In one corner was the California Family Council, a nonprofit, religious organization rallying at the state Capitol on Monday with pastors, attorneys and , Chino Valley Unified School District board president, to protest a series of bills they argue prevents parents from caring and overseeing their children. Many of the same people showed up at a similar rally last week; several Southern California school boards , Attorney General Rob Bonta and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond over book bans and other culture wars in the classroom.
- Shaw: 鈥淭he majority of Sacramento politicians are programmed and the political cartel of Newsom, Bonta and Thurmond have a stronghold on California鈥檚 public education and use that to push their ideology 鈥� but not for long.鈥� All the wicked, low-class politicians following their lead, listen to us. This is from us. Today we stand here and declare in His almighty name that it鈥檚 only a matter of time before we take your seats.鈥�
Shaw specifically called out two measures she says 鈥渟ilence us, the parents鈥�: , which would , from a simple majority to two-thirds; and , which would fine individuals who 鈥渟ubstantially鈥� disrupt a school board meeting or harass school employees. (The bill joins a number of other bills that were .)
In the other corner was supposed to be Thurmond, a potential , hosting an online panel at the same time about 鈥溾�� with a handful of Democrats from the Legislature鈥檚 women, LGBTQ+, Black, Latino and Jewish caucuses. In June, the education department launched a focused on diversifying textbooks.
The event, which would 鈥渉ighlight efforts to create safe, supportive learning environments鈥� for students, was canceled 鈥渙ut of respect for the individuals and locations impacted by the tropical storm,鈥� according to the Department of Education. (Monday鈥檚 legislative floor sessions were also canceled due to the storm, .) A Thurmond roundtable about is still on for Wednesday, however.
But Shaw was apparently unaware about the cancellation and called out Thurmond鈥檚 panel: 鈥淭his is a spiritual battle. This is a warfare.鈥�
This 鈥渂attle鈥� between Shaw and Thurmond is a familiar one: In July, Shaw successfully pushed a Chino Unified policy to require district teachers and staff to notify parents if a student requests to identify as a different gender or otherwise identifies as LGBTQ+. (It鈥檚 similar to a in the Legislature this year.) Thurmond showed up at the meeting to oppose the policy and was after saying the measure would put 鈥渟tudents at risk.鈥�
The other bills the Family Council and Shaw are pushing back against are:
- : Require the Department of Education to develop a training course for school employees on 鈥淟GBTQ cultural competency鈥� (currently in the suspense file);
- : Allow children 12 and older to receive 鈥渕ental health treatment or counseling on an outpatient basis鈥� without parental consent;
- : Require judges to consider a parent鈥檚 affirmation of a child鈥檚 gender identity or expression when it comes to granting custody.
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