Many parents who had never-before-seen peeks into their children’s classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic have made an effort to expose those school controversies on social media.
During two years of inconsistent in-person learning, parents became aware that in addition to teaching the basics—math, reading, etc.—some schools were also offering lessons relating to race and gender. Mask mandates and school closures, which were found to have a negative impact on academics, mental health and social behaviors, also lit a fire under parents. Some became frustrated enough to start taking their grievances to Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms to warn their fellow parents.
A parent with Arlington Parents for Education told Fox News Digital that the prolonged school closures is what got them involved with the social media group. Arlington Parents, which is very active on Twitter, describes themselves as “a volunteer-led, bipartisan coalition of parents, teachers, students and citizens dedicated to accountability and transparency for an excellent education at APS.”
“I got involved because the schools were closed,” the parent said. “And I thought that public school children should be able to go to public schools that are funded with public money.”
FAIRFAX PARENT EXPLAINS HOW FORCED AT-HOME LEARNING AFFECTED HIS KINDERGARTNER: ‘IT WAS INSANITY’
Because of remote learning, many parents witnessed what was being taught to their children for the first time.
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The parent, who described themselves as “moderately progressive,” said that teachers and administrators detected a noticeable difference in students after at-home learning.
“It was characterized by a lot of student misbehavior and a lot of sort of lacking in the basics of socialization and following the rules for the younger kids and just sort of normal social interactions,” the parent said. “So I think there was a lot of mental and emotional health burden that was coming out.”
A student boards a school bus outside of Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington County which is one of several school districts which sued to stop the mask-optional order by Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., January 25, 2022.
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Inside the Classroom is a Twitter account that has been highlighting what it’s described as radicalism in schools, including lessons reportedly influenced by critical race theory (CRT).
Inside the Classroom said they’d heard talk about CRT and “gender stuff,” in schools, initially thinking it was “a little bit overblown and out of proportion.” They said they were driven to social media after learning more and being inspired by the work done by the popular account Libs of TikTok.
“Until I realized just how disgustingly it was embedded in all of our schools throughout the country,” Inside the Classroom told Fox News Digital. “And so I decided to start exposing this, and I’ve been on Twitter a couple of times, have been banned. But I continue to do this… Because I believe in protecting our children from it. But as I do more and more research, I realize just how perverse this ideology is. And it makes me want to fight and to continue to cover it until something is done.”
While CRT classes may not be explicitly taught, Inside the Classroom said, “the framework that it’s built upon is being pushed.”
In one particular video shared by Inside the Classroom, a teacher in Iowa talked about how she taught her White students to be anti-racist. She slammed the state’s ban on teaching critical race theory and said there is “absolutely no problem” with certain aspects of CRT being taught in schools.
“I teach my White kids that their White privilege can be used to make this country more equitable for their classmates who are still marginalized by society here,” Megan Geha, a special education teacher at Des Moines East High School, said in the video.
Gina, the founder of We The Parents NYC, said she was “shocked” by what she found on her daughter’s computer during at-home instruction, saying her school had misinterpreted its mission and should not have been trying teach her daughter “values.” She was “appalled” to see the teacher showing them a video the gist of which she said suggested White men were oppressive of minorities.
“My jaw hit the floor,” she said.
Minnesota Parents Alliance, meanwhile, is “exposing political agendas in Minnesota’s schools,” according to the group’s website.
Cristine Trooien, Executive Director of Minnesota Parents Alliance, said she was inspired to create the group after witnessing the state’s academic “freefall,” which she said began long before COVID. Her group has been highlighting many schools’ focus on “equity,” arguing they should instead be focused on improving academic, starting with student literacy.
“I think that… we spend an enormous amount of time now… looking at… equity initiatives and sort of these more politically charged issues,” she said. “When I really believe that literacy—and we have so many experts on literacy—and just even, you know, sort of what is the methodology that our schools are adopting to help our students learn to read?”
Parent groups are urging schools to focus on academics like math and literacy instead of equity curriculum.
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“And I think now there’s that new data and notion… just really getting back to that phonemic awareness approach and the science of reading, I think is now become, I think, what parents are asking for,” she added. “And so I would love to see as a parent and I think many parents agree with this, every dime and districts budget and every minute of teacher time and instruction are really focused on literacy.”
At the top of the Minnesota Parents Alliance Twitter account is the phrase, “Parents are not the problem. Parents are the solution.” Trooien said the group is committed to making sure parents remember that.
“I think that welcoming parents and I think we know that the best road towards students success is a really solid partnership between parents and teachers,” Trooien said.
Minnesota Parents Alliance, she said, places a large emphasis on cross district communication. Some of her parent followers have been reaching out with tips from what they’ve learned in Minnesota schools, oftentimes wondering if what they’ve heard is legal.
“They’ll send tips to the degree that it’s like, Hey I saw this come home in a backpack, or this is what’s going on in our classroom,” she said. “Or maybe this is a new policy or curriculum that, you know, our district is adopting. And certainly it helps other parents to see, ‘Okay, here’s a district that is doing this or this is part of their curriculum. I’m going to check and see if that’s what’s going on at my school. This is something that’s unsettling to me or this is something that doesn’t jibe with my priorities. I want to make sure that that’s not happening in my district.'”
Parents and community members attend a Loudoun County School Board meeting about critical race theory in Ashburn, Virginia, on June 22, 2021.
(REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
Tiffany Justice of Moms for Liberty, another very active parent group on social media, said she’s a former school board member who “loves public education,” but believes it’s been “captured” by the progressive left.
“And we do believe that we’re building an army of parents and that’s standing together in strong enough numbers will help to give us a real fighting chance to reclaim public education in America, which very much needs to happen,” Justice told Fox News Digital.
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Asked how Moms for Liberty encourages parents to get involved, she advised them to look close to home.
“We believe that the government closest to you is the most powerful one, that you should be a part of, that, you know, the government closest to you is the best government, and that’s where you can have the most impact,” Justice said.
