Editorial: An example of what’s gone awry in our public schools

In between handling urgency appeals regarding President Donald Trump s frenetic agenda the U S Supreme Court must address its regular docket The panel s latest event deserves attention for a number of reasons Last week the justices heard arguments in a dispute between parents and a Maryland school district that uses LGBTQ-themed instruction in the lower grades The conflict arose in when the state s largest district in Montgomery County adopted a curriculum that promotes one-sided transgender ideology encourages gender transitioning and focuses excessively on romantic infatuation according to the parents For example one storybook for the kids focused on transgender bathrooms another on a same-sex romance between two girls Teachers were communicated to instruct students that doctors entirely guess about our gender at birth The parents requested that they be allowed to have their children opt out of such teachings District leaders refused though the district had adhered to such a approach regarding sex learning classes Indeed this became a point of emphasis for several justices The plaintiffs here are not asking the school to change its curriculum Justice Samuel Alito declared during arguments They re just saying Look we want out Why isn t that feasible What is the big deal about allowing them to opt out of this Even one liberal justice expressed sympathy with the parents These are young kids picture books and on matters concerning sexuality Justice Elena Kagan noted I suspect there are a lot of nonreligious parents who weren t all that thrilled about this Attorneys for the district argued unconvincingly that opt-outs are laborious to oversee But they gave away the tournament by insisting that letting parents pull their children from such instruction might expose the remaining students and their families to social stigma and isolation Apparently woke indoctrination is necessary to ensure that nobody gets their feelings hurt But of greater importance Why is the district allowing sensitive sexually themed material to be part of the curriculum for pre-K children and elementary school students at all Who believes this is appropriate for -year-olds And can we bury the nonsense offered by progressives that fears about woke instruction infiltrating elementary schools is a right-wing fantasy Is it any wonder that countless of the nation s society school systems are in disarray when rather than focus on teaching children the basic academic building blocks that will help them become productive adults they devote time to controversial gender instruction for children who only in the past few days became potty-trained The court should side with the protesting parents and if ever there were a development that highlighted the need for school choice this is it Las Vegas Review-Journal Tribune News Organization Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley Creators Syndicate