On November 18, 2020, it was reported that the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) and its public schools were politically and racially profiling students by survey. The article is here in case you did not read it. A formal complaint was filed with the WCBOE on this matter. The Board has failed to respond to the complaint, but the Superintendent of Schools denies and disagrees with the fact that any political profiling is occurring throughout Wicomico County Public Schools (WCPS). We prove otherwise. On December 7, 2020, WCBOE was once again caught politically profiling students. Only this time, they won't be able to ignore or explain away the fact that they are politically profiling - they are caught with their pants down.
In a Social Studies Class, the assignment of the day was titled "Political Compass." Students were asked to take a survey at PoliticalCompass.org. [1]
"The Political Compass is a website which uses responses to a set of 62 propositions to rate political ideology in a political spectrum with two axes: economic (left–right) and social (authoritarian–libertarian)." [2]
"Before taking the test: Please note that this isn’t a survey, and these aren’t questions. They’re propositions. To question the logic of individual ones that irritate you is to miss the point. Some propositions are extreme, and some are moderate. That’s how we can show you whether you lean towards extremism or moderation on the Compass. Your responses should not be overthought. Some of them are intentionally vague. Their purpose is to trigger reactions in the mind, measuring feelings and prejudices rather than detailed opinions on policy." [1]
Notice how Political Compass tries to deceptively state that it’s not a survey. By Meriam Webster's definition of the term "Survey," [6] Political Compass most certainly is a survey when responses and results are gathered on a subject or group. These are some sample propositions found in the surveying assessment tool where students must answer: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, or Strongly Disagree.
[2]
Each student was given an assignment to take the survey. After they were done answering the questions, it was required that the students submit their survey results to the teacher. The teacher then plotted the results on a graph (pictured below) and shared it with the class. Even though the names were omitted from the graph, the teacher has received each student's response and where they stand on the political spectrum.
[3]
Why would the school system use this survey? Through the extraction of reactions, prejudices, and feelings of the students, the purpose of the survey is to discover and assess the political ideology and spectrum of each student and document it for the profit of the school system's political gain. If the school system was interested in teaching the students about political parties, then they could have simply done so. Extracting data from students and psychologically evaluating their personal positions, beliefs, reactions, and feelings is not teaching. It's exploitation and a violation of one's civil rights. The disturbing thing is, the students are duped into filing out the survey. They simply comply, because they don't know any better, and their grade is affected if they don't.
In addition, it's beyond inappropriate. Would you walk up to a person on the street and ask them if they are Democrat or a Republican, Liberal or Conservative? Would you demand that they answer? The answer is NO. The question and the demand to answer the question would be beyond inappropriate. You might even get punched in the face depending on who you asked. The golden rule is that you never ask someone of their political affiliation, and that's private to the individual.
What about asking children under 18, before their legal age to vote? Even worse. WCBOE is not only violating the civil rights of its students, but the civil rights of parents who have custodial guardianship over their child. It's called Parental Rights. WCBOE is circumventing Parental Rights, an overstep which they have not received permission. Through exploitation, the school system is also trying to discover the beliefs of a student’s family and what goes on behind closed doors – like who spanks their children, who could be homophobic, who could be racist, who is a capitalist, etc.
The bottom line is that the Wicomico County Board of Education is clearly politically profiling and exploiting students and their families. Ever since WCBOE politically profiled students by survey in this past article, we have established a continual pattern (beyond speculation) by revealing their agenda to activate students into social activism. With the support of the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), we believe that WCBOE is doing all of this so they know how much to manipulate each student with Socialist-Marxist ideologies in order to transform them into extreme liberal thinkers, activists, and voters. This is a very serious concern, because this is exactly what the Nazi Party did with the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany from 1922-1945. [4]
"The authors of What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder and Everyday Life in Nazi Germany (2005) carried out a detailed survey into life in Nazi Germany. They found that young people were much more likely to be supporters of Adolf Hitler than adult Germans: "This... probably reflects the Nazis' strong efforts to mold the new generation for the benefit of the regime after its seizure of power, through direct and indirect influence, such as through schools and the Hitler Youth... Young people are characteristically less committed to previous conditioning than older people; they can be easily molded." (5)
WCBOE has a Political Solicitation in Schools Policy BOE-GEN-PL-023 which reads: WCPS employees, however, have a responsibility to their students not to impose partisan political views in the classroom or to exploit students by the use of political materials, or conduct political activities during the employee’s work day. Nothing in this policy will be construed to mean that employees are restricted from conversing with colleagues about political topics during breaks/lunches outside of the presence of students. Non-Permissible Activities: Providing employees with compensation or benefits for engaging in political activities.
In conclusion, WCBOE is indoctrinating students as exhibited in this article as well as the examples provided in this past article. They are also politically profiling in order to align students with their agenda. Regardless of a parent's political views or party affiliation, the school system has absolutely no right to take a political position and exert influence over children (directly or indirectly). This is extremely dangerous. The school system has crossed far over the line.
The political surveying of students without parental consent is illegal. In doing so, the WCBOE has violated a Federal law called the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment Act (PPRA). The Delmarva Parent Teacher Coalition encourages parents to stand up to the school, and opt-out from their child taking surveys without parental consent. We are here to support all parents and to advocate for quality education with neutrality, without political influence, partiality, or bias.
Voice Your Opinion and Make Sure That You Are Heard Loud and Clear. The Wicomico County Board of Education members work for the citizens of Wicomico County, and not for the Superintendent, MSDE, Teacher Unions, lobbyists, or social activist organizations. It's time to remind them of that. These are the individuals who have rejected, obstructed, and knowingly allowed these political surveys to be used in the school system, and they are allowing the intellectual manipulation of your child despite WCBOE's Political Solicitation Policy. Drop them a line and let them know what you think, and remember these board members, come election time. WCBOE Board Members Donald Fitzgerald - dfitzger@wcboe.org Gene Malone - gmalone@wcboe.org Allen Brown - abrown@wcboe.org John Palmer - jpalmer@wcboe.org Tonya Lewis - tlewis@wcboe.org Michael Murray - mmurray@wcboe.org Ann Suthowski - asuthowsk@wcboe.org Our view of political profiling in the schools
Fellows & Editors December 7, 2020 Copyright DelmarvaPTC.org 2020 Please consider joining the Delmarva Parent Teacher Coalition for FREE, and follow us on FaceBook to stay informed of what's really happening with education in our schools. References
Wikepedia.org "The Political Compass " wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Political_Compass
WCBOE Google Classroom "AP Government"
Wikipedia.org "Hitler Youth" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Youth
Meriam Webster "Survey" https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/survey
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