My Mom and the "parent rights" wedge issue.
My Mom was a tiger when it came to fighting for her kids, but she could smell racist BS from a mile away.
It’s Mothers Day and so naturally I’m thinking about my own mother, Helen Klonsky, who died 46 years ago after a decade living with Hodgkins lymphoma.
She was only 61 years old.
I have many stories about what kind of parent my Mom was.
When I was just five my Dad was on trial in Philadelphia for being a Red. His arrest and trial was part of a nationwide assault on the Bill of Rights by the federal government during the McCarthy era of the 50s in what were called the Smith Act trials.
In Philly his name was on the front page of the newspaper every day for weeks.
Mom made a visit to my school to talk with my kindergarten teacher to make it clear she would not tolerate any problems involving me as a result of the witch hunt that had enveloped the nation in those days.
She firmly believed it was her right as a parent and my right as a student to expect that I would be safe and treated fairly regardless of whether anyone agreed with my family’s politics or not.
As Mom told the story, the teacher reached into her purse and took out five bucks for the defense fund.
Mom believed in a parent’s rights when it came to schools, but she also would have had no trouble smelling the racist, homophobic bullshit that the current so-called parent rights movement represents.
Me too.
As a teacher for 30 years and a parent for longer, I believe in parent engagement in public education.
Parents were always welcome into my classroom. In fact, I encouraged it.
When a parent questioned what I was teaching or how I managed my classroom I welcomed them in to watch or participate.
Over 30 years I have rarely had a situation in which an issue with a parent wasn’t negotiable.
In 30 years of teaching kids with Special Needs, I have marveled at the fighting spirit of parents who would rightly demand - often from a resistant administration - the support their child needed and deserved.
But these right-wing groups like Moms for Liberty?
Or Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s parent bill of rights?
Or Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis’ “anti-woke” “don’t say gay” nonsense?
Mom would have called it out for what it was: flim flam snake oil.
She would know it was just a wedge issue used to gin-up the MAGA base that has nothing to do with genuine parental rights, schools or good teaching and learning.