Starting now.
Commonalities where guests find
common ground through uncommon
conversations, politics,
religion, finances,
all the topics your grandmother told
you not to discuss with friends.
And now your host, Matthew Dowling,
and today's guests commonalities.
Well, everyone, thank you for
joining us today on commonalities.
I'm your host, Matt Doley, and I
have a wonderful guest with me today.
Uh, Lois.
Lois has been involved in local
politics for over 20 years.
Um, she's been involved in
school board elections. Uh,
she's an advocate for school choice,
and as many of you have come to know, uh,
this new program is about, uh,
seeing two sides to an issue.
Today we're going to be
talking primarily about, uh,
school choice through a, uh,
a school board member
and a parent's eyes. Um,
and then at a later point in time,
we'll be talking with some of our
advocates for public education, uh,
even though they may not be in favor of
the type of choice that we're discussing
today, um,
we'll get them on the show another time
to talk about the flip side of this
issue. Lois, thank you so
much for being with me today.
I wanted to give you a chance to kind
of introduce yourself and to give us a
little bit of background, um,
because you are extremely experienced
in what you're gonna be talking about
today.
Well, thank you, Matt. Thank
you for having me. I'm,
my name is Lois Kahiki and I, um,
and the Pennsylvania State
Coordinator for Moms for Liberty.
And our goal is to defend parents
rights and education at all levels of
government. And I came on board, I'm the
first state coordinator they've hired,
uh, came on board in June, and we
are organized at the county level.
So we have county chapters. Uh,
people can go to our website,
moms for liberty.org and see if you
have a chapter set up in your county.
And if not, you know, we want
to start one. So <laugh>,
I'd love to talk to you about
people about that. But, uh,
we're trying to empower,
uh, parents, grandparents,
community members on how they can have
an impact and have a voice in their
local schools. And, uh, of
course advocate for, uh,
parental rights and
education. And, um, I've been,
I've been interested in education issues
forever. I just believe, you know,
a good education is the great leveler
of society no matter what it, uh,
circumstances you're born into.
If you get a good education,
you can make better, uh,
better, uh, life for yourself.
And that's what America's all about,
right? Is giving people opportunity, uh,
giving them a chance at the American
dream, which I very much, uh, believe in.
But, uh, you need to have a
good start in life. You know,
we spend a lot of money
on public education,
and we deserve to have an excellent
product, and I think we're falling short,
and I think a lot of people
feel that way these days.
Yeah, and, and I would
tend to agree with you, uh,
while I try to stay kind of neutral on
this show as a moderator, there's, uh,
you know,
no lying about the fact that I've been
a strong proponent for school choice,
uh, because I think parents know best
what their own kids need in the classroom.
Um, so, you know, sometimes I have
to put my moderator hat on, but I,
I think people already
know my point of view, um,
when it comes to education. And
I think there's an important, uh,
piece that we need to kind of
mention up front. Um, you know,
I don't wanna speak for you,
but I don't think that those who are
educators in our public school system
are bad people by any, uh, stretch
of the imagination. You know,
I know we keep funding
education at larger and larger,
uh, amounts each year in
the, uh, in the state budget.
And I know that we've run into a
budget deficit when it comes to
those school teachers
retirement funds. Uh,
and I think what's important
to remember is that, you know,
these are good people. For the most part.
They're people that are trying to do
the best job that they possibly can.
They were made, uh,
promises, I'll be them,
bad promises about their
retirement. And, uh, as politicians,
we kind have to check
the blame up to them,
not to the teachers that we've fallen
into the pension crisis that we have that
is making, uh, education so expensive.
So I just wanted to kind of lead
with the fact that I, you know,
I don't think educators are bad, and
I don't think you do either, Lois.
That's correct. Right?
No, uh, uh, but educators are like
every other profession, Matt, you know,
there's a range of, uh, good
and not as good, uh, uh,
educators. The same there is in every
other profession, right? I mean, uh,
in most, uh, areas of life,
you want to have choice and choose
who you go to for your services,
your professional services, whether
it's getting your car fixed,
your doctor or lawyer, um,
and you wanna be able to choose who
you think is right for you. And, uh,
unfortunately, that, um, that that
free market approach doesn't apply,
unfortunately, in our
education system. Um, you know,
not all teachers are equally good.
There are a lot of excellent teachers,
but there are some that aren't,
uh, uh, really measuring up.
And that's the reality of it. And
anyone in, in the public schools knows,
knows that. And, uh, I've talked to
parents every year, they're like, oh,
we pray we don't get teacher X because
the teacher X is no good. You know, and,
and it's just the, it's just the
fact. And teachers know it too,
and they don't like the fact that there
are teachers that aren't doing, uh,
their job, but the union
protects, uh, these, these people.
And that's a blemish on the
whole system. But yes, and.
You.
Knows.
You know, I think you made an
excellent comparison there,
and I've never really thought
of it this way, but, uh,
with the accent that I had last October,
I've had to have subsequent surgeries,
uh, several times
throughout the last year.
And I've gotten a second
opinion many times, uh,
after I've met with one surgeon. And
kind of getting that second opinion,
uh, or another point of view,
is something that we don't always
have the choice with as parents in the
public education system. And, and I
think that's a great comparison, uh,
because even when it comes to doctors,
we have that free market approach where
we can pick and choose who our surgeons
going to be. And in education, we
don't always get that opportunity.
We're gonna have to pause for
a quick commercial break, uh,
just a minute or two to recognize
our sponsors for today's show.
When we come back,
Lois and I will be talking about some of
the most alarming trends that there are
in education,
as well as the importance to the
upcoming school board elections
and so much more. Remember,
elections have consequences,
and that's why it's so important that
we get ahead of the elections coming up
and we start talking about them early.
So we're gonna pause for just a moment,
and we'll be back after these
messages from our sponsors.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should
call Dave Dowling at Grandview
Inspections at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers, freshly
painted walls, granite countertops,
fleeing hardwood floors,
and other touches.
What you can't see is the
cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that might
be revealed when you hire a
home inspector. And when it
comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications
and experience needed,
should be your number one
concern. Dave Dowling,
with Grand View Inspections,
is an architectural engineer with over
30 years of commercial construction
experience and hundreds of
inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity
for you to hire an expert to walk
through the home and prepare a report
outlining the home's major components.
What needs immediate attention and
what will require maintenance after you
move in your home is one of
your biggest investments.
So make sure your investment is
everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at
Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You're listening to commonalities
where guests find common ground through
uncommon Conversations.
We'll be back after this brief
break to recognize our sponsors.
Is your business using analog
strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca
Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we
bring in-depth knowledge and functional
expertise with a holistic perspective.
Coordinated 360 provides
digital marketing, paid ad
and media buying services,
web design, social media management,
video production, and more for businesses,
organizations, and political
campaigns with decades of experience.
Matt and Becky at Coordinated 360 can
help you craft your unique message
and share it with the world. For a no
risk media evaluation and recommendations,
call 7 2 4 3 2 0 22 12,
or visit us online at
www.coordinatedthreesixty.com.
Find us also on Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter,
or email info coordinated three sixty.com.
Well, thank you so much for sticking
with us through that commercial break.
I'm with Lois, uh, today, and
we're talking about, uh, education,
primarily school choice,
and, uh, we wanna talk now,
we were kind of at the, the 30,000
foot view when we open the show.
Now we wanna talk a little bit about
the most alarming trends in education.
So, uh, tell me what some of those
trends are looking like, Lois.
Well,
probably the most alarming trend today
is what is called social emotional
learning, and that you'll hear
the term thrown around a lot,
and it sounds warm and fuzzy, and it
sounds like it has good intentions.
It's actually been around for a long time,
but it's being used to data
mine. Our children collect a lot,
a lot of data on them for the ultimate
goal of grooming their attitudes, values,
and beliefs.
So education is becoming less and
less about academic learning and
academic achievement, and
more about shaping the,
what kids think and how they
think it and what they believe.
And we see this time and time again in
the schools, even with young children.
So, uh, and, and this is being
done in a variety of ways,
and I want parents to really be on the
lookout for surveys that children are be
being given in the classroom.
They may be on paper,
they may be on their
Chromebooks or their iPads.
They could be done in a
variety of different ways,
but you really need to be aware of this,
and you need to talk to
your teachers about it,
and it's being integrated
into the curriculum. So, uh,
it's, and it's, it could possibly
be in every subject in every grade,
and it's being done, uh,
standalone surveys, and again,
as part of the curriculum. So, uh, you
need to be aware of this. You should,
in my view, uh,
you be well served and your children
will be well served to opt out of these
surveys. Uh,
they are relying on gathering
lots and lots of data because
gathering this data is going to
tell them it's going to, they're,
they're training themselves how they
can best reach your child with the most
effective message to groom their
attitudes, values, and beliefs.
So they're doing personality
surveys, personality tests, um,
they're finding out about your family
because they're doing personality profiles
so they can target individual
messages through the internet,
through a computerization,
uh, a technology, uh,
directly to your child. They can't
do if they don't gather the data.
So you should make every effort
to opt out of these surveys. And,
um, there are a lot of opt out
forms that are available now. Uh,
we have a lot of optout forms, um,
and this is something that parents
really need to be aware of. But,
um, with our academic achievement
on the decline, again,
the National Association of Education
Progress Report just came in.
Our scores are worse than ever.
And it's, it's not just covid,
it's because of Common Core that the
General Assembly adopted in 2014.
And it, this has been going
back for, uh, over a generation,
but now it's just really come to a head.
So the social emotional learning
is a very serious problem.
It should be outlawed,
in my view. And, um,
and because of the data mining and what
they're actually trying to achieve with
it, which is not academic achievement.
And another very alarming
trend, which is related,
is the hypersexualization of our children,
particularly at very young ages.
And I just read in, uh, Lebanon,
uh, school district, I
think it was Lebanon School,
just one of those Lebanon County,
uh, Noal, Meer, excuse me,
they just adopted a K
through 12 L G B T Q I A
curriculum starting in
kindergarten. Matt and I,
I don't know what parent thinks that they
want their children learning about L G
T Q, uh, uh, uh, subjects
in kindergarten. If you do,
you know, that's your prerogative.
But I think the majority of parents
would not want that in the classroom.
And it's not being transparent to
the parents about what is going
on. And I'm very much in favor of
a curriculum transparency bill,
so that schools have to post curriculum
at the beginning of the school year so
parents can see what their kids are
gonna be taught, because, uh, um,
there's just no reason
to have this in. Uh,
particularly in elementary school,
we're seeing more and more mental
health issues, gender transition,
gender confusion issues. This is not
normal, that this is really not normal.
And it's being instigated by
people pushing subjects on children
in an inappropriate way when
they're most vulnerable,
and just really trying to find out
who they are. And, and, and it,
it's just very disturbing. We
just had a suicide here in, uh,
I think it was the Gettysburg
School District this past week.
And then we think it's related to
gender, uh, gender confusion issue.
I'm sure you're gonna be hearing more
of that, but it's, um, it's just so sad.
We don't wanna lose any more children
to this problem. And, uh, we,
we need, we're not following the science.
We're following a political agenda,
and we need to stand up to it, Matt. Um,
and parents really need to talk to
their kids in school, especi, you know,
from the time they're very young.
You need to talk to your kids about
what's going on in the classroom and,
and keep that line of communication
open, because this can happen to anyone.
And one day you wake up and your
child just is not the same. And it,
it's just so, it's so sad. And I,
I just, I, I just don't, you know,
none of us really wanna see, none
of us wanna see that at all. And,
um, it's a very alarming trend,
something that must be fought
and parents must be keeping
an eye on.
Well, let me take off my, uh,
my radio host hat for a second,
and, uh, and the hat of
the retired legislator, um,
and put on my parent hat because I have
a nine year old and a 10 year old, uh,
little boys that are at home, um,
they attend school at, at, uh,
Commonwealth Charter Academy. Um, but I,
I think what you're talking
about is about respecting other
people's way of life. And if you have, um,
people like yourself or like
myself who maybe lean, uh, to,
uh, some traditional family values,
if that's what we wanna call them, um,
when we send our kids to school,
I don't think we want them
hearing a message that is the
antithesis or, or different from, uh,
the message that we teach at home.
And, and I think respecting
those boundaries is so important.
If you choose to have
a talk about the, uh,
about a kid's sexuality with
your own child, that's one thing.
When it's done in a classroom, I think
that it's something very different.
And, uh, and I think that, uh,
when it really comes down to it,
the crux of the issue is, uh, as you
would believe, or as I would believe,
is that there's simply no room for
sexuality in our classrooms. Um,
you know, we, we wouldn't
want our kids to know, uh,
about the sexuality of their teachers.
And we don't want our teachers talking
about the sexuality of our kids while
they're at school in the classroom.
It's actually worse than that, Matt.
It's not just a matter of conflicting
with parents' values, which is bad enough,
but it's a, it's a matter of
psychological and mental health as well.
There are certain topics that
are inappropriate age-wise
for children at certain
ages that not to discuss certain
topics. I mean, in, in certain schools,
children are being exposed
to graphic sexual acts in
literature before it,
it is age appropriate.
If that's ever age appropriate, I don't
know. But certainly at a certain age,
you can be exposed to something and it
not have it affect you in a negative way.
But if you're a preteen or
a child and you, you know,
these topics have not ever even been
brought up or come into your mind before,
and all of a sudden you're, you're
exposed to pictures of, uh, of people, of,
of children performing oral sex
on adults. And I mean, that,
that can be, if it's presented
in, uh, a certain way,
it can be psychologically
harmful to a child.
Imagine that child who doesn't
feel comfortable going home,
talking to a parent or guardian
about this, these topics. And they,
they see it in school and they, they
just are confused, right? And they, they,
they feel shame and guilt, and they,
they don't know who to turn to. What,
what becomes of that child? Who does
that child have? And they, they,
you know, there is an agenda where they
want the children to speak to government
employees when they're feeling
vulnerable, not their parents.
And that also is a dangerous
trend, right? Because, uh, uh,
we want to hold families together.
We want families to be strong.
We don't want state
workers supplanting or,
or becoming, uh, who children
go to further support.
So, uh, there, there's a lot
going on that's very, that,
that's wrong on multiple levels.
And sometimes by the time parents
find out the damage has been done.
And we wanna try to prevent that by,
by being proactive and making
sure these materials don't go
into schools, particularly in
elementary schools to begin with.
Let's not wait till the
damage has been done,
let's prevent it from
happening in the first place.
Well,
you talked a little bit earlier in the
program about opt out opportunities,
and I wanna talk a little
bit more about, uh,
the specific opt outs that, uh,
we want parents to be aware of,
uh, in relation to these alarming trends
that are happening in, in education,
but also in regards to
that data mining. And, uh,
I'm gonna get to that as soon as we get
back from our next commercial break,
cuz we gotta get another
sponsor recognition in here.
But when we come back, I
wanna, uh, jump on, uh,
alerting parents of some of
the ways that they can opt out.
So we'll be back after these messages.
You're listening to commonalities
where guests find common ground through
uncommon Conversations.
We'll be back after this brief
break to recognize our sponsors.
Is your business using analog
strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca
Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we
bring in depth knowledge and functional
expertise with a holistic perspective.
Coordinated 360 provides
digital marketing, paid ad
and media buying services,
web design, social media management,
video production, and more for businesses,
organizations, and political
campaigns with decades of experience.
Matt and Becky at Coordinated 360 can
help you craft your unique message
and share it with the world. For a no
risk media evaluation and recommendations,
call 7 2 4 3 2 0 22 12,
or visit us online at
www.coordinatedthreesixty.com.
Find us also on Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter,
or email info coordinated three sixty.com.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should
call Dave Dowling at View
Inspections at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers, freshly
painted walls, granite countertops,
fleeing hardwood floors,
and other touches.
What you can't see is the
cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that
might be revealed when you hire
a home inspector. And when
it comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications
and experience needed should
be your number one concern.
Dave Dowling with Grand View
Inspections is an architectural engineer
with over 30 years of commercial
construction experience and
hundreds of inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity
for you to hire an expert to walk
through the home and prepare a report
out lining the home's major components.
What needs immediate attention and
what will require maintenance after you
move in your home is one of
your biggest investments.
So make sure your investment is
everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at
Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You're listening to Commonalities.
And I'm your host, Matt Dowling. Uh,
beside my guest Lois today. And it's not
just that we are on first name basis,
but she has an extremely
difficult last name to pronounce,
and I know I would butcher that. So Lois,
if you wanna throw your last
name out there, um, be my guest.
Yes, it's Lois Kahiki and I'm
with the Moms for Liberty.
Well, it's so great to have
you on the program today.
We were talking a little bit about,
about ways parents should
be familiar to opt out their
students of data mining and some of the
trends that are happening in education.
So why don't you educate us a little bit
about how a parent can take those, uh,
important issues into their own hands
and decide that they're gonna opt their
son or daughter, their student out of, uh,
conversations or testing in school.
Right. Well, um, there's a couple
things. Uh, there are some, uh,
pre-made optout forms. There's
one on courage is habit org.
Courage is habit org.
You can get ahold of someone at Mom's
for Liberty and ask for a pre-made form.
But most importantly, I think, uh,
speak for like already
into the school year,
but speak to your teachers about
surveys given in the classroom and
assessments and social
emotional learning assessments.
They are doing social
emotional learning assessments.
If your teacher says they aren't,
the teacher either doesn't realize
that they're doing it or they're lying,
but they're doing it on the,
they may be doing it on the computer and
the teacher doesn't even know because
of the programs that
they're using. So, um,
at first I would talk
to the teacher, say, um,
that you want to see any surveys
before any surveys are given in class.
You want to see the survey and be
able to read the survey yourself, uh,
before and you are going to
approve any survey. Your,
your child does not have advanced
approval from you to give any survey
without a notice in advance.
And I would put that in writing.
I would maybe sit down with the
teacher, talk to them about it first,
if I put it in writing
and, and give it to them,
give them a copy and ask them to sign
that they acknowledge and that they will
honor your wishes. And I
think it's very important, uh,
to sit down with the teacher if you
can, and discuss this in person.
Um,
I just think it's better to
look the teacher in the eye
and let them know you're
serious. Uh, and um, then, um, you know,
depending on how that
conversation goes with a teacher,
you'll get a good enough feel if you
think the teacher is going to honor your
wishes. Maybe if you're not sure,
you can go up the chain of command.
You can go to the building
principal and the superintendent,
but I would definitely go to
the teacher first and, um,
and address it in that way.
If you see other material in the
classroom that you don't want your child
exposed to, you do have the right
to opt out. Your, your, your, uh,
school district should have a
policy on curriculum and opting out.
If you go to the,
your school district website and you
look under school board policies, uh,
they're organized, but in the
hundreds, like hundred, 200,
I think it's in the 200 level, it'll
help you find it. If you can't find it,
call the administration office and
ask for how to read the district,
uh, policy on curriculum.
And it should be in there how you
opt their policy and how you opt
out of cur of any particular
curricula. They don't have a policy,
then you should be able to opt out
because, uh, uh, I think it's, you know,
you have the right, you have to assume
you have the right, you are the parent,
but you just sort of wanna go by
their process to, uh, you know,
and they'll make it easier for you. But,
um, always assume that as the parent,
you have the right to do what's
right for your child. Uh,
then the next question is, well, while
the classroom is doing this curriculum,
what is your child going to be doing? And
that's something you have to work out.
You can maybe find something on your own
that you would prefer your child to do,
or then you're going to have to,
um, you know, ask the teacher, uh,
what, what they're gonna
provide. But, you know,
then you're getting into risky territory
cuz they don't want the extra work.
But, um, those are some,
some tips and, you know,
that I would recommend where to start.
And I think if a parent
is currently saying, well,
maybe this is happening someplace
else in the United States,
it's not happening in my kids'
classroom in Fayette County
or Somerset County or
Bedford County, uh, I, I,
I unfortunately have to say that I
think that assumption is, is wrong.
I was speaking recently to a
retired professor from, uh,
my college alma Mater
Waynesburg University. And, uh,
this, uh, professor in, uh,
in particular was telling me
that part of her decision to,
uh,
retire from educating was that
these kind of assessments were
being forced upon her in her classroom.
And the administration of the college, uh,
was not giving her any choice as to
whether or not to use these assessments.
Uh, they were being required.
Now that's on someone, uh,
students that are a little bit older that
maybe have a little bit more of their,
uh,
their own ability to know if they
should complete an assessment or
not, uh, their college-aged kids.
But it is happening down to
elementary school level, uh,
from what I understand in
some of our local classrooms.
Yes, it is. And you should assume it's
going on, even starting in kindergarten.
I it, I mean, they're giving even
kindergarten students these iPads. Uh,
you know, kindergarten,
there is no academic
reason why K through third
graders. I I would say all of
elementary school needs, uh,
iPads or Chromebooks. I mean,
and in many ways they can
be abused and they can,
they can hinder academic development.
So they're only being
used for data collection.
That is the only justification.
They're not gonna tell you that,
but that's really what it's
all about. Um, so I, I,
you know, I remembered when I
was on the school board, uh,
when that came up and I knew that
it was going in the wrong path,
but I just knew I couldn't convince my
colleagues not to buy those Chromebooks.
But, um, I, I would get rid of the
Chromebooks in all of elementary school.
Go back to, there was
nothing wrong with textbooks.
There is nothing wrong with
pen and paper, you know, uh,
and kids learn better when they
write anyway than when they type. So,
um, that's, you know, that's
another issue. If, if you,
it's funny if you read about the big tech
mobiles, you know, in Silicon Valley,
they, they don't give their young
children technology devices to work,
to play on and work on.
They don't want them.
They know that stuff isn't
good for them. So, um,
it's very interesting because that's
their industry and they know not to put
their young children on those devices.
You know, and you talk a little bit about
the, uh, the Silicon Valley companies,
those high-tech, uh, organizations
that are out there. And, uh,
you know, I'm, it's not
directly related to education,
but I'm looking at our election
process and the fact that, uh,
companies like Facebook were putting
money into our independent elections
here within the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. Uh, we refer to that, uh,
in the legislature as Zucker bucks,
uh, that were being spent to help,
uh, help operate, um,
elections and kind of gave an
in, uh, unfair advantage. Uh,
my question to you, and, and maybe
you know this, maybe you don't,
are some of those same tech
companies, because remember,
if we're not paying for something,
uh, likely we are the product. And,
uh, my question is, are some
of those tech companies, um,
donating or facilitating the
use of their technology to our
children because they want, uh, some of
that data that's being mined as well?
And then in that process, our
kids become the product, uh,
that's out there for monetary gain?
Yeah,
I don't know if it's so much they want
the data or that it's just a big money
for them and it's a multi-billion
dollar industry right now.
They want a piece of that,
uh, public education pie. Um,
you know, I I, I may be
different than other people. I,
I know that they're collecting data
on me every time I do a Google search.
And I kind of don't care that they're
marketing to me cuz I'm an adult and I can
choose what I wanna buy and
what I don't wanna buy. But I,
when it comes to our children
and our education, it,
it bothers me a lot because
we are substituting Ed
something else for what is supposed
to be happening in school. It's a,
it's the biggest scam and
rip off of our lifetime mat.
And that is what really concerns me.
Well, we do have to, we have
to get one more break in here.
It'll be our final break of the
program, and then we'll close to, uh,
come to close things up.
And in our final segment,
I wanna be able to get time in there
to talk about upcoming school board
elections and what people should know
about their local school boards and the
candidates that are putting their
names forward to go on that ballot. Um,
so we'll be talking about elections
here in our final segment today. Also,
we're talking about, um,
the kind of right side, uh,
not right or left, uh,
right or left, excuse me,
not right or wrong side of this issue.
If you happen to disagree with anything
that's mentioned on today's podcast
and you'd like to be a guest of mine
in a future podcast to help debate both
sides of this issue, please uh,
drop me an
[email protected] or
info coordinated three sixty.com.
We have to get to a quick break and we'll
be back to talk with Lois about school
board elections.
You're listening to commonalities
or guests find Common ground through
Uncommon Conversations.
We'll be back after this brief
break to recognize our sponsors.
Is your business using analog
strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca
Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we
bring in-depth knowledge and functional
expertise with a holistic perspective.
Coordinated 360 provides
digital marketing, paid ad
and media buying services,
web design, social media management,
video production, and more for businesses,
organizations, and political
campaigns with decades of experience.
Matt and Becky at Coordinated 360 can
help you craft your unique message
and share it with the world. For a no
risk media evaluation and recommendations,
call 7 2 4 3 2 0 22 12 or
visit us online at
www.coordinatedthreesixty.com.
Find us also on Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter,
or email info coordinated three sixty.com.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should
call Dave Dowling at Grandview
Inspections at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers,
freshly painted walls,
granite countertops, fleeing
hardwood floors and other touches.
What you can't see is the
cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that might
be revealed when you hire a
home inspector. And when it
comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications
and experience needed should
be your number one concern.
Dave Dowling with Grand View
Inspections is an architectural engineer
with over 30 years of commercial
construction experience and hundreds
of inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity
for you to hire an expert to walk
through the home and prepare a report
out lining the home's major components.
What needs immediate attention and what
will require maintenance after you move
in your home is one of
your biggest investments.
So make sure your investment is
everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at
Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
Well, thank you for tuning in
today to commonalities, uh,
which is found any place that
you download your podcasts or on
WBS five 90 am 1 0 1 1 FM on
your, uh, radio dial. This
is, uh, Matt Dowling, and, uh,
I'm your host for today's show
and we're with speaking to Lois,
and we wanted to talk a little
bit about elections and their
consequences and the
school board elections,
which are very important that will
be coming up here in the near future.
Yes, yes. So I know everybody's,
uh, thinking about next week,
which they should be. It's an important,
very important election as well. Uh,
but these elections keep getting more
and more important it seems like every
year. Uh, next spring already,
we have primaries for local elections,
which includes local school boards
and half of your school boards.
Uh, for directors, you have nine school
directors in every school district and,
uh,
at least five of them will be up for
election in the spring and anyone can
run for school board. Uh, you just
need to file the paperwork in, uh,
March and you're on the
primary ballot. Um, and, um,
we need people who are going to, uh,
stand up to these alarming trends
that we've discussed in education,
the hypersexual sexualization
of our children, and, uh,
data mining and social emotional
learning. It's all, uh, it's all bad.
And every day that goes by, uh,
our children are losing more academic
learning because we don't have school
boards that are asking the tough
questions or taking the bull by the horns.
You know, we have these, uh,
this culture and school boards where
school directors go to meetings and they
allow the superintendent to just throw
a bunch of stuff in front of them,
and then they rubber stamp everything
and then they go home. And,
and I know I'm, I'm trivializing
what school directors do.
I was a school director for
four years. But in, in essence,
that's what it mostly is, uh,
with, with very few exceptions.
And those days are over met.
We need school directors to be
proactive and to start developing
policies and procedures that are
fighting back against, uh, the,
the stuff and making sure when they hire
district administrators that they are
on the same page. And, uh, we,
we have to hire district administrators
that aren't going to put up with this.
And I'll give you a
quick example. Um, in a,
in a school district
that I'm close to, um,
apparently there was a brand new teacher
in third grade that it got back to
school director, I guess that
first day of class, this new,
this new teacher asked her
third graders, these are seven,
six and seven year olds, Matt,
which pronoun they wanted to use.
Now can, can you imagine that?
So this got back to the
superintendent and to his credit,
he went to the teacher quietly
and didn't make a big deal at him.
He went to the teacher quietly
and said, we don't do that here,
just very firmly. And she
said, oh, okay. She said,
that's what they taught us to
do in teacher school. You see,
this is another problem is our
teacher certification programs,
which we could hopefully
change legislatively, I,
I hope in the future. Um,
but because we had this superintendent
that understood common sense,
in my view, he nipped it in the bud.
But if you have a woke superintendent
who thinks this is now what we
have to do in third grade for
goodness sake, uh, you know,
now you have a battle on your hands.
You don't wanna hire people like that.
So the school directors have to make
sure the superintendent is on the same
page and that they have all
these policies in place.
They know what's going
on in the classroom.
If you're hiring new teachers straight
out of college, you better be careful.
I I think they almost need re-education
before they start in the classroom.
But, um,
but school directors are very important
Next year we have a majority up for
election, and we need,
we desperately need, uh,
citizens to run who
will help us. It, it's,
it's definitely giving back to your
community. You are not paid. Um, we,
we desperately need people
who are gonna defend, uh,
what's right in education for
our children. And, um, uh, I,
I can't overemphasize. I think
today, in my view personally,
the most important people in our country
are governors and school directors.
And I firmly believe that.
And, uh, moms for Liberty,
our chapters are looking
for candidates and they,
a lot of them will be
endorsing candidates next year.
So we gonna be watching these
races very closely. And, um,
and there's a lot at stake.
You know, you mentioned,
uh, the importance of school
directors and, you know,
sometimes it is a very thankless job.
So we have to be thankful
for the people that, uh,
put their name on that ballot and
allow us to vote for them, uh,
for that position because they're
stepping up and, and they're taking, uh,
a position that not everyone wants to do.
As someone who has put their name
on a ballot before, uh, you know,
I can attest to the fact that that's not
always the simplest decision to make.
There's an old joke in politics that
says that school boards are a place for
good politicians to go to die, uh,
because you can either raise
taxes or cut services. Um,
but those aren't the only
things that they're able to do.
So I would have to say that that jokes
a little, um, outdated. You know,
right now they are frontline
defenders for basically our way
of life. Uh, and so it's
extremely important that we get,
uh, valuable people, people
that are willing to, uh,
stand up and make hard decisions for
no pay and perhaps make some enemies in
the process of doing it. Uh, but it is
so important that those people step up.
And, you know, in my local area,
I would say if I can be a resource to
anyone who's thinking about putting their
name on a ballot, you can always contact
me. I'll give you my opinion, uh,
about that and encouragement and help, uh,
if we sit in the same location, uh,
point of view on some of the
issues. But, um, you know,
it is so important that we get
people geared up for these elections.
We have just about two minutes left,
and I wanted to give you a chance to
give your organization's website and
social media, uh,
contact information out so that
people who have been listening today,
if they wanna connect with you
or get further information,
they know how to do it.
Great again. Well, I'm
with Moms for Liberty,
and our mission is to
defend parents rights,
parents rights in education at
all levels of government. And,
um,
our website is moms for
liberty.org and my email
address is Lois, that's l o i s,
moms for liberty.org. And, um,
these school board elections
are so important. Uh,
I just wanna add that quickly,
that these school boards can do
things the legislature refuses to do.
They can enact curriculum transparency,
get you good curriculum, and, uh,
can oversee everything
going on in this school.
So it's really important
that people step up and, uh,
take the bull by the horns and really,
really stand up to what's going on.
And we're here to support those kinds of
candidates and to give them whatever we
can to, uh, make sure
that they're successful.
Hey, Lois, it has been great to
have you on the program today. Uh,
maybe in the future you can be back to
educate us more about what is happening
in, uh, trends of education. Um, again,
you were a great GU guest. Before
you come on the next time, thank,
I will learn how to pronounce your
last name, I promise <laugh>. Uh, but,
uh, but it's, it's a tricky
one for me, so we'll,
we'll learn that before
you come on. Again,
just wanted to thank you for
being with us today and, uh,
if you have any questions for
Lois, my guest today, she, uh,
rattle off her contact info. You,
my contact info can be
[email protected],
and we'll also post the information that
Lois gave you to get ahold of her or
her organization. Thank you so
much for listening today. Have, uh,
a great week and God bless you all.
Thank you, Matt. Starting now common.
This has been commonalities,
a show where guests find common
ground through uncommon conversations.
Copyright 2022 coordinated 360.
All publicly broadcast should be done
with prior written approval from Matthew
Dowling. All requests should be sent
to
[email protected]
Thank you for listening to commonalities.