The whiplash of good news could make our heads hurt, but isn’t it glorious? One after another common sense, pro-America executive order, and families now stand before a huge open door.
God is good. He’s given us the path. Will we walk the walk?
With federal backing and public school test scores in the toilet, communities have more than enough ammunition. Get schools away from social engineering, therapy sessions and propaganda, and return to academic excellence. And let’s teach our kids to honor and love America too, while we’re at it.
It will require diligence by the grass roots to translate Trump’s executive orders into meaningful change at the classroom level. If your school receives any federal funds, that school should be subject to Trump’s executive orders. So it’s time to change the policies at the local and state level and get the material out of your school that violates these orders.
Parents and grandparents, here’s what can be done (and these are in no particular priority—all are important):
1. Address DEI by defunding and removing SEL as well as inappropriate books. Social emotional learning is the driver of much of the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) material that reaches students. To find out how to access your local school’s records to see what SEL programs have been purchased, see Marsha Metzger’s great material HERE. In Ohio, learn from Protect Ohio Children how to use the Ohio Checkbook to research local school expenditures. Other states may have similar resources.
Remember that most “LGBTQ” propaganda is now aligned with DEI objectives and SEL promotes these immoral behaviors. Any school affiliation with CASEL, the SEL mother ship, should end immediately. Yet CASEL did compile a useful guide showing how federal dollars are used to fund SEL in some states. Use this to make a plan to remove these programs completely.
And obscene books that depict sexually explicit/ homosexual/transgender behavior can no longer be defended as fulfilling a DEI objective. They are now, and always were, simply obscene trash, but now the schools have no excuse and we have a federal backstop to help us clean up this mess. Trump ended the Biden defense of such material. It will be extremely helpful to have a state law on your side, as Indiana now does.
2. Find out what federal grants your school receives and red flag them for removal if they violate any of the executive orders, and many/most of them will. Many recent initiatives will be through the ESSER funding of the American Rescue Plan. A gold mine of information on Ohio is available HERE.
Look for promotion of DEI, “LGBTQ”, “restorative justice,” etc. These may be through the federal Departments of Education, Justice, HHS, CDC, or Agriculture. These may overlap with SEL funding. Also look for state and local SEL funding and remove these grants for harmful programs. For instance, here’s a helpful guide from one of the most objectionable SEL vendors, Second Step.
3. Any sex education curriculum that falls under the category of “comprehensive sex education” most likely promotes both abortion and gender ideology. This is the time to remove them as violations of federal directives. Turn to authentic abstinence ( “sexual risk avoidance”) instead.
Planned Parenthood is the administrator of many of these objectionable programs. Federal grants are usually through HHS. Go HERE and HERE to start your research about what needs to be de-funded.
4. Homosexual/transgender student clubs are poisonous in the school climate. Yes, they will be defended as “free speech” venues. But these clubs have become emboldened under Obama/Biden to hate and harass anyone with traditional moral values. Their student members, advisors, national networks, and speakers often openly bash Christians, bash the police, and falsely portray homosexual behavior/gender confusion as inborn and safe (when it actually endangers the health of students). If they or their teacher advisors do anything other than talk among themselves, or spend school-wide resources and platforms to promote this conduct, or demand school wide “celebrations” or events, federal civil rights citations may be in order. We have options now, folks.
5. School -based health clinics are a pipeline to adolescent sexual activity, referral for abortion, promotion of homosexuality, and transgender identities. And mental health counselors are often well on-board with woke ideology (see more below). The practice of medically treating/advising children without necessarily obtaining parental consent is now a standard in school clinics, so the funding for these at the federal and state level needs to dry up and health care decisions need to return to families. In Ohio, for instance, Governor Mike DeWine announced $26 million for expansion of such clinics, but most of the funding came through the federal “American Rescue Plan.” More good information is HERE and HERE (scroll to end to get information on specific states).
And no Medicaid reimbursement should go to any school or its clinic if they distribute contraceptives, refer for abortion ( Hyde Amendment), counsel in favor of homosexual behavior or gender distortion, or treat any child without parental consent specific to that medical visit ( no blanket consents should be signed by a parent, ever).
6. School counselors are today often a source not of emotional healing, but of increased anxiety and angst as they introduce disturbing topics to suggestible children. Any counselor affiliated with the ASCA, the American School Counselor Association, should be red flagged as a possibly risky resource for any child. This association, like the teachers’ unions, are on board with every anti-child, parent-avoiding, woke idea out there. Schools often pay dues to the ASCA for their counselors. Schools should disaffiliate with ASCA immediately.
And more school counselors have been hired in recent years through post -COVID federal funding. Identify this funding stream and let it lapse. More counselors=looking for ways to justify their jobs=more messing with the minds of children. American Rescue Plan dollars were spent to hire many more counselors. For example, see HERE (scroll to end to get information on some specific states).
7. Get very involved in finding, funding and supporting conservative school board candidates. And get ready for an all-out battle. The NEA will be spending a lot more on local races in order to retain/install far-left progressives willing to ignore or defy the federal directives. They will fight dirty, spreading misinformation on social media. Be ready to roll up your sleeves and open your wallets. For example, here’s an upcoming school board race in Springfield, MO, where NEA is openly backing local candidates. These are NOT people who are likely to support an end to DEI/ LGBTQ promotion.
8. And speaking of teachers’ unions (NEA, AFT and their state and local affiliates), they have been the single most destructive force in American schools in the past 40 years. Do everything you can to end their involvement in your schools. Expose their dishonest tactics on social media. Stop your schools from pressuring any teacher or staff person to join the unions and back the teachers you know if they disaffiliate.
And in school board races, help conservative candidates by identifying the union-backed candidate, publicizing this connection, and making sure people know it’s 100% negative. Union voices are not helpful if we want high academic achievement minus Marxist agendas. The unions and their anti-family positions bring the opposite to any community.
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Perhaps choose one or two of the above areas to focus on. We have a huge (“YUGE”) opportunity right now, praise the Lord, to make a lasting difference in our local schools, and in our children's lives.
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White House Executive Orders pertinent to schools:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-children-from-chemical-and-surgical-mutilation/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/expanding-educational-freedom-and-opportunity-for-families/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-expands-educational-opportunities-for-american-families/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/additional-measures-to-combat-anti-semitism/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-enforces-overwhelmingly-popular-demand-to-stop-taxpayer-funding-of-abortion/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government /
