TRANSPARENCY IN ROCKWOOD
TRANSPARENCY FROM ROCKWOOD IS LACKING.
Missouri statute statute 170.231 says any one can go and inspect instructional materials used in Rockwood.
Still, parents have had to file Sunshine Law Requests and pay money to see what is being taught.
Why not just ask your child's teacher?
Most teachers gladly answer parent questions and share materials, but parents generally won't know what questions to ask unless they hear about something after it already happened.
Post it online.
If every subject and class posted a list online of every lesson material, every resource, every book, every article and video that may be used, or has been used, anyone could view it and Rockwood employees wouldn't have to spend time gathering information and materials, which is why Sunshine Law requests cost money.
This is not about trying to give more work to our already often overworked teachers. It's a response to a culture that has introduced concepts and values at school that many parents feel are not age appropriate or not appropriate for school. It's also a response to a culture that told teachers to hide controversial lesson content from parents. If you're not familiar with that, here's the infamous email that started it all.
As it stands now, administrators have had to tell teachers to stop what they're doing because parents brought the items to their attention.
Examples include a Black Lives Matter talking points sheet assigned to 5th graders at Westridge Elementary, an online practice site for 7th grade Spanish students that included translations for non-binary and bisexual, and a video that taught 9th graders white people are privileged.
For a more thorough list of what Rockwood parents discovered after their students already saw it, click here.
Library books:
Rockwood makes parents opt out of books with mature or otherwise objectionable content, rather than opting in.
You can put a flag in your student's account to prevent certain books from being checked out. But, you have to know the title first. Or, you can flag entire genres of books, which generally also includes books that are not objectionable.
Classroom books:
It's up to the teachers to tell you what they have on their classroom shelves. One book that a Pond Elementary teacher bought for her kindergarten class taught kids that white people think they deserve more than everybody else. Details are in the link above that lists content parents discovered after the fact.
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Missouri statute statute 170.231 says any one can go and inspect instructional materials used in Rockwood.
Still, parents have had to file Sunshine Law Requests and pay money to see what is being taught.
Why not just ask your child's teacher?
Most teachers gladly answer parent questions and share materials, but parents generally won't know what questions to ask unless they hear about something after it already happened.
Post it online.
If every subject and class posted a list online of every lesson material, every resource, every book, every article and video that may be used, or has been used, anyone could view it and Rockwood employees wouldn't have to spend time gathering information and materials, which is why Sunshine Law requests cost money.
This is not about trying to give more work to our already often overworked teachers. It's a response to a culture that has introduced concepts and values at school that many parents feel are not age appropriate or not appropriate for school. It's also a response to a culture that told teachers to hide controversial lesson content from parents. If you're not familiar with that, here's the infamous email that started it all.
As it stands now, administrators have had to tell teachers to stop what they're doing because parents brought the items to their attention.
Examples include a Black Lives Matter talking points sheet assigned to 5th graders at Westridge Elementary, an online practice site for 7th grade Spanish students that included translations for non-binary and bisexual, and a video that taught 9th graders white people are privileged.
For a more thorough list of what Rockwood parents discovered after their students already saw it, click here.
Library books:
Rockwood makes parents opt out of books with mature or otherwise objectionable content, rather than opting in.
You can put a flag in your student's account to prevent certain books from being checked out. But, you have to know the title first. Or, you can flag entire genres of books, which generally also includes books that are not objectionable.
Classroom books:
It's up to the teachers to tell you what they have on their classroom shelves. One book that a Pond Elementary teacher bought for her kindergarten class taught kids that white people think they deserve more than everybody else. Details are in the link above that lists content parents discovered after the fact.
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