A Word from Rod to Parents, Teachers, and Students
Parents:
I will champion parental involvement and seek to empower parents with more tools to better serve today’s children, and to better prepare our young people for real world scenarios.
I believe parental involvement is key in the education of our young people.
God has given the mandate to parents to train up and educate their children. I’m so thankful we live in a state where the law supports this. Utah law states, “that parents are a child’s first teachers and are responsible for the education of their children” (Utah State Law 53E-2-301(3)(a)).
The selection of education programs in the State of Utah was never intended to be done without the informed consent of the parents.
Because parents have not been included in this process, we now have corrupt ideologies that have made their way into our schools which have been designed to divide and not unite us, to attack the child parent relationship, and wage war on parental rights.
Parents need to be informed and involved in the education of our children and respectfully and graciously, yet boldly, hold the system accountable for what’s being taught in Utah classrooms.
Teachers:
Our state has amazing teachers in it, but many of them have been muzzled and restrained by standards, policies, and bureaucracy. I seek to empower our teachers to teach the subjects they love and to not have their classrooms swamped with discussions and ideologies that are neither appropriate nor foundational to a great education. Our schools need to be a place of education not indoctrination.
Our teachers need the support of parents and staff to help empower them to command the respect in the classroom that is necessary to provide an environment that is safe and suitable for learning at the highest level.
As parents, we need to fight for our children, and fight for and alongside our teachers.
Students:
My top priority for our students will be to help protect and preserve their hearts and minds. We’re talking about the most vulnerable, impressionable, pliable minds. It is an incredible responsibility to make sure we do our best to preserve and protect them. That’s why we need to teach truth, because what goes into the mind impacts the heart and what impacts the heart comes out in a person’s life!
We need sensitive materials out of our schools. We need a strong focus on educating and building character, with a call to excellence and developing resilience, by challenging students once again to achieve their greatest potential through hard work.