Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Post Rejects Schaerr Because of Anti-Gay Connections

TeachTheFacts.org formed nearly six years ago to promote a positive sex-ed curriculum in our county, and we continue to pay attention to education issues. The Washington Post this morning published its endorsements for Montgomery County races -- here's what they said about school board contests:
County voters will also elect four members to the Board of Education, which has the critical task of hiring a superintendent to replace outgoing Jerry D. Weast. Incumbents Patricia O'Neill (District 3), Judy Docca (District 1) and Shirley Brandman (at large) received our endorsement before the nonpartisan primary, and we hope voters will give all three another four-year term. They are able leaders with a keen understanding of the challenges facing the system.

In District 5, incumbent Mike Durso is the better choice over Martha Schaerr, a stay-at-home mom and PTA activist. Mr. Durso possesses valuable insights as a former high school principal; as for Mrs. Schaerr, we are troubled by her involvement in a group hostile to gay rights. She is also member of the board of the Family Leader Network, one of the groups that sued Montgomery school officials in an unsuccessful effort to block a new sexual education curriculum that dealt forthrightly with sexual orientation. Endorsements in Montgomery County races

I'm glad to see that The Post is paying attention to Martha Schaerr's shady associations.

In these times of austere budgets and the search for a new Superintendent, I don't think anyone believes that LGBT issues are the most important thing to consider in education at any level. Ms. Schaerr is the president of the Citizens for Traditional Families, who fight to oppose marriage equality for gay and lesbian citizens. She is on the board of directors of the Family Leader Network, which works to oppose gay and lesbian rights, and has sued our school district over the issue.

Does that matter?

Why, yes, it does matter.

If a person discriminates against one kind of person, why should we expect them to be fair toward others? Do you want a person who believes that their kind should be treated better than others deciding policies for the public school system? Do you want the school district to offer systematically different services to different groups of people? Or do you want someone who respects all groups equally and treats individuals as they deserve on their own merits?

I pointed out previously on this blog, Ms. Schaerr was the point person for the Family Leader Network's project to monitor school boards for evidence that they "promote the normalcy of homosexuality and 'comprehensive' sex education, [and] are aggressively pushing their agenda into schools under the banners of tolerance, equality and safety" (quoting from a Family Leader Network document found online).

As a voter, how do you feel personally about tolerance, equality, and safety? Are those qualities you would want to see implemented in the public schools, or are those qualities you would be careful to avoid?

The Post based its rejection of Ms. Schaerr on her leadership positions with anti-LGBT groups and her anti-gay activism. Some readers of this blog might find those positions appealing and decide to vote for her, while others might actually believe that tolerance, equality, and safety are positive features that we would want to promote in our community.

By the way, not all voters are aware that you can vote for school board candidates from a district you do not live in. Mike Durso and Martha Schaerr are running for the District 5 seat, but citizens from all over the county can choose to put an X beside either of their names.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"If a person discriminates against one kind of person, why should we expect them to be fair toward others?"

that would depend on the reasoning behind their discrimination and, frankly, what type of "discrimination"

everyone discriminates against some people and it's not always unfair

"Do you want a person who believes that their kind should be treated better than others deciding policies for the public school system?"

depends what you mean by kind

if by "kind", for example, you mean other people who do their homework on time, that would be OK

"Do you want the school district to offer systematically different services to different groups of people?"

no, but neither does Martha Schaerr

"Or do you want someone who respects all groups equally and treats individuals as they deserve on their own merits?"

false dichomotomy

if they treat them as they deserve on their own merits, that would be a type of discrimination

some people think commitment to traditional sexual mores has merit

"As a voter, how do you feel personally about tolerance, equality, and safety?"

I feel like they are three seperate concepts

"Are those qualities you would want to see implemented in the public schools, or are those qualities you would be careful to avoid?"

depends on what you mean by the terms

"The Post based its rejection of Ms. Schaerr on her leadership positions with anti-LGBT groups and her anti-gay activism."

that's why everyone will ignore their endorsement

"Some readers of this blog might find those positions appealing and decide to vote for her,"

a lot of readers of the Post will

"while others might actually believe that tolerance, equality, and safety are positive features that we would want to promote in our community"

unless you define your terms more precisely, it's a bunch of goobledy-gook

"By the way, not all voters are aware that you can vote for school board candidates from a district you do not live in. Mike Durso and Martha Schaerr are running for the District 5 seat, but citizens from all over the county can choose to put an X beside either of their names."

thanks for the head's up

Martha's in

October 26, 2010 4:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

seven Senate races are close enough to be toss-ups

if Republicans win 3, they take the Senate

in the latest polls, they lead by 4 in Nevada, 2 in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois, and 1 in Colorado

we'll see what changes ove the next week

October 26, 2010 4:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Activist on sex-ed issue seeks Montgomery school board seat

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/26/AR2010102606016.html

A woman who is part of a group that sued Montgomery County Public Schools over its sex-education curriculum is running for the Board of Education, reviving a debate about how homosexuality and premarital sex should be dealt with in the schools.

Martha Schaerr, who is running for the District 5 seat against incumbent Michael E. Durso, said that her 2007 fight against the sex-education curriculum is not her focus this time around; instead, she said, her primary concerns are basic issues such as the budget and student achievement.

But gay-rights advocates have criticized Schaerr for not being more open about her involvement with Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, of which she is a member.

The group sued the school system twice, arguing that its sex-education curriculum was dismissive of religions that consider homosexuality a sin and that it tacitly encouraged gay sex. The group wanted the curriculum to include discussions acknowledging various views about homosexuality, including that some people believe sexual orientation is a choice. It also opposed any mention of anal intercourse, saying that would violate a law against teaching "erotic techniques."

In 2005, a federal judge halted the teaching of the curriculum, saying that it presented one-sided views of homosexuality. A revised curriculum survived legal challenges in 2007.

"To bring someone onto the school board who has views that are so antithetical to the health and welfare of our gay students is bad for the county," said David Fishback, advocacy chair of the D.C. chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, who has tangled with the curriculum group.

Schaerr said that she'd rather focus on other issues.

"When you're talking about sex ed, people seem to hear the word and go to one corner or the other," she said. "All of the board members have said they're happy with it, so it's not very collaborative of me to bring it up right now. I would like to bring it up at an appropriate time when people can talk about it and not yell."

October 27, 2010 8:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Instead, Schaerr said, she is concerned about student achievement and what she describes as the school system's unwillingness to listen to parents and teachers. Two of her seven children are still in the school system, at Magruder High School, where she has been president of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association.

"I admire [Montgomery School Superintendent Jerry D. Weast's] vision and his use of data, but my experience has been that a lot of decisions have been made top-down," Schaerr said. Seeing the number of students in the county's schools who have failing grades "is what prompted me to run this time," she said.

Academic achievement will be even harder to improve with the tough fiscal climate, she said. "We're projected to get 10,000 more kids, and the money is just not there. We're going to have to cut, but cut wisely."

But Montgomery County gay-rights advocates say that Schaerr's past remains relevant. And adding to an unusually contentious school board race, one of Schaerr's allies from the fight against the sex-education curriculum has organized a yard-sign campaign called the Rotten Apple Ballot, which is fighting candidates who were endorsed by the Montgomery County teachers union.

"If you want your legislators to listen to you, it's not going to happen," said Ruth Jacobs, president of Citizens for a Responsible Government, the group that has distributed the signs. She said legislators listen to the teachers union. Her group also has fought against a bill prohibiting discrimination against transgendered people, and she was a member of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, along with Schaerr.

Jacobs said that Citizens for a Responsible Government has not endorsed any candidates in the elections this year.

The teachers union has said that there is nothing untoward about its endorsement process.

Durso, the District 5 incumbent, had just retired as principal of Springbrook High School in Silver Spring when he was appointed to the school board in 2009 to fill a vacancy.

He said he was "concerned" about some of Schaerr's positions on the curriculum, adding that "the school system has a role to support all students and all views and to try to make that atmosphere as conducive and non-threatening as possible."

But he also said that the superintendent search and the budget, not sex education, were the big issues in his mind. "I think we've got our hands full," he said.

October 27, 2010 8:01 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home