| In January we told you about the Evesham school district where some parents were up in arms over the showing of a film, "That's a Family" to 3rd grade students. The film teaches kids about all kinds of families - married, divorced, and single parent families, interracial and mixed-religion familes, adoptive parents, grandparents as guardians, and - gasp! - same-sex families. That last part was too much for some parents to tolerate and in February the school board decided to suspend it from the curriculum.
At the Evesham school board meeting tonight, the School Board review committee - composed of over a dozen community members - recommended reinstating the film "That's a Family" into the curriculum, though starting a year later in 4th grade, rather than third. There would be no special opt-out from the film beyond what state law already requires for sex education. Right-wing parents attending the meeting went crazy with anger that their kids might be taught to be more tolerant than them.
Update: The school board just voted 7-1 to reject the recommendations of the review committee. Based on their reaction, the decision was pretty clearly based on the school board being uncomfortable with the gay community. There will probably be litigation following this decision. Steven Goldstein, the chair of Garden State Equality, says this is "far from over". |
