Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 06:43:23 -0700 (PDT) From: jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) Subject: More on sorry state of MA educational policy || Kemp -- anti LGBT teachers || Update on "It's Elementary" received from John R. Cole at U. Mass and reposted with permission: "Just received your post, forwarded from a friend in Berkeley. I don't know a specific address for the Nominating Council, but since it is an administrative and appointed entity, it would be c/o the State House and Gov's Office in Boston.... "Crutchfield is a minority REappointment, after initial leaks showed ZERO minorities in Weld's new Silber-Board. He describes her as "Not literally a *movement* conservative"---which means what?? "Dr. Shaefer is a prominent national leader in the voucher and other anti-public school movement; Ph.D. from Chicago; I *think* she's been involved in some Christian Coalition-like stuff........ "The most ironic thing about this new Board of Ed is that Weld literally owes his election to the support of teachers, professors, gays and others frantic at the prospect of John Silber, his opponent, in charge of education! So Weld then appoints him to head the Board! Then Weld's highly praised anti-homophobia in the schools campaign was shut down this spring because of Silber's vicious hostility to it. Higher Ed was somewhat protected by the legislature in setting up the new Board of Ed, removing it from Silber's direct control because of his continued presidency of private BU and his public attacks on UMass, calls to eliminate state "subsidies" to "socialized colleges" and the like. "People here assume purges are coming--along with major aid to Christian schools--long a pet project of Silber as a champion of "Christian Values." The feeling is that Silber is being asked to keep a low profile until Weld's election (or not), but a/he may not shut up and b/he does not show up for meetings or meet deadlines set by "morons in government" because it's "still a free country." (Which is also his excuse for cozy BU trustee investments in stocks Silber owns--and he notes that "no one" could be expected to live on a college prez salary which in his case is the highest in the US--over $5-600,000.......) "I should add, Re: Silber andBU $---the state Attorney Generaql investigated and found conflict of interest problems, the "appearance" of financial irregs., but let BU off when BU agreed to some reorganizational details---so no criminal charges were pressed, as far as I know. "Silber also objects to student membership in the Board, but the law requires it. Wish I could remember his vicious quote along the lines of "a student's role is to sit down, do what he's told, and shup up." It was nastier than that fake quote! "I believe he has in the past filed personal lawsuits against students who criticized him--always losing, but getting kids expeled from BU; so be forwarned: people who know him consider him dangerous! A recent op ed piece by him in the Globe was astonishing. He was attacking "coddling" disabled people and cited the memory of his 3rd grade teacher whom he said he heard ringing in his ears almost daily: For a career day, everyone was supposed to tell what they wanted to be when they grew up. He said a vetrinarian. The teacher shouted out that you need two good hands for that, and you're a cripple!" For the rest of the year she addressed him as "cripple," and got the other kids to! (He has a partly shriveled arm.) HIS conclusion was this had made him face reality early-on and what made him great could do the same for others who nowadays refused to keep in their places. *I* thought this was an amazing confession, but he published it as an attack on handicap access rules, etc.! Geez! Sorry--didn't save the awful article, so my account is from memory." ------ and this comes from Tina, one of the staffers of the QRD: "BTW, you do know that Silber, who had a gay son who died of AIDS, once said that decent parents don't even let their children know that there is such a thing as homosexuality. (Not the exact quote, but it's available somewhere in the QRD). " [John Silber, new chair of MA State Board of Education, can be reached at State Board of Education: 350 Main St., Malden MA 02148-5023 617-388-3300, fax= 617-388-3394] ----- and then there's this, also, from an AP report of friday aug. 9: This week, Gov. Weld signed into law a bill which mandates that public schools notify parents in advance if they plan to teach sex education classes. [readers will remember we did earlier email action alerts to MA legislators trying to prevent the passage of this law]. The new law provides that parents will able to review such sex ed course materials and selectively withdraw their children from the classes if they so choose. By September 1997, when the law goes into effect, school committees must have a written notice policy that will be distributed to each principal. Until this, MA had no laws requiring sex education to be taught or requiring notification re sex ed. A provision of the state's 1993 education reform law did STUDENTS to opt out of classes on ``disease'' if they believed the classes would conflict with their religious beliefs. {Disease of course includes AIDS}. ----------------- ----------------- JACK KEMP FAVORS - firing teachers who are LGBT. "I would suggest that we want all Americans to enjoy civil liberties and the right to privacy, and we have to at the same time recognize that there have to be public standards. I think a school board should have the right to choose what type of example we have for our children in public schools." December 20, 1995? 86? - Interview with David Frost as reported by the Washington Post from Aug 11 1996 Sunday NY Times " I believe in civil liberties for homosexuals. I guess I'd have to say I'd draw the line at letting them teach in the schools" Jack Kemp --1987 --------------- --------------- [dear P.E.R.S.O.N. readers, we continue to publicize this particular film because it was conceived, shot, edited, and now is being distributed in such a way as to IMPACT EDUCATIONAL POLICYMAKERS. impacting educational policy makers is the heart and soul of P.E.R.S.O.N.'s raison d'etre, so we heartily support this handy new tool for educating the policymakers themselves. contact the folks shown below to find out how to host a screening in your community. p.s. lobbyists and legislative staffers in the CA state capitol have arranged a screening of this film there. They state "We will be inviting capitol staffers and education policy makers, including the Curriculum Commission members." The screening will be about 3p.m. and there will be a reception at 5 p.m. in the basement rotunda. During the day prior to the screening there is an excellent opportunity for educators to pay office visits to members offices to discuss gay and lesbian curriculum issues with staff. I am imagining that folks will bring a packet of information about gay and lesbian curriculum issues to leave with the staffer and during the visit remind them about the film in the afternoon." Why not do this in your state, too? ?!!???!!!!] August 1996 Update [from the film's producers] on the groundbreaking new film, "IT'S ELEMENTARY: Talking About Gay Issues in School." "We wanted to update you all on the progress of It's Elementary, post premiere. Well, first off we won Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival! This has led to theatrical releases at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco on October 2nd & 3rd, the U.C. Theatre in Berkeley on October 7th & 8th, the Landmark Theatre in LA on October 24th-30th (thus qualified for Academy Award consideration!). "Press for the film has been flooding in. The San Francisco Examiner says "(It's Elementary) could become one of the most important films ever devoted to gay and lesbian issues" and the LA Reader described it as "funny, touching, and fascinating!". "While in Los Angeles for Outfest '96 ( the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) recently, we also screened the film at the National Leadership Institute of (GLSTN) Gay, Lesbian, Straight Teachers Network Conference. The response was phenomenal! People were weeping - they could hardly get out the words to express their appreciation for our film. *** They were also excited to find out about the *** possibility of hosting screenings in their home towns. "As of today, we have set up 34 premieres in cities across the country in conjunction with local community groups. We have set up larger premieres in LA (mid-October), Boston (October 4th) and New York (October 10th). If there are people you would like us to send invites to, please send names and addresses to: JPD Communications 2712 Ninth Street Berkeley, CA 94710-2606 Phone (510) 84843-8048/ FAX (510) 843-8050 jilldavey@aol.com "We thought we'd made it through the thick of it, but of course there's more to come! Now we are in the midst of figuring out our distribution plan. As of now we are self distributing. Institutional and community group rates start in the fall, and home video sales will be available later this year. We're working on a study guide, a training version, and a potential partnership with the San Francisco school district to develop a model to get the film out to a large audience of educators. As you can imagine we are quite busy! The support and enthusiasm from audiences keeps us motivated to get this film distributed as widely as possible. " Sincerely, Chas [Debra Chasnoff] and Helen [Cohen] Women's Educational Media 2180 Bryant Street Suite 203 San Francisco, CA94110 TEL: 415 . 641 . 4616 FAX: 415 . 641 . 4632 email: *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ OK TO RE-POST. Jessea Greenman The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK THIS OUT FOR TONS OF INFO - - http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/ Please cc us (for our files) on correspondence you send or receive re our action alerts. "Americans spend 9 times as much on home video games ($1.5 billion) as they do on school library materials for their children." [bulletin of the Oakland (CA) public library]