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exist?
forced to give in to a bout of cautious optimism, a brief, fleeting
moment when the darkening clouds of reality crack apart just
enough to admit a few rays of light from above. Not that the storm
has passed, its just a hint that it is indeed a sunny day - if you get
high enough off the ground.
The First Amendment Center recently helped us gain a little
altitude towards that goal in collaborating on “Public Schools and
Sexual Orientation,” a short and simple but ground-breaking set
of guidelines for heavily-shelled schools who are desperately
seeking a truce in the seemingly endless culture wars over who
gets to mold the next generation’s minds on the hotly-debated
issue of homosexuality. In fact, to judge from the signatories to
the document - which include such unlikely bedfellows (pun
intended) as the Christian Educators Association International
and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network - it’s not
just the schools who are looking to scale back the fighting, but
some of the cultural warriors themselves.
While acknowledging the strongly-held beliefs on either side, the
guidelines nonetheless express the sort of pluralistic live-and-let-
live attitude that is all too often absent from these debates.
“In light of these passionate differences, it is important to reaffirm
that public schools belong to all Americans," it notes. "The role of
school officials, therefore, is to be fair, honest brokers of a
dialogue that involves all stakeholders and seeks the common
good.”
Fair, honest brokers? Dialogue? The common good? Radical
thoughts, indeed. The idea that schools may exist for reasons
other than distributing copies of either the Old Testament or
Heather Has Two Mommies is a special kind of heresy in today’s
cultural war zones. Next they’ll suggest that perhaps its best not
to treat educational institutions the way overzealous fathers treat
Pee-Wee League games, as an opportunity to teach children to
win at all costs and crush others no matter what it takes. Oops.
Too late.
“Some are convinced that the only way to address this issue is to
insist that one view be imposed on all students and parents,” the
report notes. “But too often this approach only provokes more
conflict and solves nothing. If schools are to win the peace, it will
not be by choosing a side and coercing others to accept it.”
The fact that such a painfully obvious idea now needs to be
explained so… well… painfully obviously is a depressing
development in itself. Remember when educational facilities were
designed to actually educate children rather than drown them in
the cultural milieu of whatever slate of morons managed to cobble
together 51% in the last school board election? Remember when
Pat Robertson didn’t go around threatening districts who chose
the wrong curricula with the wrath of an angry God? (“Hmm… little
Timmy, that textbook doesn’t teach algebra the way we want it.
Looks like school is cancelled due to frogs and boils.”)
But the thought that children should be protected from ideological
indoctrination is only the beginning of the revolutionary new
thinking expressed in the guidelines. The document also codifies
such alien concepts as religious liberty (”Every effort should be
made in public schools to protect these rights.”), tolerance (”As
American citizens we have a civic responsibility to respect these
rights for others, including those with whom we deeply
disagree.”), and proper discourse (”All parties involved in public
schools should agree to debate one another with civility and
respect, and should strive to be accurate and fair.”)
Welcome to Civics 101, America. Have a seat. Attendance will be
taken shortly.
The best part is the brutal honesty. Though diplomatic in tone,
the guidelines are frank enough that it doesn’t spare the rod -
even for cultural pressure groups.
“Advocacy groups play an important role in a democracy. But
public schools have a very different role. Schools serve the entire
community and, in so doing, cultivate a common good that
includes us all.”
In other words, “Get to your own end of the playground, guys.”
Our children’s institutions of learning should stop being used as
cultural poker chips by groups on both sides of the divide. The
rough and tumble of politics needs to be subsumed at the
schoolhouse door under the larger heading of what's best for our
children. Not that the document attempts to paper over points of
dispute, it just tries to acknowledge the commonalities that we
should take for granted - but so often don’t.
“This guide is not an attempt to ignore or minimize differences
that are important or abiding, but rather a reaffirmation of what
we share as Americans across our differences. First Amendment
principles can and do advance the best interests of education to
the nation, but only when they are understood an applied by
citizens committed to advancing a common vision of the common
good.”
And that’s a lesson the consequences of which reach well beyond
the educational system into the many corners of our fragmented
society.
Class dismissed.
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