Parents asked, we listened: Training changemakers in our schools

FPF to launch nation’s first biblically based school board training

It’s not hard to see that our public schools need help.

From pandemic shutdowns that allowed parents to see concerning curriculum and ideology in their children’s classrooms, to the “new normal” of boys playing on girls’ sports teams, to students being encouraged to “socially transition” their gender without parental knowledge (much less consent), we all know our schools need better leadership.

We’ve heard from anguished parents and grandparents from across the country—and even school board members themselves—all asking for help. And we’ve listened!

That’s why Family Policy Foundation is launching the School Board Academy this December – the first national training program for pro-family school board members that will be taught from a biblical worldview. The virtual program will include training in:

We have a relevant and readily applicable curriculum, plus a highly capable faculty of veteran school board members and national policy experts, but we need your help to fill the seats of our first class. The inaugural School Board Academy will meet online Dec. 13-15, 2022, from 7-9:30 p.m. ET. All pro-family school board members and candidates are welcome to apply, however, space is limited.

If you know a school board member or candidate, or if you meet that criteria yourself, please invite them to apply here. The cost of $179 per student covers 7.5 hours of training as well as membership to the School Board Exchange, which provides ongoing community and resources to those who have graduated from the School Board Academy.

If you don’t know a school board member personally, you can still get involved and help turn our schools around by providing scholarships for those who need assistance to attend. To sponsor a school board member or support the School Board Academy in another way, visit here.

Please help us spread the word by sharing the School Board Academy webpage with your family, friends, church, and neighbors. With your support, we will equip and empower school board members to honor God, protect children, and preserve parents’ rights through their service.

Thank you for partnering with us!

Amanda Banks
Vice President, Education
Family Policy Foundation

My own memories of “back to school” are happy ones filled with excitement over new folders, pens, clothes, friends, and things to learn.

For parents, though, back to school is an increasingly anxious time, and ensuring that our kids are safe in every way is the top priority.

That’s why Family Policy Alliance teamed up with our friends at Focus on the Family to create the only Back to School Guide for Parents.

Inside The Guide:

Learn How to Protect Your Child:

Download your free copy today!

How would you respond if you discovered your school clinic was dispensing contraceptives to your child — without informing you? Or if a boy took a spot on your daughter’s high school soccer team because he felt like a girl? Or if you found out your six-year-old child’s teacher is reading books about gender-confused children to the whole classroom?

We’re concerned too. We read the news and receive numerous phone calls, emails, and letters from parents, grandparents, and family members every week. They tell us what’s happening at their children’s schools and ask for help responding.

We pray Back to School—for Parents is a blessing to you and your family as you navigate the challenges of sending your children back into the classroom this month.

DOWNLOAD FREE GUIDE

Standing with you,

Autumn Leva,
Sr VP of Strategy

 

 

 

 

 

When you’re facing opposition from radical activists and the Biden Administration, you must be doing something right.

This afternoon, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law. The new law ensures parents are not kept in the dark about what is happening with their children in schools and protects kids in kindergarten through 3rd grade from sexualized classroom instruction.

And, in the words of John Stemberger, President of Florida Family Policy Council, “The Florida parents rights law is necessary because schools have become places more concerned with indoctrination than they are with education.”

Florida Family Policy Council, our ally in Florida and a trusted voice for parents and families, shepherded the bill through the Florida legislature. We are grateful for their work on this bill, and for Governor DeSantis’s bold leadership in signing this bill in the face of pressure.

If you’ve been following this story, you know that Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek pressured Governor DeSantis to veto the bill – and some LGBT activists both outside and within Disney want the company leadership to go further. In fact, the well-funded and largest LGBT activist organization, the Human Rights Campaign, rejected a $5 Million donation from Disney in an attempt to pressure Disney to do more to oppose Florida’s pro-family bill.

But Disney clearly picked the wrong side in this fight. Not only did Governor DeSantis sign the bill this afternoon, but polling indicates that the law is strongly supported by Floridians – including by Democrat primary voters—and by Americans generally.

Disney leadership weren’t the only ones who missed that memo, though. Today, President Biden put out a tweet clearly targeting the new Florida law. And now the Human Rights Campaign is  raising even more “emergency money” where every dollar is matched to “fight back.”

This activism isn’t limited to Florida. Of course, the Biden Administration and Human Rights Campaign have each committed themselves to an activist agenda across the nation. But now Disney has publicly insinuated that it wishes to “take action” against other states with pro-family laws and has even said that its goal “is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts.”

TELL DISNEY TO STAND DOWN: sign our open letter!

As a company that caters to families, Disney needs to hear from you that their stance is anti-family and opposed to public values. We’ve sent this open letter to Disney, along with Florida Family Policy Council, and thousands of you have already added your names to it. If you haven’t yet, though, it’s not too late. Disney will keep facing pressure from LGBT activists to oppose good pro-family laws, so they need to keep hearing from you, too.

Sign the letter today.

After you sign the letter, we have more good news from the states: Utah’s legislature just passed a law to protect female athletes in their state, making Utah the 12th state to Save Girls’ Sports!

But the full story is remarkable. After the bill passed the Utah legislature, the Republican Governor vetoed the bill, even in the wake of male Lia Thomas winning a women’s swimming title in the NCAA. But rather than giving up, lawmakers in Utah voted to override the Governor’s veto and make it law anyway!

It’s an inspiring story for Indiana, where the Save Girls’ Sports bill was also vetoed by its Governor (and is awaiting a potential override vote) and for other states still hoping to get similar bills into law this year.

But even more than that, it’s inspiring for each of us who want to see a better, more pro-family America. It’s a reminder that no matter how much the Biden Administration tries to push its radical agenda on America, and no matter how much woke companies rattle their fists and pocketbooks against pro-family laws, they’re out of touch.

The American people are on the side of parents and children, truth and fairness. And when we stand together, those values will win the day.

So, we’re looking ahead with hope. Today, parents and children in Florida are protected. Female athletes in Utah and 11 other states know their state believes in them and stands for fairness in sports. And really, this is only the beginning.

Will you join us?

Meridian Baldacci
Director of Strategy

P.S. Don’t forget to sign our open letter to Disney today!

 

Dear Friends,

This week, the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) announced their new and revised Social Studies Standards as a rule for all public schools and state charters in New Mexico. The controversy over this new curriculum is that there is heavy concern about the presence of Critical Race Theory and LGBTQ+ agenda elements that begin in the kindergarten classroom and grow from one grade level to the next.

Many letters and voices flooded the PED during the public comment period that expressed concern over the proposed standards as “divisive, biased, or negative,” as well as concern that the new standards “embody critical race theory.”  Concern was also voiced regarding the topic of “identity” within the standard.

Unfortunately, while many concerns were noted, the PED revisions, released this week, have been ineffective in removing elements of CRT and introducing the LGBTQ+ agenda into the education standard as early as Kindergarten.

New Mexico families are under attack as this Woke agenda takes position to fill the classroom and threatens to hijack our children’s education.

So, what can we do?

The legislative process still exists! Although the PED would make parents and teachers believe that there is no other option, we can stand strong!

Some good news…

Here at Family Policy Alliance of New Mexico, we are working on a Transparency in Education Act that will allow parents rights to be protected in the classroom. We will share more information in the months to come regarding this bill and the sponsors who have agreed to introduce it in the next legislative session.

It’s time to take action!

My husband and I have four children. We do not wish them to be ignorant to the things that are happening in our world, but we absolutely expect to be able to teach them in our own time and on our own terms. Every parent has the right to do the same. Will you stand with us to protect New Mexico families?

Standing for our families,

Jodi Hendricks
Executive Director

Your support to Family Policy Alliance and the alliance of state family policy councils we host is making family policy THE issue on the ballot.

For decades we have seen our culture decline while the far Left targets our parents and kids. Our parents have been told they don’t matter. They want families to forego the hopes and dreams we have for our children and allow them to be indoctrinated by the divisive and failed ideology of state-controlled thought.

At Family Policy Alliance, we were encouraged by the election results in Virginia and New Jersey. We know that the ground that was gained yesterday for families in America was huge. We also know that it was just a beginning—the opening battles in a much larger fight as we head into 2022.

The far Left and their leaders don’t want the voice of parents to matter. They aren’t going to stand down or change direction willingly. We know this. There is too much at stake for them and their decades-long plan to erase families—from conception of our children through their education and how they choose to live, work and enjoy the greatness of America that God has blessed us with.

The time is now, and our moment is here. We need to rise to this challenge and make sure that the victory in Virginia and gains in New Jersey are not just one-and-done events. You saw for yourself the power of leaders who don’t shrink from standing up for our values in family policy. The far Left threw everything and the kitchen sink at the candidates yesterday. They even resorted to calling Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin and Lt. Governor-elect Winsome Sears (the first African American woman elected statewide in Virginia) racist because they believe in – you guessed it – families and parents.

Family Policy Alliance is America’s leading national organization standing up for the civil rights of parents and families in state, local and federal policy. What makes us unique is our focus on organizing, educating and mobilizing around family policy.

We host an alliance of the most talented, impactful and amazing organizations working to advance the rights of families in America. What made the success possible yesterday was the work two of the forty state organizations in that alliance. The Family Foundation in Virginia and Family Policy Alliance of New Jersey organized, educated and mobilized voters like never before. And the leaders in Washington DC, pundits and news stations all took notice. It was their work and the good people who support it locally that ushered in this huge change in the national conversation about families.

And this work is just beginning. FPA hosts this alliance so the lessons learned that led to the victories for families last night can be shared across America as we head into 2022. Together, our organizations will invest more than $30 million just this year in the cause of family policy. Our alliance has more than 300 employees, dozens of lawyers, millions of advocates and more than 40,000 churches.

If you don’t already support the work of your state Family Policy Council Alliance member, we encourage you to get involved now!

Thank you again for your amazing support of  Family Policy Alliance. Praise God that he is using each of us in such a powerful way for families today!!

Please, stay plugged in. Look for the videos and invitations we send for you to participate. Support your state organization, and if you are in one of the states yet to have its own organization (OR, NV, IL, VT, OK, – help us create one there now!

Thanks again and may God bless your family,

Craig DeRoche
President and CEO

This week, the Biden Administration directed the FBI to conduct meetings in every federal judicial district related to “threats” and “terrorism” in local school districts.

Why? Because parents are standing up and speaking out against radical ideologies like gender theory, critical race theory, and more at their local school board meetings. Now, the Department of Justice is deploying the FBI to investigate your community.

To be clear, acts or threats of violence against school boards members are wrong.

However, the federal government is now extending its long arms to areas that should be handled by local mayors, school principals and school boards, and law enforcement.

This an attempt to undermine families and self-governance—even corrupting America itself. We are a splendid chaos of tens of thousands of local civic governments made of the people, by the people and for the people. When people are allowed to dissent, that political pain can bring about much needed change. When the political leaders don’t improve things, people can vote with their feet and simply move. But that’s what extreme liberals, particularly the Biden Administration, seem to be afraid of. Their plan unravels if Americans are allowed to exercise their freedoms.

For example, Detroit Public Schools went from having 169,363 students in the year 2000 to only 47,959 students in 2015. This is what freedom looks like when parents believe that school curriculum, policy and instruction fail their kids and the school boards don’t hear their voices. Nearly all the parents took their kids to neighboring public schools that would listen to their concerns and teach their children properly.

The far Left wants to create an America where the people in Detroit can’t leave bad decision-making behind for other cities and states, and they can’t put their kids in different school districts—where parents can’t even raise their voices in the first place. They want to take away dissent and choice, spreading instead failure, flawed ideology, and the consequences of foolish decisions.

Deploying the FBI to investigate parents who are speaking against radical agendas is a grave sign that the federal government intends to create a chilling effect for those who oppose their ideologies. But parents won’t back down when it comes to their children.

Family Policy Alliance is committed to protecting the freedom of parents to dissent.

We’re actively working to thwart the Biden-Harris Department of Education’s agenda to exploit Title IX, the federal law intended to ensure equal opportunities for women and girls in education, to advance the transgender agenda. We pray for bold citizens and parents, especially those with daughters in school, to stand with us.

We’ve also heard the requests for help from countless parents over the years, asking for information about their rights, what’s going on at their child’s school, and how to protect their children. In partnership with Focus on the Family, we’ve released the first-ever Back to School for Parents Guide designed to help parents protect their children—and their parental rights—in every area of the school. Whether in the classroom, sports fields, counselor’s office, on school devices or internet, or beyond, this Guide is full of practical help for busy (and concerned!) parents. American College of Pediatricians described this Guide as “the most important book a parent will ever read.”

Download your FREE copy today!

If being a concerned parent makes you “wanted,” then we’re honored to stand with you as fellow “fugitives.”

For the America our kids deserve,

Craig DeRoche,
President & CEO

 

 

With students returning to the classroom this fall, the battle for the minds of the emerging generation is escalating. Parents have amplified their voices at local school board hearings and through grassroots advocacy efforts, yet what has become more apparent than ever is the need for greater involvement in the education of our children.

Parents are the primary educators of their children. Though they may choose to entrust their child to a government school, parents are ultimately responsible for overseeing their children’s education. So, what can parents do when they see some within the government schools try to educate children away from the self-evident truth of God’s Word?

First, understand these controversial lessons are only supporting the larger cultural narrative that children are being swept up into. Social media influencers on Tik Tok and Instagram have more influence over your child than a teacher. We regularly encourage parents to request lesson plans and review curriculum even to the point of recently having to pursue legal action in Cheyenne to help parents. However, if you take these actions, but never check what phone apps your child spends hours engaged in, you might have overlooked the most dangerous tool being used against your family.

Second, talk to your children appropriately about sex and gender. Ask questions and listen to their answers. Use our Gender Resource Guide as a conversation starter. Prepare yourself with biblical answers presented intellectually and compassionately. Our friends at Focus on the Family have many Sex Education resources. Don’t just have this conversation once. It must be an ongoing dialogue as your beliefs can be intentionally undermined at school multiple times throughout K-12 primary education.

Third, spend time with your family. Yes, it’s that simple. Experts agree that a child’s development is influenced predominantly by their family because it is the primary social group they belong to. Family movie nights and taco Tuesdays are beneficial to building familial bonds that are not easily broken. Most importantly, bring them to church each week and have them participate in youth ministry or a small group Bible study.

These suggestions might sound basic, but the reality is most of us need to improve in all three areas. I pray you stay encouraged and optimistic that you can make a difference in your child or grandchild’s life.

Standing with you in protecting your family,

Nathan Winters
Executive Director

Rachel Levine, President Biden’s pick for Deputy Secretary at the Health and Human Services Department, has a message for transgender-identifying students. Levine is a biological male who identifies as a woman.

 

“Back to school” is a driving force for most American families this month. Even the Biden Administration, bringing to bear the weight of three major departments—the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice—is joining in with a message for students. Specifically, students who identify as transgender.

These three departments released a video this month welcoming transgender-identifying students back to school. Their message? Transgender-identifying students have a “right” to access harmful and experimental hormones to “transition” their bodies, and girls no longer have a right to fair competition in sports.

It’s a bit of an ironic message. Children struggling with how they feel in their God-given bodies have an invented right to harm and even sterilize themselves before they reach the age of 18—yet they can’t even purchase cough syrup over-the-counter.

Meanwhile, young female athletes, who actually do have a legal right under Title IX to fair competition reserved only for girls, no longer have that right. That’s because a boy who identifies as a girl—at any time, for any reason—must be allowed to compete on girls’ teams and access girls’ championship and scholarship opportunities.

It’s also disturbing that the role of parents in raising and caring for their children —and in major decisions about physically altering their bodies to look more like the opposite sex—was missing from the video.

And the video didn’t stop there. The Biden officials also took direct shots at states whose lawmakers are boldly fighting to protect children. They criticized West Virginia for saving girls’ sports for only girls—among seven other states. And they called out Arkansas for being the first state in the nation to pass a law prohibiting harmful and experimental “gender transition” on children.

Family Policy Alliance’s message to these states: Keep up the good work! Our mission is to help as many other states as possible follow your lead in protecting children and pushing back against the Biden Administration’s harmful LGBT agenda.

Family Policy Alliance also has a very different Back-to-School message than the Biden Administration. We partnered with our friends at Focus on the Family to release the first-ever, parent-focused back-to-school guide:  Back to School—for Parents.

The Guide includes practical help on how to protect your child at school, as well as loving help for parents on how to talk with children about these difficult issues. The Guide addresses concerns parents may have for their children:

Download your free copy of Back to School—for Parents here!

Our friends at the American College of Pediatricians said: “Back to School—for Parents is the most important book a parent will ever read.”

The Biden Administration has made their position clear. They want access to our children to advance their agenda, and parents who disagree should be side-stepped.

It is more important for today’s children, perhaps more than any other generation, for parents to be both informed and equipped to protect their children. That is the heart behind Back to School—for Parents.

So, to the parents sending their children back to school—we stand with you as you protect your young ones, raise them according to biblical values, and safeguard their futures!

To the states and state lawmakers passing good legislation that protects children from harmful political agendas—we stand with you as you face political criticism and backlash from Big Business, Big Tech and Woke DC!

For families and for His glory,Autumn Stroup.jpg
autumn signature
Autumn Leva
Vice President for Strategy

 

P.S. Family Policy Alliance is making it a top priority to equip parents, help parents engage in the political process when they need to protect their families, and train and equip lawmakers to boldly advance family values. The needs are growing, and we need your generous support! Please consider a gift today!

Give Now

 

A proverb often attributed to George Washington states: “Government … like fire, is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.”

 

While it’s uncertain that George Washington really spoke those words, the proverb still rings true and captures the challenge that has faced humanity since the first governments were formed in history. Government can not only allow us to protect ourselves from external aggression but can also be used to oppress and coerce citizens.

Unfortunately, history demonstrates that governmental oppression has been far more common than liberty – and this fact proves painfully true in the realm of education.

Last month, a parent from Sweden emailed a pastor named John Piper with a concern that struck close to home. In his email, he described a national education system overtaken with the radical extremes of modern Marxist thought, specifically with ideas that teach that maleness and femaleness is defined by how you feel about your body rather than biology. He added that Sweden has placed so many restrictions upon Christian and private schools that they are forced into the position of teaching that same ideology. In Sweden, an attempt to remove your child from such indoctrination by teaching them within the home is grounds for the government to remove them from home and force them into foster care.

Such stories are rightly shocking to families in America, but we have to understand that it is a clash of worldviews that creates stories such as these. Central to the clash is the question of whether families or governments should have the primary responsibility of raising children.

There is no doubt that families can benefit when government enacts policies that help families to thrive. Also, government and civil society receive tremendous benefit from the traditional family. The clash comes when some view government as the prime authority in deciding what is best for the child.

That mindset is popular among some within the government and in academia. And because of that mindset among the liberal elites, Americans face growing pressure to bow to certain “experts” within the public school system. These “experts” teach ideas such as “Critical Race Theory” and the gender spectrum (including a “non-binary” gender in which someone is neither a man nor a woman). They teach that boys should be allowed to play in girls’ sports (disregarding the very real physical advantage boys have), and they instruct our children that the whole world is subdivided by a Marxist narrative of “The Oppressed” and “The Oppressor.”

When such ideas grow within a government, that government is on the cusp of changing from servant to master. The government that we witnessed in this year’s legislative session in Santa Fe displayed a disdain for the family that should set off alarm bells.

Because of your help, Family Policy Alliance of New Mexico has been blessed to provide a greater voice in speaking about these crucial topics as they surface in our state. Thank you for standing with us to ensure that the government is a source of protection, not tyranny.

The Family Policy Alliance of New Mexico Team

A proverb often attributed to George Washington states: “Government … Like fire, is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.”

 

While it’s uncertain that George Washington really spoke those words, the proverb still rings true and captures the challenge that has faced humanity since the first governments were formed in history. Government can not only allow us to protect ourselves from external aggression but can also be used to oppress and coerce citizens.

Unfortunately, history demonstrates that governmental oppression has been far more common than liberty – and this fact proves painfully true in the realm of education.

Last month, a parent from Sweden emailed a pastor named John Piper with a concern that struck close to home. In his email he described a national education system overtaken with the radical extremes of modern Marxist thought, specifically with ideas that teach that maleness and femaleness is defined by how you feel about your body rather than biology. He added that Sweden has placed so many restrictions upon Christian and private schools that they are forced into the position of teaching that same ideology. In Sweden, an attempt to remove your child from such indoctrination by teaching them within the home is grounds for the government to remove them from home and force them into foster care.

Such stories are rightly shocking to families in America, but we have to understand that it is a clash of worldviews that creates stories such as these. Central to the clash is the question of whether families or governments should have the primary responsibility of raising children.

There is no doubt that families can benefit when government supports the family structure. Also, government and civil society receive tremendous benefit from the traditional family.  The clash comes when some view government as the prime authority deciding what is best for the child.

That mindset is popular among some within the government and in academia. And because of that mindset among the liberal elites, Americans face growing pressure to bow to certain “experts” within the public school system. These “experts” teach ideas such as “Critical Race Theory” and the gender spectrum (including a “non-binary” gender in which someone is neither a man nor a woman). They teach that boys should be allowed to play in girls’ sports (disregarding the very real physical advantage boys have), and they instruct our children that the whole world is subdivided by a Marxist narrative of “The Oppressed” and “The Oppressor.”

When such ideas grow within a government, that government is on the cusp of changing from servant to master. Having recently fought against that change here in Wyoming, I ask all of you to stand firm in your calling to speak the truth in love as Christians and as American citizens.

Because of your help, Family Policy Alliance of Wyoming has been blessed to provide a greater voice in speaking about these crucial topics as they surface in Wyoming. Thank you for standing with us to ensure that the government is a source of protection, not tyranny.

For freedom,

Nathan Winter
Executive Director