When EQUITY removes the words "boy" and "girl" from 5th grade lessons?!

hey everybody today is Tuesday May 2nd it's Jill simonian with prageru kids we are live on Facebook we are Live on YouTube I believe and if you are watching us live give a wave hello I'm gonna do my best to look at the comments and and interact as we usually try to do here um but welcome welcome to all of the parents teachers Educators grandparents who watch who are invested and um and in the game with skin in the game to educate our children with knowledge during this time of what we like to say indoctrination happening in our schools right so we have a crazy headline again to launch a discussion about now as all of you know most of you know I am a mom my children were once in a public school I have since pulled them and now we are in a private Catholic school and I'm also one of the personalities for prageru kids for our Autos Tales show for our craftery show for a new upcoming show we have uh called unboxed USA that we'll be debuting in summer it's a show about state so I am invested in all of the education news that is happening and I love to discuss it with all of you tell me where you're from in the comments right now as I get into this discussion about Equity versus equality that is the big topic today and these words are seemingly very similar but as many already know Equity Equity does not equal equality and we know this and if you know the difference I want to hear it in the comments because I know we got smart viewers and listeners out there so what is equity in schools before we get into this headline about Vermont schools no longer using gendered terms like boy and girl that is the headline before we get into this I want to briefly say what is equity in schools Equity is a buzzword and do not let it fool you because it is appearing all over the place in policy in diversity equity and inclusion initiatives you name it school districts are talking Equity Equity Equity equity and they've turned this Equity word into into this huge they're trying to fool all of us into thinking it's this wonderful thing Equity is not equality equality as we know is giving everyone an equal chance to work hard right to give chance to give students a chance to perform to deliver results according to the efforts and hard work that they put in I mean these are a foundational part of our values as Americans right you work hard everyone's got an equal chance to hit the ground running nose to the grindstone work hard turn in your homework assignment in time get that a plus right equal opportunity that's equality Equity however which is my one of my least favorite words nowadays anyone who knows me knows that I cannot stand this word equity yields an intention to make sure that students learn and perform at the same level now don't be tricked that sounds wonderful yes of course we want students at the same level but it doesn't mean that you are accelerating students to advance them to learn at a similar or same higher level it means ultimately what we have found is that we are dumbing down we are dumbing down the standard Equity can remove accelerated courses and opportunities in schools like math or science or any subject for that matter as we're going to see with sex education in Vermont schools Equity can also curb acceleration and competition because if a group of students knows that they're ultimately all going to get the same grade or uh they are you know that that the standards are lower you think that group of students is going to try harder no no no no no equity also aims to remove grades and test scores because higher grades oh they can make students who didn't study feel bad right many of you have experienced this a lot of people write into me telling me that this is happening in their school districts and equity can even sometimes push a child who's struggling through to the next grade level for the next academic school year because they don't because the school district does not want to make that child feel as though they are not as good as the other students should they not be ready to advance to the next grade level because they did not put the work in or because maybe they have a learning issue that needs to be dealt with Equity can do all of these things there are countless examples across the country that we talk about frequently on our prageru Instagram on these discussions that I have here on behalf of prageru kids so so let's get into the headline now now that everyone's loaded up into are either our Facebook live or our YouTube I'm going to say hello and I just want to scroll and see if I can even find this video to say hello to all the people tuning in before we go on to this headline Let's see we got comments here sounds like affirmative action Equity is a specter let's see the left is normalizing the sickness all right here we go hi everybody Equity is essentially sameness of outcome that's one of the comments yeah we got it so let's get into this headline right now and we have it on the screen this is from the stream now you've probably seen this headline making the rounds in the last few days because uh I found it on the stream a few days ago I think Fox News has recently picked it up person who produces sperm and it's like I hate is a mother I hate saying this stuff because I want to keep the language on the up and up you know everything on the internet lives forever but this is the title I am reading from thestream.org person who produces sperm Vermont school district will no longer use gendered terms in sex ed classes what the heck does that mean you ask a Vermont school district is no longer using the terms male and female when teaching sexual education classes according to a letter obtained by parents defending education pde which is a parental rights organization and I know some of the organizers of pde wonderful people who are really collecting the most most important underbelly of information happening in our school districts now when they're sharing this so that we can all be aware and alert and stay engaged so let's see Founders Memorial School principal Sarah jablonski notified families on April 20th that teachers will no longer be using gender-specific words such as male female boy girl when teaching fifth grade health lessons that include puberty and the human reproductive system and this is according to the letter obtained by pde instead teachers are now going to describe they've been allegedly directed to describe a man as a person who produces sperm and refer to a woman as a person who produces eggs so I just want to here's here's the article here it's if you're looking at it it's on the stream.org I want to click on this letter that pde obtained because we like to see original sources here right so here is the letter parents defending education defendinged.org this is the letterhead of the school district Essex Westford School District here is the article oh here is the letter right here so let's go ahead and click on the letter itself here we go April 20th 2023 dear fifth grade families and caregivers I'm reading the letter from Essex Westford School District dated on April 20th this is a letter out to families and caregivers it is time for our science health unit about the human body focused on puberty and the human reproductive systems this unit will take place during the last few months of school which essentially is now uh as we are in may we will focus on the physical and emotional changes that occur during puberty and briefly introduce the basic structure and function of human reproductive systems okay fine all on the up and up right I am not opposed to appropriate biology lessons about how human beings reproduce in schools I am not opposed to that whatsoever I think it's necessary I think it's worthwhile as long as and I say this reasonably as long as parents and Educators stay within the boundaries and guard rails of Truth in human biology and reproduction right right that's I'll continue students will be participating in whole group discussions and have private reflection time okay there will also be three interview opportunities coming home throughout the unit so in an effort to align our curriculum with our uh oh oh Sound the Alarm Equity policy in an effort to align our curriculum with our Equity policy highlight it right there teachers will be using gender inclusive language throughout this unit with any differences we strive to use person first language in quotation marks as best practice you will see examples of this below and here are the examples that this um that uh the FMS principle cites person who produces sperm in place of boy male and assigned male at Birth person who produces eggs in place of girl female and assigned female at Birth this is literally the letter from the principal at Founders Memorial School as shared on parents defending education's website this is equity policy in action and school districts up and down and east to west in this country have now I think for the most part these last few years fully implemented their diversity equity and inclusion Dei policies and initiatives within the school districts and all of the most of these school districts from personal experience and from also communication that I continue to get from our parents across the country all of you have said that their school districts are touting Equity as this wonderful inclusive thing that is just going to help everyone and all of you who think you know parents parents and reasonable teachers by the way have been accused of being paranoid and conspiracy theorists if they tend to be wary of policies involving Equity that are implemented in their schools we are not being over dramatic when it comes to being wary of equity policies in our schools this is equity policy at work the fact that school districts such as Essex Westford School District in Vermont is now citing in an official letter that Equity policy is instructing teachers to use gender inclusive language such as person who produces sperm in place of boy or male and person who produces eggs in place of girl female in their reproductive sexual education classes for fifth graders is proof that we are not crazy it is proof that Equity policies are destructive am I yelling oh my goodness I'm yelling I'm sorry I don't mean to be yelling at you because I know all of you watching and listening are reasonable most of you watching and listening are reasonable please weigh in with comments if you have them if you happen to be in this particular school district and maybe have a fifth grader who is a part of this destructive type of education now please weigh in please weigh in I want to see your comments I am I'm scrolling let's see that's what our government wants I'm reading comments here that's what our government wants they want all kids to be brainwashed and controllable people it's called socialism I'm not going to disagree with you uh by eliminating the terms boy and girl this is from Katie schools teach kids that some human beings can be neither think about that this is anti-science anti-reality thank you Katie I'm scrolling the comments here this is Vance from Vance it's just imperative for parents to teach what they believe without teaching hate I believe this yes Vance it's a thin line between confusion and miseducation is all Vance I do agree with you I do agree with you we can feel as parents frustrated and angry about the abandonment of Truth and reason and Science in this case in this particular school we can feel all we want but it is important to reinforce that we check ourselves when it comes to amplifying hate I do agree with you Vance and I appreciate that comment very much so in that regard I want to share with you something kind of comical that I hope many of you will laugh at and get a kick out of like I did I uh regarding the word equity I before I uh before I changed my children's School a few years ago my former public school district was in the process of implementing implementing the Dei program which surprise surprise I was very much against as a parent and there was a group of us parents who were really trying to sound the alarm about how destructive Equity can be uh for the future if it is included as you know one of our uh fundamental policies in in the school district and the the assistant superintendent at the time uh I had an ongoing dialogue with her and she knew my very uh out public concerns about what Equity can actually do when the potential harmful effects of equity and she sent me this picture now this picture that I found I literally Googled Equity versus equality because I was looking for this picture online and and here we go the source interaction Institute for social change uh I do not know anything about this website nor do I endorse it for obvious reasons but here is the picture that I want to show you that many proponents and supporters of equity are have been putting out into the world illustrating equality versus Equity so here we have this this picture of equality how everyone gets the equal size box but this little guy can't see over the fence because he's not as tall as this guy and oh this is what equality does no one can uh you know no one can have an equal outcome of seeing the game here versus what equity they what they what they think Equity does is that this guy on his own can see it so yay hooray he can see it this guy is does just fine with the mid-size box and then this little guy gets two boxes because he needs extra help and he should be able to see the game too I agree that everyone should be able to see the game right metaphorically however this is not a true depiction of what equality and Equity does as I discussed Equity wants to make sure that everyone ends up the same which is font which you know is is their argument for Equity being you know fine and dandy but this is the reality of what Equity does and I I can't help but laugh at this can we see this I hope we can see this on the screen here's one example of equality versus Equity versus reality here we go this is reality when you start putting various policies in place the reality is that is not that everyone gets an equal chance to participate or you know in this case metaphorically view the ball game and here's another sample of reality equity in reality lowers the standards and cuts everyone off so that no one succeeds this is the reality for those of you who might be listening as opposed to watching I have a picture here that has uh it's kind of gory actually but it um it's a it's a symbolic representation of equity not serving anyone especially not serving the people who it claims it wants to help so uh this is just sort of a fun cartoon that I actually sent back to my former assistant superintendent to prove that no I'm not buying this versus Equity versus equality uh let me see any other comments about Equity versus equality before I get into the brand new acronym that is making its way into many public schools and corporations for that matter let's see if there's any comments let's see I'm scrolling I'm scrolling this comment from Kelly on our Facebook feed I'm a mother grandmother educator and mental health professional government policies in quotes have destroyed our culture I don't disagree with you let's see Katie I love these lives Jill thank you Katie she says we need more parents and grandparents to act go to the next school board meeting and tell the board what you think and what you want your school board is supposed to be working for you it's supposed to be responsive to you excellent reminder Katie I can't reiterate that anymore okay I'm scrolling the cup we got some really good comments here here's a comment from Jerry if Equity means Equity then the use of boy and girl shouldn't be a problem any more than any other adjective that they are using to define gender should it interesting point somebody wrote dumb I I don't disagree with you okay so thank you for the comments moving right along I want to discuss uh the new trend we've got Dei diversity equity and inclusion that have taken our school districts by storm but the new trend that I want everyone to be aware of especially parents and good teachers out there which you may have already had experience in in dealing with this but diversity Equity inclusion and belonging there's another word tacked onto the back belonging it's a pretty powerful word I'm not gonna lie we all want to belong all of our children want to belong it's part of human nature to want to be long kids students want to belong we want to be a part of it we know this we know this it's part of the human psyche it's a it's a human experience we know this so now the word belonging has been tacked on to the end of Dei as the latest trendy incarnation of the types of inclusive policies that our schools and corporations want to want to further so I have literally Googled diversity Equity inclusion and belonging just to see what comes up this website Academy Academy to innovate HR came up I don't know anything about this website I literally clicked on it just to see what d e i b now means and this is an outline of deib at organization so look at all of these charts and figures that people are coming up with and I'm gonna I'm gonna guess to say that Consultants who charge hundreds of thousands of dollars are coming up with to throw at corporations and school districts and demand that they become deib compliant for the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars so that you can have a safe school school districts is this sounding familiar let's look at this diagram just so we are aware and informed so we've got diversity equity and inclusion we already talked about the poisons of equity if you're just tuning in rewind this video and see the little cartoons and commentary that I shared about what Equity really is versus equality of opportunity so we've got diversity equity and inclusion and then there's another Circle stuck right in the middle there as though the overlapping of the three circles wasn't symbolic enough we've got belonging because belonging cuts to the gut of what every human being wants and that is to be accepted by peers and especially it preys on children's need and desire to be accepted by peers and frankly accepted by adults as well because our children do want to be accepted and praised by adults so they've so now this deib trend has stuck the word belonging in there and here we go the definition feeling accepted as members of a group valued and connected with the company I'm going to go ahead and replace that word company with schools because we know that this is coming down the pike if it hasn't already at your school district so we have these things look at Dei is the base to build on focus on purpose be accountable truly include your gig workers lead by example these are all guidelines that are now being pushed as something more that corporations and schools need to comply with now my question as just a regular mom raising kids is why do we need all this stuff why do we need all these diagrams and colors and definitions and language reinvention go to the school board and I'm a big proponent of this go to your school board and say I have a solution I understand that we want inclusion and belonging and we want people to feel respected here's the solution and talk really really quietly and say the solution is to teach the Golden Rule and the light bulbs go off and everyone in the room if you're living in a left-leaning community like I happen to be in they don't even know what the golden rule is they don't even know that there has been a rule that has existed for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of you know thousands of years that says treat one another as you would like to be treated that's the solution done done it's done treat each other as you would like to be treated end of story we have zero tolerance for hate harassment or bullying at school you do those things there are consequences end of story that's the solution we don't need to spend our tax paying dollars on Consultants who charge hundreds of thousands from us and sucker school districts dry so that they can come in with diagrams like deib and shame everyone and then get paid for it and ultimately lead to more problems in the community share your stories if you've had Consultants I'm curious and if just if you're sharing them even just to vent share them share them but most importantly continue to speak up in the school districts and at the school board meetings so my solution to this is again continue speaking up but the other thing that really bothers me as a mom is that all of these diagrams all of these initiatives all of these deib this that the other they're all taking up valuable class time away from our students to learn real knowledge and real life skills that are going to help them function as members of our society in the future and the the reason why we started Prager U kids is because our children are not learning knowledge and our standards for academics are now being replaced with the sort of indoctrination and harm and dis destruction destruction that Equity brings to school districts when it is implemented as we saw with the Vermont School District taking away the words boys and girls in the name of equity right so we have the solution another solution for you many of you know if you don't know already subscribe for free at prageru kids.com to teach our kids knowledge because our schools are no are no longer focused on teaching kids knowledge they're no longer focused on using those precious class time minutes that are allotted each day to teach kids academic knowledge to make them productive citizens they're throwing garbage at them in the form of equity and deib so prageru kids.com subscribe for free I want to share with you one of our latest episode releases that actually teaches a really great life skill that I probably need many Refreshers on and I'm going to scroll here we go if you go to pragerukids.com this is what our page looks like you can scroll down these are our shows lined up I'm going to scroll through and take you to our latest episode of cash course and this is such a fun show and cash course is a show about financial literacy when was the last time any one of our high school or middle school students had actual instruction about how money works it doesn't happen in schools anymore and it's tragic it's terrible so here's our show cash course I'm going to scroll you can see the episodes we have now we've got understanding taxes oh understanding taxes I still need work on that frankly holler if you still need understanding taxes help we've got pay stubs we've got investing and our latest release from last week was checking and savings accounts right practical applicable life skills on prageru kids.com for free let's just take a click at this video just to give you a little sample of the kinds of knowledge and life skills that we're aiming to teach our kids here we go cash course did you know 95 of U.S households put their money into accounts at Banks or credit unions checking in savings accounts are supposed to make managing your money convenient protect it from theft and damage and prevent it from getting lost checking and savings what's the difference a checking account is a transactional account this means you can deposit money into it and withdraw cash from It generally without any limitations people use checking accounts to cover everyday expenses and purchases and to pay their bills there you go all right little you most of you here I hope know what a checking account is but that's just a little example of the the types of shows that we make at prageru kids practical applicable knowledge that kids can actually use into adulthood in a fun way like we say we like to give kids the broccoli nutrition for the brain the knowledge but we like to put cheese and sour cream and crunchy croutons and all the good stuff on top so that the kids actually eat it so that they get the nutrients with the fun stuff so these are the types of shows we do I full confession I have never been I don't want to say interested but learning about money has never resonated with me and that's terrible to say as an adult but I'm admitting it but if I had something like this to watch as a teenager I would have watched it and I would have learned because it's fun and it um it actually it actually really does teach kids things I myself like I said have learned a lot prageryoukids.com subscribe for free this is just our latest episode uh again the show's name is called Cash course and um and and it's what it's what we are making for the betterment of our country because if we do not teach our kids knowledge if we do not teach them how our American system works if we do not teach them an appreciation of this country and and and the rights that we have As Americans we are not going to have a country left and all of you know that and we appreciate all of you you're so thankful for all of you who support us because we cannot make these shows that we do on prageru kids.com without you all of you know we are 501c3 we are totally dependent on donations and we cannot do any of this without you our very generous supporters and we thank you for that I'm going to scroll and see a few more comments and then I'm going to say goodbye but I hope we got a little bit of a refresher about what Equity versus equality means I hope that the recent example of what is happening in uh one of the school districts in Vermont regarding how they are applying their Equity policy to remove the words boy girl male female from a biological reproductive sex ed health class I I hope that that that that that that you know light so lights a light bulb and and really reveals how destructive Equity policies can be in practice um so anyhow let's see let's see I'm scrolling I'm scrolling oh my goodness I have to I have to read this comment Richard thank you by the way this is Richard's comment by the way thank you so much for Otto's Tales we watch it every week and my kids look forward to watching thank you so much you must have you must have uh youngsters who watch Otto's Tales our story time show about values honesty hard work our latest series is called let's visit and it's our story time show let's visit Mount Rushmore let's visit the Statue of Liberty let's visit an American Farm it's our story time show that is aligned with our hard our hard copy books that you can get on Amazon or through our website and it's for kindergarten through second graders although I will confess my fifth and sixth grader love Otto's Tales maybe it's because I'm the Storyteller and they like watching Mom but anyhow thank you to all of you who support us at pragerukids.com Please Subscribe for free we can't do this without you and we thank you for always staying informed and engaged and on top of what is happening in our children's education system be brave speak up I will see you next time always send me comments or questions I'm happy to answer them but see you next time bye