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Wow! The video below is about the most shocking thing — which is saying landfills — I’ve ever seen or heard regarding public education. It will floor you. If you haven’t heard the audio or seen the video yet, or heard media outlets reporting or discussing (debating) it yet, you soon will. It’s a case of The Left taking offense at being called extreme and anti-American when its their own words at work. Not much can be added to what you will see. (See The Blaze.com for more on this story.)

Here’s the background: The Tuscon (Arizona) Unified School District is using a text book for students as early as the 3rd grade, in a course of study called the Ethnic Studies Curriculum, which contains content that not only disparages and lies about America and certain groups of Americans (whites, Christians), but does it in a vile way, including several four-letter words! “Blood sucking capitalists” is about as mild as it gets in this leftist propaganda “text book.”

Parents finally confronted the district school board about this recently, a portion of which is on the video. The school board members act as if this is news to them and one doesn’t even recognize the irony when he asks a parent to stop reading the offending words at the meeting even though children in school are being subjected to them! Still, liberals and teacher union bosses and political hacks, and their liberal legislative allies at all levels of government throughout the country insist nothing is wrong with public education  . . . except a lack of money (which pays for this trash). Amazing!

Warning: The video below contains coarse and vile language.

Oh, wait. Maybe the public schools  just need more money! That’s the answer  . . . it always is!

In addition to Governor Bob McDonnell’s amendment to HB 2434, which would restrict Virginia’s health insurance exchanges under ObamaCare from covering abortion services, Governor McDonnell also added an amendment to reinsert abstinence funding in the Virginia budget. This funding was included in the House of Delegates budget, but budget conferees left it out of the final budget which the General Assembly approved and sent to the governor. Such funding was a regular line item in the budget until then-Governor Tim Kaine abruptly stripped it out in November 2007 as a political IOU to Planned Parenthood.

Tomorrow, the General Assembly reconvenes for its annual “Veto Session,” when it reconsiders gubernatorial vetoes and amendments to bills, and will have the opportunity to include this provision back into the budget. While it is likely the House will accept this amendment, the Senate will be an uphill climb. Please contact your senator today and urge support for Governor McDonnell’s abstinence funding amendment to the budget.

Planned Parenthood, and its ally NARAL, have made it their national agenda to stop abstinence education. Both groups consistently assail abstinence programs as being ineffective. One legislator, who works closely with Planned Parenthood and NARAL, said, “The reality is with teenagers, their hormones come into play, and abstinence-only doesn’t always work.” Work for who? The more teens postpone sexual activity, the less profit the abortion industry makes.

The pro-abortion lobby also asserts that “abstinence education doesn’t work,” “parents don’t support abstinence education,” and “it’s naive to think that teenagers can be abstinent.” None of those arguments, though, are correct according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In fact, an October 2010 study paid for by the federal Department of Heath and Human Services found that abstinence education is highly effective and it is widely supported by parents and teenagers.

The HHS survey found that 70 percent of parents agreed that it is “against [their] values for [their] adolescents to have sexual intercourse before marriage” and that “having sexual intercourse is something only married people should do.” Adolescent beliefs, according to the survey, were similar. In fact, there are federal abstinence education funds that Governor McDonnell has applied for that Mr. Kaine refused. So, even the Obama administration realizes it works.

Clearly, abstinence education is not only effective, but it is widely supported among both parents and teens. So, please contact your senator today and urge support of the governor’s amendment to reinstate abstinence funding in the budget.

Click here if you know your senator and need his or her phone number.

Click here if you don’t know who your senator is.

Maybe you’ve seen this before. If you haven’t, you need to. If you have, it bears repeating. If there is any doubt about the intentions, the motives and the goals of the teachers union — the NEA and its Virginia affiliate the VEA — please listen to now former NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin the union’s 2009 convention, where he explains his “most important point” — it’s not about the merit of their positions, it’s not about students, it’s not even about “a vision for a great public school for every child.”

What’s it about, then? Power and money, baby! He says so proudly. Power, money and politics. One might even say bullying. Education? “That’s simply too high a price to pay” (ironic since they extract a huge price from taxpayers for failing schools, but that’s another subject). For all the posturing, disingenuine care for improvement, faux concern for education, demagoguing the need for more tax dollars, and vilifying of those who dare to offer solutions which don’t fit their status quo template, they sing a more revealing tune tune behind closed doors.

It’s important to know with whom you deal in the public policy arena and to understand their true intentions, which they often obscure by reasonable sounding public rhetoric. Discerning their aims isn’t usually difficult — the first howl against education choice and reform or for more taxes and spending for a failing system (a VEA broken record) gives it away. But it’s nice to hear them arrogantly admit exactly what they’re in it for — money and power — especially when they think no one is listening. That makes it a tad bit sweeter, though they seem not to suffer any shame from it. More and more, however, people are waking up to the real motivation (as they themselves state it) behind the teachers union and its bosses.

“It is not because the merits of our positions. It is not because we care about children. … NEA is effective we because we have power !”

Last year we formed a relationship with Enough is Enough — an organization that educates parents on Internet safety, as well as with the Interfaith Center for Public Policy and the Attorney General’s office, to bring Internet education to parents through churches in Virginia. Through that effort, we’ve distributed dozens of Enough is Enough’s very effective Internet 101 curricula.

While the program focuses on protecting our children from Internet predators who stalk Facebook and other social networking sites, there are other dangers online that, while not physically threatening, are problems nonetheless. For example, the online conglomerate Google currently is promoting an art contest for students called “Doodle-4-Google,” offering prize money to schools and prizes to winners. Sounds harmless enough and, for the most part, it is.

Except in early online parental consent forms (and forms distributed to schools) Google asked the children participating to hand over private information, such as home addresses, dates of birth and the last four digits of their social security numbers. This is information that is perhaps worth millions of dollars to marketers and retailers. They also ask for the children’s place of birth — information that, when combined with one’s date of birth, can be used to take a statistical guess about the first five digits of social security numbers.

Now, there is no evidence that Google plans to financially benefit from the information. It simply may plan to toss it. But if that’s the case, why ask for it in the first place? Under pressure from advocacy groups, the company did change the parental consent form and no longer requires the social security number, but many schools participating in the contest still are using the original form.

This is just one example of why it is very important to monitor what our children are doing online and, just as important, teach them not to share personal information online. Whether it’s sexual predators or marketing executives, our childrens’ safety and personal information is highly valuable. Please take the time to monitor everything your children do online — even when it seems “harmless.”

Legislation that would require schools to inform parents when their child is likely to face serious disciplinary action has passed the House of Delegates 98-0 and Thursday survived the Senate Education and Health Committee on an 8-7 vote. However, the education establishment is ramping up its effort to defeat this simple attempt at improving parental involvement.

Please contact your senator and urge them to support HB 1548!

The bill, patroned by Delegate Kaye Kory (D-38, Fairfax), simply would require schools to notify parents if their child violates a school policy or misses school and that action “is likely” to lead to the child’s suspension from school. The hope is that the earlier parents are involved, the better; and perhaps suspension or more serious consequence can be avoided.

Unfortunately, the Virginia School Boards Association and other educrats oppose the bill because it would be “too burdensome” on schools. One would think schools want to have parental involvement as soon as possible to avoid escalating discipline problems and, as mom used to say, “nip it in the bud” before it becomes a serious problem.

We’d say their opposition is incredible (literally, without credibility), not to mention the conventional meaning of the word (i.e., shocking), but nothing the education establishment does to block reform surprises us and never will. But this just might be (as in a very close vote) one common sense reform that escapes the educrats’ grip. The bill should be voted on by the full Senate as early as Monday or Tuesday.

Contact your senator by e-mail.

Contact your senator by phone.

Learn who your senator is.

Speaking of education choice, yesterday was our annual lobby day. This year’s theme was education choice and we added a rally in Capitol Square as well. The media attention was excellent. Starting the day was an interview on WRVA’s Richmond’s Morning News With Jimmy Barrett, but with an adversarial guest host, Juan Conde of WRIC-TV, sitting in for the decidedly conservative Mr. Barrett. Victoria Cobb, our president, took it all in stride, even when Mr. Conde misunderstood, shall we say, the issue, and claimed HB 2314, if passed, would give “our” money to businesses! The Washington Post also covered the rally on its Virginia Politics Blog, and a Google search reveals publications from The India Times to Forbes picked up the Post’s post, as well as various state television and print media.

Listen to Victoria Cobb’s WRVA interview on school choice from Thursday, February 10 (5:30) on Richmond’s Morning News With Jimmy Barrett.

Bringing at least a modicum of school choice and education freedom long has been a goal of reform minded people who realize that the government-run education monopoly is holding back academic achievement. This Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee has a chance to show its open mindedness and independence from the education establishment when it votes on HB 2314, patroned by Delegate Jimmie Massie’s (R-72, Henrico).

The bill establishes a tax credit for businesses donating to non-profit organizations providing scholarships to free and reduced lunch students (family of four earning less than $40,793 per year). Despite fierce opposition from the Virginia School Board Association and the Virginia Education Association, the bill passed the House of Delegates 54-45 this week.

The modesty of this bill is testimony to how tenacious and powerful the Educrat establishment is in Richmond. It will fight to the death anything that hints at cracking its monopoly or reforms it from within. This is no exaggeration. The Educrats even are resisting a bill to provide for more physical education (HB 1644), patroned by Delegate John O’Bannon (R-73, Henrico). (See Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog.)

On the heels of yesterday’s well-attended Family Foundation Day at the Capitol and rally focused on school choice, we think there is real momentum to pass HB 2314. It’s certainly well passed time, considering the state of public education in certain areas of the state and for certain families that are trapped with no option but to attend an inadequate public school.
 
Similar scholarship programs in Pennsylvania and Florida have been huge successes. Florida’s program is a prime example, where demand for a program started in 2001 has grown from $50 million to $88 million, providing scholarships for more than 33,000 low-income children.
 
The bill is designed to avoid the nefarious ”negative fiscal impact” to the state. In fact, the fiscal impact will be all positive. Florida’s program, for example, saved that state $36 million in the 2008-09 fiscal year alone, according to the Florida Office of Program Analysis and Government Accountability.
 
In Florida and elsewhere, thousands of children have been given opportunities for a better education through scholarships created because funding is available. Despite cries of “taking money from children” in public schools, the scholarship programs in other states have in no way negatively affected public schools. 
 
Unfortunately, the Senate Finance Committee has been very hostile to any legislation that provides education freedom to families. Last year, it killed a similar bill by a 9-6 vote — see committee members make outlandish and outrageous comments.
 
In two different polls conducted by, or on behalf of, The Family Foundation or other education freedom supporters over the past three years, large majorities of Virginians have indicated their support for tax credits like the one created in HB 2314.

Certain liberals like to say, “Conservatives want to take us back,” although they never specify where. Perhaps it’s more a case of liberals holding us back — or stuck in the past — with ideas no longer as effective as once were, and never moving forward with proven reforms.

Please contact members of the Senate Finance Committee and urge them to vote for HB 2314. We are close and only need to flip two votes.

Today is crossover at the General Assembly, the day when the House and Senate have to complete work on bills introduced in their respective chambers. Consequently, yesterday the House spent nearly 11 hours on the floor debating bills, with final votes taking place today. The Senate did their marathon debate and vote session today.

Several Family Foundation priorities passed the House of Delegates, some after lengthy debates took place on the proposals yesterday.

HB 1440, patroned by Delegate Bob Marshall (R-13, Manassas), which would provide protection (civil recourse) for the unborn in cases where they lose their life due to the negligence of another, passed 62-36 — despite the wild accusations by Delegate Vivian Watts (D-39, Fairfax), who claimed the legislation would outlaw contraception. Delegate Dave Albo (R-42, Fairfax), the chairman of the Courts of Justice Committee, which reviewed the bill, defended it on the floor. He said that he had several attorneys and committee legal counsel review the legislation and all agreed that the bill, nearly identical to a 20-year-plus Missouri law, and which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989, would not affect legal contraception in any way.

HB 2147, patroned by Delegate Ben Cline (R-24, Rockbridge), would prevent health insurance plans in the Virginia health insurance exchange, required by ObamaCare, from providing abortion coverage. This preemptive strike against ObamaCare, should it be implemented, passed 60-36.

The House today also passed by a vote of 54-45 HB 2314, legislation patroned by Delegate Jimmie Massie (R-72, Henrico), that would provide a tax credit for corporate donations to private scholarship programs. This education opportunity legislation is tailored to help low-income families. It is modeled after a successful Florida scholarship program that has helped more than 20,000 students and saved the state more than $36 million in FY2008-09. (We hope you join us this Thursday for our Family Foundation Day at the Capitol and Rally, which will focus on this legislation.)

Also passing today was legislation that will create an “In God We Trust” license plate. The bill, HB 1418, is an omnibus license plate bill patroned by Delegate John O’Bannon (R-73, Richmond) that incorporates the “IGWT” plate bill introduced by Delegate Dickie Bell (R-20, Staunton). A Senate bill (SB 811), patroned by Senator Mark Obenshain (R-26, Harrisonburg) creating the same license plate also passed the Senate today.

Thank you to everyone who has contacted their delegates and senators on these and other issues. After today the bills that have passed the House or Senate will “crossover” to the other chamber to go through the committee process. Please continue to respond to our action alerts (sign up here) and keep up with all the General Assembly news and video by returning to this site, and by following us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as the General Assembly session continues in the coming weeks.

The Family Foundation’s Annual Day at the Capitol is this Thursday, with an emphasis 0n education freedom — particularly legislation that provides tax credits for private school scholarships. We need to send a loud message to our legislators that, after years of dragging their feet while public education deteriorates (especially for the underprivileged who are trapped in failing schools by an education establishment unwilling to embrace reforms) and options and competition few, educational opportunity for all children is the right choice for Virginia.  
 
Registration for the event, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, begins at 8:30. The program begins at 9:00 with a briefing  from lawmakers and policy makers, includes a visit with your legislators, and ends with a rally on the Capitol Square grounds. Some of our special speakers include Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, Secretary of Education Gerard Robinson and Family Foundation Chaplain, Bishop E. W. Jackson, Sr.
 
You will have an opportunity to meet with your legislators, get updates from The Family Foundation staff and enjoy optional tours of Mr. Jefferson’s Capitol, the Governor’s Mansion and the Virginia Supreme Court during the afternoon. Tours are available on a first come, first serve basis the morning of the event, so if you are interested get to Richmond early.
 
While our format is a bit different this year, it will be an extremely exciting Lobby Day at the Capitol. Christian and private schools from across the Commonwealth will participate with us. If you are affiliated with a Christian or private school, please share this information with the school and fellow parents and students, and encourage them to send a delegation to support this effort.

If you would like more information about arranging at special tour for your school or about the event, please e-mail amanda@familyfoundation.org or call 804-343-0010. To register online, click here.

The Senate Education and Health Committee yesterday reported to the floor SB 967, legislation cleverly designed by Planned Parenthood that attacks abstinence centered education programs. The vote was 11-4 with Republican Senator Fred Quayle (R-13, Suffolk) voting with the committee’s 10 Democrats. It will be voted on by the full Senate early next week. The bill’s patron is

Please contact your Senator and urge him or her to vote NO on SB 967.

The patron of this annual assault by the abortion industry on abstinence education is Senator Ralph Northam (D-6, Norfolk). For years Planned Parenthood has sought to advance legislation that would require sex education curriculum to be, in their words, “medically accurate.”  Of course, it’s difficult to argue against such a concept because all of us want our children to be given accurate information in school (if we allow the state to educate them about sex). Legislators that vote against the bill could be criticized by abortion advocates as being against “medically accurate” information, when nothing could be further from the truth.
 
Planned Parenthood and its ally, the National Abortion Rights Action League, (see Liveaction Blog) have made it their national agenda to stop abstinence education and they consistently assail abstinence programs as being medically inaccurate. Unfortunately, even the medical community differs on what is accurate and Senator Northam’s bill would force the Department of Education and local schools to make the decision about what is correct. (Of course, we’re sure Planned Parenthood and NARAL will joyfully help them make these decisions).
 
Senator Northam’s bill would also change the long standing policy that allows Virginia localities to make their own decisions on whether or not to offer Family Life Education, effectively eliminating parental involvement in the decision making on whether a school district offers FLE.   
 
According to polls, the vast majority of parents want their children to be taught abstinence. In addition, recent studies (published in peer reviewed medical journals) indicate that abstinence centered programs are effective. All the more reason to contact your senator.