The Delta County School Board meeting this past month was the site of a controversial debate over the inclusion of certain topics in a fourth-grade social studies textbook. Several parents and community members showed their strong concerns about a paragraph in the textbook that mentioned Colorado Governor Jared Polis being the first openly gay and Jewish Governor. The people who were there for the public comment argued that this information was inappropriate for fourth-grade students. Most of the parents and speakers at the board meeting were making the argument that it’s not up to the schools to be teaching the kids about their gender identity, especially at this early age.
“Words matter, and putting this in a state-sanctioned textbook is advocating a moral position that many in our conservative community disagree with,” said Jason Neely at the school board meeting. He went on to explain that even though it is just a paragraph, words have power. “While some may look at that paragraph and roll their eyes or shrug their shoulders and say, it’s no big deal, we need to understand that words matter, even if it’s just a paragraph. The Gettysburg Address was just a paragraph, JFK’s words to ask what you can do for your country was just a paragraph,” said Neely.
Others went further by offering their religious beliefs and said that the gay agenda was being pushed in schools.
Some people offered some ways of fixing the problem by covering up the paragraph with a sticker, or making that chapter optional to read and read only with parents’ permission.
Not everybody shares these views. One of the speakers argued that the textbook’s statements were just simply historical fact and that the parents, not the schools, held the sole responsibility for shaping their children’s values, thoughts, and beliefs. It will be decided what will happen this upcoming Thursday at the school board meeting where a final decision will be implemented.
