Subject: Important Update on 9/26 Board Meeting and Our Petition for Age-Appropriate Curriculum
Dear Fellow Parents, Teachers and Residents,
Thank you for signing our petition [link to petition] in support of an age-appropriate curriculum. We’ve gathered over 450 signatures in just 5 days, and the momentum continues to grow. But the leaders of the teacher’s union, Cupertino Education Association (CEA), pushed back to advocate for teaching sensitive gender identity topics starting from TK.
Public schools are funded by taxpayers like you. We need your help to write to the board members who we elect!
We want to update you on recent developments:
- Board Meeting on 9/26: During this meeting, parents presented strong comments advocating for age-appropriate curriculum, while maintaining respect, composure, and decorum. At the end of the meeting, 4 of the 5 board members requested to add BP 6144 (Instruction on Controversial Topics) to the agenda.
- Misinformation by CEA: Unfortunately, baseless misinformation was spread. The day before, CEA sent an email falsely claiming that Moms for Liberty would attend to promote “anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.” That group never attended, but due to this false information, the parents who did attend were met with hostility and disrespect.
- Hostility by Attendees Who Call for Inclusion: During the 9/26 board meeting, the parents were called “bigots”, “anti-trans”, and “fascists”, while none of the parents attacked anyone. In addition, the CEA members have been making noises when parents spoke, and what’s even worse, mocking parents with accents.
- Zero Affiliation with Moms for Liberty: The 9/30 letter from the CEA president to all teachers made even more wild baseless claims about concerned parents and school board candidate Long Jiao. This slander is an attempt to label us with a radical group in order to silence our concerns. We want to be clear: we are not affiliated with any group. We are a diverse group of CUSD parents advocating for curriculum integrity while respecting all communities, including LGBTQ+.
- CEA Advocates for Gender Identify Topics Starting from TK: In the 9/30 letter, the CEA president pushed for CUSD to start teaching sensitive gender identify topics starting from TK. She used the mention of “gender nonconformity” (not adhering to societal gender expectations) to argue that gender identity, including gender fluidity (a gender identity that changes over time) should be taught starting from TK. This deviates from California’s educational guidelines and deviates from current practices in public school districts, like CUSD.
- Call to Action: The CUSD board and administration will only take us seriously if they receive individual emails from concerned parents like you. It’s crucial that you reach out and make your voice heard. We need to let the CUSD Board know that parents want the district to focus on teaching core academics, not introducing radical ideas that confuse young minds.
- Moving Forward. Join Our Efforts: School board candidates like Doug Kuntz are supporting the inclusion of gender identity topics in all classrooms starting from TK. The 9/30 CEA letter, which advocates for gender topics starting from TK, is promoting Sylvia Leong and Lakshmi Sharma, the candidates CEA has endorsed. Please join us to stand up for our children to learn in classrooms free from political activism and unvetted popular trends.
Let’s stand together for our children’s education. You can contact the CUSD board and the Superintendent at [email protected], [email protected]
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Concerned CUSD Parents with CurriculumIntegrity.Org
[Date: 10-01-2024]
Subject: Protect our children’s education: a call for curriculum integrity
Dear Superintendent Yao and Members of the CUSD Board:
We, a group of CUSD parents, are concerned that the integrity of the board-adopted curriculum objectives are compromised when teachers introduce personal opinions, which often are an extension of their own political activism. As you well know, this is against the federal law, the state law, and the CUSD Employee Code of Conduct.
Additionally, since discussions of gender expression and gender identity are not a part of the district’s adopted TK curriculum, we respectfully request a clear, definitive answer on the following:
1. Will CUSD commit to informing parents 14 days in advance of any classroom content, activities, or instruction that involve gender fluidity?
2. Will CUSD then provide parents who do not want their children exposed to such ideology to opt their children out of this exposure?
Given recent events at both Dilworth and the most recent board meeting that indicate a lack of cooperation on the part of a select group of CUSD educators, we find it necessary to ask for an answer on each of these items as we anticipate our next steps.
Furthermore, we urge the board to adopt policies to ensure the safety of our children and to ensure the integrity of board-adopted curriculum. Our petition (copied below) for the age-appropriate materials in CUSD has collected over 450 signatures in one week.
We thank the board for agendizing BP 6144 (Instruction on Controversial Topics), which is #1 of the 4 suggested actions. In addition to that, we request the board to agendize an item to address the remaining 3 actions in order to protect young children from instruction using unvetted materials on sensitive topics by teachers:
- Ensure Compliance with Federal Case Law
- Establish an Appeal Process
- Implement Opt-Out Procedures
Thank you for your time and careful consideration on these matters, as well as your service to the CUSD community.
Sincerely,
Concerned CUSD parents
[Date: 10-01-2024]