is damaging, to say the least. The suicide rate, specifically with trans individuals, is alarmingly high. The question then becomes where do we draw the line between parental rights and protecting vulnerable students?
Speaker 2:One of the contentious issues involves proposed federal regulations under Title IX, where schools may be mandated to support a child's social or medical gender transition without parental consent. This has ignited concerns about government outreach into familial decisions. Where should the government intercede and where should the parents have full autonomy over the decisions made about their child. While bills such as Empowering Parents Act and the Parents Bill of Rights Act seek to clarify and strengthen these rights across different states, this has undoubtedly made matters complicated even further. These legislative proposals advocate for a private right of action under laws like FERPA and PPRA, allowing parents to enforce their children's privacy rights in educational settings effectively. The argument here is that expanding parental rights through legislation could create legal complexities and administrative burdens for schools, potentially undermining educational quality and equity. So what's the legal framework behind all of this?
Speaker 2:Project 2025 aims to elevate parental rights to the same level as other fundamental rights, like freedom of speech. It calls for new legislation that would require the government to meet its highest level of judicial review, known as strict scrutiny, before infringing on parental rights. On a practical level, this would mean that any policies allowing schools to withhold information from parents, particularly about gender identity, would face major legal challenges. Schools would need to prove that such policies are necessary. If these changes come into effect, we could see new legal battles and shifts in the way schools handle gender identity and parental involvement. At the same time, it could lead to more intense debates about the role of schools in supporting LGBTQ plus students, especially those from unsupportive families.
Speaker 2:This leads right into the next part of the discussion LGBTQ plus student issues and gender identity within schools. The influence of gender ideology on school policies have been a focal point at the parental rights debate, particularly regarding privacy and transparency between schools and parents, and that's been going on for a while now. That's been going on for a while now. It calls for policies that would prohibit teachers and school staff from addressing students by names or pronouns that don't align with their biological sex, unless the parents explicitly approve. Additionally, it advocates for protecting educators who have religious or moral objections to using preferred pronouns. So once again, that religious freedom is coming into play. But what about the human rights of the student? Who's protecting the kiddos? This part of the project is driven by concerns about what is described as radical gender ideology infiltrating schools.
Speaker 2:Project 2025 frames the rise in children questioning their gender identity as a part of a social contagion that is harmful, particularly in young girls. However, advocates for the LGBTQ plus students point to research suggesting that respecting a student's chosen name and pronouns can have positive effects on mental health, especially for transgender youth. There's also a question of whether these proposed policies would further isolate LGBTQ plus students, making it more difficult for them to explore their identities in a supportive environment. For them to explore their identities in a supportive environment. So now I want to read the policies verbatim to you, according to Project 2025, if you are an educator or someone working in a school system, I want to read exactly what they're proposing. First one no public education employee or contractor shall use a name to address a student other than the name listed on the student's birth certificate, without written permission of the student's parents or guardians. Next one no public education employee or contractor shall use a pronoun in addressing a student that is different from the student's biological sex within the written permission of a student's is different from the student's biological sex within the written permission of a student's parent or guardian. And then the last one no public institution may require an education employee or contractor to use a pronoun that does not match a person's biological sex if contrary to the employee's or contractor's religious or moral convictions.
Speaker 2:That is huge. That is giving power to the parent, power to someone with opposing religious beliefs, but stripping away any power that the student would have on having autonomy of what they feel inside themselves, who they feel they are as a person and how they want to be addressed in society. What's our path forward? What does this look like, right? So the path forward requires thoughtful consideration of legal frameworks, legislative initiatives and societal impacts to ensure both parental authority and student well-being are effectively safeguarded. By no means do we feel that parents should have absolutely no say in their students' educational journey. However, there are some safeguards that need to be put in place to protect both the parent and the student. Both are important in the situation. So we talked about a lot today.
Speaker 2:To do a quick, brief recap, Project 2025 emphasizes parental rights and education, opposing policies that allow schools to support LGBTQ plus students, especially in matters of gender identity, without parental consent.
Speaker 2:It calls for legislation that requires schools to notify parents about any name or pronoun changes and seeks to restrict school staff from addressing students in a manner inconsistent with their biological sex, unless authorized by parents, with their biological sex, unless authorized by parents. The document also criticizes what is called radical gender ideology and advocates for parents' Bill of Rights to be strengthened parental control over such matters. As we've heard, project 2025's proposal for LGBTQ plus issues are highly controversial. They reflect a deep ideological divide in current US politics and policy debates. While conservatives argue these policies protect traditional values and parental rights, lgbtq plus advocates and student allies see them as potentially discriminatory and harmful. We've only scratched the surface of this complex and evolving issue. I encourage you please read Project 2025 for yourself. Get an understanding of how this is going to impact you, your families and the bigger, greater community. Whether you're a parent, educator, concerned citizen or equity warrior, it is imperative, now more than ever, to vote. We have to vote like our lives depend on it because, quite frankly, many of our lives do.
Speaker 3:And that's a wrap for today's episode of the 3D Podcast. Now here's how you can make a real difference. First, smash that subscribe button. It's free, it's easy, just do it. Second, share the show with anyone you know who cares about education. And third, consider becoming a supporter of the show Together. We're not just talking about change, we're making it happen. No-transcript.
