“It is one thing to treat all students with the dignity they deserve; it is quite another to be so far out of your lane that you are partnering with outside organizations that think it is appropriate to engage toddlers in conversations about gender identity and sexual orientation. How can a school district defend spending time and money on this ideological garbage when two-thirds of their students can’t read on grade level and 80 percent aren’t proficient in math?” – Erika Sanzi, director of outreach of Parents Defending Education.
This is happening while St. Paul Public Schools saw, according to an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press,“ dramatic drops in proficiency on statewide math and reading test scores” in the most recent tests.
After skipping statewide tests in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, students were tested in 2021 and about half of the eligible students currently enrolled in the SPPS took the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test (MCAs). Of those eligible students, “33 percent tested proficient in reading – down 6 points from 2019 – and 21 percent in math, down 9 points.”
The St. Paul Public School system decided to expand their outreach to preschool children in that school district to make sure they were well-equipped for – wait for it – “pride and other equity agenda” items – not math and reading comprehension.
According to a recent article from Parents Defending Education, a Washington, D.C.-based grassroots organization that works with activists around the country to “reclaim our schools from activists imposing harmful agendas,” “Saint Paul Public Schools is partnering with two organizations, AMAZE and Out-Front Minnesota, to purportedly push materials discussing gender identity on children as young as three.”
You can read their full report here.
