Owen Jackman, a delegate to the California Teachers’ Union state council, made the remarks on Facebook.
A high-ranking member of one of the largest teachers’ unions in California published a satirical letter Monday mocking parental calls for curriculum transparency, demanding a detailed report of the content and influences children are being exposed to at home.
Owen Jackman, a delegate to the California Teachers’ Union state council and a teacher in Sacramento City Unified School District, wrote a sarcastic Facebook post deriding parent concerns about progressive pedagogy, suggesting that parental rights are equal or subordinate to teachers’ rights in education.
Addressing parents who advocate for their kids at school board meetings as “storm troopers,” Jackman jibed that “I have a reason to be concerned about the appropriateness of what your child is learning outside of school.”
Writing tongue-in-cheek, he requested parents provide a play-by-play of the television shows their kids watch, the social media they use, swear words and racial epithets their kids hear each day, the books being read to them, and activities they will participate in for the remainder of the year.
The teacher also asked for a “thorough description of how the relationships among the adults in your child’s life are displayed in front of your child” as well as “tallies” of the motivational vs. judgmental words said to kids in the household.
Mocking parents’ efforts to uncover the radical race and gender ideology being promoted in classrooms, Jackman warned that instructors would “set up a meeting” with parents who don’t report back.
Wrapping up the taunt, Jackman wrote: “This may seem like a lot at first, but I’m sure it will become routine after only a few weeks, and we really need this transparency to ensure that your child receives the education they are entitled to.”
Since their eyes were opened to the reality of critical race theory and gender ideology in K-12 schools, many parents have spearheaded grassroots campaigns to reclaim control over their children’s education and demand accountability for their tax dollars.
Responding to the surge in parental protests at school board meetings, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI to investigate an alleged rise in criminal harassment against teachers and administrators. The order was issued in response to an October letter from the National School Board Association which labeled the dissenting parents “domestic terrorists.” The NSBA later apologized for the inflammatory language and subsequent reporting revealed that the organization had coordinated with the White House while drafting the letter.
Earlier this month, President Biden called Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill “hateful,” declaring his support on Twitter for “every member of the LGBTQI+ community — especially the kids.” Pending in the Florida legislature, the bill would bar school personnel from teaching kindergartners through third-graders about sexual orientation or gender identity in a manner that is not age-appropriate.
The bill would also require schools to notify parents if they notice changes in the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health, with the noted exception: “unless a reasonably prudent person would believe that such disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect, as those terms are defined in s.39.01.”
If school districts violate the law and attempt to shut parents out, the bill would make it easier for parents to pursue legal recourse against them.