A Wisconsin mother outraged by the sexually inappropriate material her children were being exposed to at public school decided to speak out against the local school district and demand action.
She got it. But instead of striving to allay the concerns of an upset parent, the district responded in the form of a threatened lawsuit that openly dangled the prospect of “monetary damages” to be sought against the mom if she did not stop criticizing school officials.
Stop or We’ll Sue
In May, a law firm retained by the Oconomowoc Area School District (OASD) sent a cease-and-desist letter to Alexandra Schweitzer, claiming that she knowingly made false statements about school practices that were therefore defamatory. In their June 16 reply, Schweitzer’s lawyers rebut not only the “knowingly” aspect so critical to defamation suits but the “false” part itself.
“In every statement made by Ms. Schweitzer, her comments were substantially true and made without malice. They cannot meet the definition of defamatory,” the letter from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty reads.
The evidence that schoolkids in the district have indeed been exposed to grossly inappropriate material seems overwhelming. Numerous other parents have complained. The school district is leaning on process in targeting Schweitzer. Here’s an example of how OASD sought to portray her as maliciously deceptive.
From the cease-and-desist letter:
“The statements contained in your… February 23, 2022 public testimony are false, unprivileged and defamatory. You were made aware prior to your February 23, 2022 testimony that [the book] The 57 Bus is mentor text available only to teachers for checkout and use in instruction and that only small portions of the text were read aloud for the purpose of critical thinking and writing craft.”
Schweitzer’s lawyers’ letter on what they say happened:
“In February 2022, Ms. Schweitzer was contacted by several parents regarding the use of the book The 57 Bus in an eighth-grade classroom. She was informed that the teacher had read parts of the book aloud to the class, including discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation. Parents who reached out to Ms. Schweitzer expressed immense discomfort with the use of this book. Importantly, they stated they were not provided parental notice of the substance of what would be read and discussed in class …
“Comments by Ms. Schweitzer pertaining to this book did not claim anything false. She stated the following at the February 23, 2022 Senate Committee on Education hearing:
“‘Currently, Nature Hill Intermediate in Oconomowoc parents have contacted me with grave concern that a book, The 57 Bus, which has been read [aloud] in class, and much time is being dedicated during [English Language Arts] to the very controversial gender/sexual identity issues currently being discussed in this country. This book was read aloud without parental consent.’”
Despite the school district’s vague utilization of terms such as “mentor text” and “small portions,” the fact remains that objectionable material from the book in question was read to schoolchildren, and parents were angry about it. Schweitzer believes the cease-and-desist letter is more about silencing parental outrage than pursuing an honest and open school policy.
“My biggest message to parents and taxpayers is the parent is the primary educator of the child. And we have a right to know what’s going on inside the classroom … And I’m here because many, many parents don’t want to stand up … They’re scared their child will get bullied or they’re scared they’ll get blacklisted themselves. And I’m not going to stand down to tyranny like that,” she is quoted by Fox News.
Indeed, the cease-and-desist letter threatened dire consequences against Schweitzer:
“These statements exceed the pure expression of opinion; they are untrue, are not privileged, and have lowered those implicated in the estimation of the community. Therefore, the Oconomowoc Area School District and its Board of Education are entitled to take legal action to prevent you from further distribution of statements containing the false claims in the letter and testimony referenced above, and to seek monetary damages against you.”
Overarching Agenda
(Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Wisconsin appears to be the latest front in an ongoing war between parents and “educators” who simply do not want to cede any control over how their schools are run. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s efforts last year to crudely paint parents who questioned their local school boards as potential domestic terrorists were meant to serve this notion that school officials, and not moms and dads, are the prime molders of American children’s developing minds.
The highly influential progressive literary group PEN America could not be more honest about this goal. During a similar flare-up between officials and parents over inappropriate books in Texas schools in 2021, Jonathan Friedman, “director of free expression and education” for the organization, said:
“The district has an obligation to open students’ minds to the difficult issues these books reckon with, not close them off to diverse lived experiences. After all, how can we expect young people to learn about diversity, if we do not expose them to diverse perspectives in literature?”
Obligation to open students’ minds? Nothing Orwellian about that, is there?
Friedman didn’t just stop at that. In an op-ed for PEN, he explicitly stated:
“Parent and community engagement matters in education, but it must not be the only principle that guides schools through our culture war controversies. School leaders need to have a strong commitment to pedagogical principles, and to students’ rights to access literature and learn honest history. In states like Texas, where racial and ethnic diversity is accelerating, considerations of diversity and inclusion must also be part of the equation.”
Translation: Young minds must be framed in the proper socio-political condition, and parents cannot be allowed to stand in the way of this.
This battle is only just beginning.
