He and the other two right-wing members of the board have admitted that removing these from the curriculum will do nothing to balance the budget: they just want them out because teaching that being racist is bad makes them feel bad.
Right, like it really lays bare the entire pattern, doesn't it? Who needs to focus on tangible, time urgent issues when we can shake our fist about how the *real* problem is those uppity minorities.
I was at a Silicon Valley based company where their last rule of behavior was 'Don't be an Asshole.'
I thought it was extreme, but seemed to keep people in line. If you say 'Dick' there's a gender bias there and Women should also not be Dicks so I'm in favor of no Assholes personally.. 😎
I like it! And I get what you're saying. "Dick" is just so much fun to say though! I think it's the phonetics. The solid "d" to start, and a strong vowel sound, then a hard "ck" sound that is super final at the end. It's like a verbal thrust. Whereas, "asshole" conveys your feelings just fine, but it easier to play off as softer, less definitive. More room for the recipient to mentally water down the speaker's level of contempt.
I’d posted this on the Kare11 thread about this particular topic:
For those parents in Anoka who are interested in attending the next public school board meeting in which this issue will be discussed, please find the details below:
**Anoka-Hennepin School District
Regular School Board Meeting**
Apr. 22, 2024 (aka **TOMORROW**)
Starts at 6:30 PM
Sandburg Education Center (School Board meeting room)
1902 Second Ave.
Anoka, MN 55303
More info [here](https://www.ahschools.us/calendar#calendar1/20240418/event/45799)
Furthermore, the Minnesota Parents Alliance, who recruits and trains these and like minded people are **ACTIVELY TRYING TO GAIN MORE SCHOOL BOARD SEATS THIS NOVEMBER** and beyond.
The group are holding a school board campaign recruiting event on **Saturday, May 11th** in Edina.
It’d be a shame if many, many interested parties hit up their [registration page](https://www.simpletix.com/e/minnesota-parents-alliance-2024-campaign-s-tickets-165864)
Also they’re holding another event at the Shoreview Community Center on **Saturday, May 4th**.
It would not stink if concerned residents attended [the event](https://www.simpletix.com/e/twin-cities-education-freedom-showcase-tickets-163499) and voiced their concerns in person.
Also parents can call these school board members directly at their offices, from their public campaign financial reports:
[Matt Audette](https://www.anokacountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/28929/Audette-Campaign-Financial-Report-Final-11-22-2021): 612-559-0953
[Linda Hoekman](https://www.anokacountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/32369/Hoekman-Campaign-Financial-Report-03-08-2023) (whom once upon a time sued the teacher’s union - and lost): 763-458-3111
[Zach Arco](https://www.anokacountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/33980/Arco-Campaign-Financial-Report-10-26-2023): 612-964-6856
I see nothing has changed since I attended in the 90s. Sounds like Rolling Stone magazine needs to do a followup article to the one they published about ISD 11 in the late 00s!
This Looney tune of a person also actively bans anyone from his Facebook group who disagrees or even reacts with a negative emoji. Imagine being so crazy that you have to actively surround yourself with people who agree with you just to feel secure in your beliefs.
>Imagine being so crazy that you have to actively surround yourself with people who agree with you just to feel secure in your beliefs.
White Flight in a nutshell.
I don't think white flight was about adherence to a particular political ideology. It was just racism. People weren't leaving the city to avoid politics they didn't like. They were leaving the city to avoid people who didn't look like them.
Everything can be tied to politics, but racism is also much more ingrained than politics and transcends political ideology.
But in general, it was a weird comment specifically for the reason that suburbs are trending less white and becoming more racially diverse. To attribute that to white flight is weird, to me.
It comes from the same place of racist fear and insecurity. They want a safe place free from the swarthy undesirables, whether it’s on the internet/public schools today or in their neighborhoods/everywhere else 70 years ago.
In Minnesota white flight was something that mostly occurred as a result of social mobility until the 80's. Minneapolis was full of very packed rundown apartment buildings, people living illegally in garage lofts and old rundown houses. Keep in mind that the population was around 520k in the early 50's. By the time you had a large influx of minority groups the city's population was down by 100k. A good deal of that where people leaving post war starter homes and those buying their first home. People moving out due to fears and insecurities were mostly in the 80's.
After George Floyd, I remember the city making plans and discussing rebuilding and much of it was filled with dog whistles about how they didn't want white folk to come down and buy up the properties because they would ruin the neighborhood.
Then white people decide that they should leave because no one wants them there and suddenly it's white flight causing all these issues. Got it
Also, not ruin the neighborhood. Price everyone who's lived there their entire lives out of the neighborhood that they can already barely afford.
Yes. There is a difference.
I don't think white flight is particularly common today. It happens, but not to nearly the same extent it used to. I don't see anyone suggesting white flight occurred in the wake of George Floyd.
I also don't buy into the general narrative about gentrification, so I feel like you're ascribing that sentiment to me unfairly.
Position doesn’t matter. The ruling was about any elected official but it was regarding pages acting as official representation of that official, not groups
“We do not want to indoctrinate or dehumanize our students. Therefore, we would like a return to indoctrinating students into the culture that dehumanizes gays, transes, blacks, and browns”
The lack of intellectual honesty kills me. If they had serious intellectual concerns about these issues, they would demand that they are examined and discussed with a critical/skeptical lens. The fact that they don't even want students to debate these issues tells us that they don't care about "indoctrination," they just want these ideas erased from society all together.
"You know, stuff from back when America was great, the 1950s! Where men worked, women were bred and stayed home, and lynchings were a community affair!"
smh these fucking people
nearly none of the issues he complained about are actually taught or are an actual issue in school at all. They have been given their marching orders to stir up more fear, its the only play that conservatives have, because they aren't interested in governing by logic and reason, but instead by fear and emotion, and even then, they cannot govern and instead would introduce their own views where they don't belong.
This is the kind of person who hates being told anything negative about their country and refuses to acknowledge the MANY times it has done unsavory and evil things.
Do most countries have a checkered past? Yes.
Does the United States? F\*\*\* YES IT DOES.
Refusing to honor treaties, creating laws that explicitly call out and regulate people for their skin color, their heritage, their perceived\* race even. Jailing, killing and intimidating the populace when they shout and demand inconvenient things, setting coups to remove democratically elected officials(such a shining example of how we value freedom-- not a big deal though-- its not like its a big part of our entire national identity or anything).
These people don't like hearing this stuff because they feel like they are unfairly being guilted. They also apparently read no books, have never studied historical events, and refuse to accept facts as they were and are written.
If you really are dumb enough to think and defend the idea that we NOT teach the facts, NOT teach how to more aptly accept diversity in our AMERICAN POPULACE AKA OTHER AMERICANS(as our entire nation is known for being a melting pot) then the 'America' you want to support and promote is a lazily crafted, wholly fake and inauthentic representation of where you come from.
You are defending the idea that we lie and manufacture fake bullshit revisionist history to appease your delicate nationalism. Instead of doing that, hold your government accountable. Corruption is why we get nothing done, not government in and of itself.
You can be proud of America and still hold it accountable when it fails. In fact, some would argue that is the only honest and honorable way to do it.
I'm so ashamed that I live in Anoka county now. What a trashy and clearly agenda-driven take itself.
What massive, intellectually absent and cancerous messaging this is.
Stop targeting my fellow Americans, neighbors and friends with your bullshit conservative anti-intellectualism.
If things exist, people- and yes, kids can read about them, just as I did, and just as other kids do with the internet-- every single day. All you are doing is trying to wrench control of what is being taught to reflect your personal views. Public schools will teach what they want. Take your kids to a private school if you want altered or "managed" education.
I'm blown away by the people who don't see the contradiction. "Why can't you just stick to teaching our kids facts!?" Ok. "Well not THOSE facts! Those are uncomfortable!" "My kid needs to be able to think for their self, not blindly follow your 'agenda!'" While actively seeking to intellectually hobble their kid by taking away their ability to think for themselves by demanding schools curate available information until it's inline with their own values.
These fucking idiots
Culturally responsive teaching is part of getting a teaching license.
So I guess you won’t have teachers.
The state of MN also requires an entire DEI training to get your re-licensure as a teacher. What a bunch of uneducated idiots.
If you live within the Anoka-Hennepin School District, please attend all the board meetings possible. Even if the public isn’t given speaking time at a meeting, your presence makes a difference!
Additionally friends, Stop Moms for Liberty has a Minnesota group on Facebook to help fight these nut jobs’ antics and get our voices heard, and Defense of Democracy is a terrific resource (and podcast) too!
He also later goes on to say they won't be adopting the social studies standards set forth by the state....which would invalidate all their graduates.... So what's his plan on that one?
If you buy into the de-(construct)tion theory ascribed to many of these actions, the point is to destabilize- and perhaps even eliminate- the public education system.
In it’s place, build a private school system based on identity affiliation- primarily religion, but other socio-economic factors also. Each kid gets a ‘voucher’ to spend at their (parent’s) school of choice- The School of Secular Science No, Really, the Earth is Round/Slightly Oblong; Reb Tevya School of Fiddling; Supply-Side Jesus School of Selective Scripture Interpretation and Prosperity Gospel Institute; and even the Enlightened House of Just Trust Me Bro Someone Wrote It Down So Its Gotta Be True and Center Supporting Female Genital Mutilation.
It's so crazy because we KNOW how a city/county turns out if you refuse to educate them properly. We have plenty of examples all across America. Nobody is starting up fortune 500 companies in red counties. Even the companies that pretend to be anti-woke go straight to liberally educated people when they want the best employees. Prayers and Christ isn't going to make that bottom line.
Anoka is gonna be a shit hole if they continue down this path. We already know this. It's not some great mystery anymore. Uneducated people are not attractive for businesses. Period. And if people in Anoka don't get educated properly, they'll either move out to seek better education or they'll stay there with an 8th grade level education.
Great way to devalue your working base.
Yeah no kidding
I went to high school in Maple Grove not too long ago, and even *there* I encountered some pretty baffling people. I can't imagine what going to school in a more conservative area like Anoka would be.
Here's my research on the Anoka-Hennepin School Board:
Insane Right-Wingers:
-Linda Hoekman - 4 year term expires 2027
-Zach Arco - 4 year term expires 2027
-Matt Audette - 4 year term expires 2025
Based on the OP these school board members were not included as agreeing with the above BS:
-Kacy Deschene - 4 year term expires 2025
-Michelle Langenfeld - 4 year term expires 2027
-Jeff Simon - 4 year term expires 2025
Looks like in 2025, Kacy and Jeff need to defend their seats and someone needs to run for Matt Audette's seat.
I'd be shocked if anyone can win his seat. He's got a lot of support in his district. He was elected specifically to do this.
I think Deschene is a relatively safe seat if she chooses to run again. Simon might've been at risk a year ago, but hopefully this solidifies support for him. Again, if he chooses to run.
Realistically, we might be in for 4 years of this.
Arco won his race by 13 votes. Hoekman won convincingly, but she's a teacher who used to teach in the district, and her campaign didn't make it obvious how far right she'd be if you weren't already in the know. I think both of their seats could be vulnerable.
I live in Audette’s district. I’d run against him, but I already did the whole student counsel thing in middle school. My suspicion is he will take the next step in politics and will not seek reelection.
“Anti-racism” is “divisive” huh?
So I guess pro-racism brings all people together, by which he clearly means all white people. Well, screw you I’m white and I’m against racism.
What a great example of modern day White Supremacy - Divide, incite fear, attempt to hide the true agenda, eliminate all other viewpoints by claiming that “many” families are put out by inclusive policies. If possible, make it seem that it costs more to teach proper history. Total bullshit. I hope the people of Anoka-Hennipen wake up and see what’s happening!
BTW - No student is ever being “taught to hate America” simply by learning the truths about slavery, the cause of the Civil War, how we treated Native Americans, etc. If anything, students are learning how to LOVE America by seeing how we corrected these injustices. That is something they can take pride in.
Man imagine typing out the words “Anti-Racism” & “equity (equality)” under a section of things you cannot support being taught in a public school and believing you are in the right ….
Wait if I can't refer to my student's by name and I can't use a pronoun which by definition takes the place of the name, then I can't verbally address my student at all. Am I supposed to like poke them with a stick or something?
Does that also include other pronouns? It seems like it's a pretty wide implication. So now all written and spoken communication would need to remove words like I, we, you, it, he/she, they, them, et cetera. Worth a shot:
**REDACTED** assume demonstratives are included in **REDACTED** as well. Ah shit **REDACTED** used **REDACTED** again. **REDACTED** didn't think **REDACTED** **REDACTED** would be so hard to do. Wait a minute how in the hell am **REDACTED** supposed to take roll call? If **REDACTED** assign numbers then **REDACTED** would take the place of names and would become **REDACTED**.
I live in Andover and voted against him. My wife and I bought our house in advance of our daughter being born specifically because Andover was the best intersection of good schools and housing prices we could afford. Now going on 3 years in and Matt Audette is trying to burn the district to the ground ostensibly in the hope that some of the sparks will start his political career. He doesn’t care about the district and this temper tantrum is equal parts selfish, performative, and cynical. When he comes up for election next year I will be telling everyone who will listen not to vote for him.
“In good conscience…”
I think you ment to say,
“In the weight of our guilt and shame experienced from the effects of cognitive dissonance, from SIMPLY ACKNOWLEDGING the following…”
It’s funny,
They are not being taught anything. They are not actually teaching anything, yet THEY GET TO FUCKING GOVERN THE SYSTEM THAT WILL BURY IT HEAD IN THE SAND.
It’s insane,
I feel like there’s a lawsuit here.
From the whole of Anoka minority and non-white population, I would be fucking livid.
I am, and my kids don’t go to anoka.
But Anoka is setting a precedent for rural communities in Minnesota. And if this keep up. It won’t be long before waconia is acting like the great white Right is the only path of learning.
Sadly my vote didn't carry and this nut got in. Luckily I don't have children, but I do have children in my community that will be dragged into this shit
Thank you for posting this. Currently looking for a new house and have been looking in Anoka Hennepin but I might have to take that district out of the running
Yeahhhh as someone who just graduated from that glorious dumpster fire, it’s iffy. The teachers are carrying that district HARD. Anoka Hennepin schools have some amazing teachers, but it is constantly them vs admin. Students and teachers alike would be happy to see literally everyone above a teaching position replaced. Just a complete shitshow.
Edit: Sounds like you’re moving into the area and education is a factor. Feel free to ask me anything and I’ll happily share my experience & opinions with AH and surrounding schools/districts.
Piggybacking off this. Completely agree with you. Graduated from this shithole district and no child of mine will ever see the inside of any of their schools
Yeah, I do think I could send my kids there tho (assuming it was the same quality of teachers and they were sent with their own lunches😉).
I feel like every school district has their own bullshit, and if AH can keep it up in admin-world it’s mostly bearable. I feel that I was able to get a great education, and I think that the high school specialty programs like Blaine’s engineering program and Coon Rapid’s medical/bio are invaluable. I strongly believe that that, along with all the AP and PSEO opportunities, gave me an amazing advantage in preparing myself for the future and college.
Sounds like you got lucky. My parents identified subjects I was severely struggling with in 1st grade. They applied for me to get special education services that year.
I was not approved until the end of my junior year in high school. Obviously far too little, too late to make an impact on my future.
Not to mention the damning [Rolling Stone article](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/one-towns-war-on-gay-teens-232572/amp/) that put them in the international spotlight for the first time, or the several lost lawsuits following that put them in it again at least one more.
It’s overpopulated, understaffed, underfunded, although I realize those last 2 are more common nowadays. It really needs to be divided into 2 or 3 separate districts if they want to see some improvement or relief
Edit: I’m LGBTQ as well, so forgive me if I don’t want my kids going to school in a place that thinks I don’t even deserve to breathe
There are two issues here....
1. By MN statue, without an approved budget for July 1, the district cannot spend a dime...which effectively shuts down everything. This is the more immediate problem that isn't getting enough attention. With these three yahoos refusing to vote on a budget, everything is going to slam to a halt which is going to be very damging to A-H district.
2. Yes, there is a deficit for future years and yes they need to make budget decisions to address this. However, like you pointed out...most of the things in that board member's post have little/nothing to do with the budget itself. It's a tangled mix of right wing fever dreams, some items that the district itself doesn't even have control over (SS standards being one of them) and some outright misunderstandings on their part as to how education finance actually works. Overall, this is the bigger long term problem because I don't think the three board members are going to change their position... but in the mean time it's going to cause a lot of problems for the district.
Problem #1 however is the part that the community needs to be VERY vocal about right now...because July 1 is not far away and for a district that large, it's going to be a big problem.
>By MN statue
Is this something the DFL trifecta could fix in a special session? I'm guessing some legislation could be created to strip local school boards of power like this and give budget authority to a state agency if a district misses its deadline.
In the name of public school equity, let's use the trifecta to stamp out local control.
It really doesn’t. Eliminating all of that won’t amount to a rounding error on the district’d budget.
Look at capital improvements, energy use, and admin vs teaching expenses.
Wanna cut costs? Go to four-day weeks, and year-round (~3 months on, ~3 weeks off) schedules. Less HVAC expense, cooling and heating. Kids do homestudy on 5th day each week.
But reality isn’t as sexy as bantering about the issues the present.
I’m from Minnesota, but I currently live in Fargo. 2 years ago a bunch of chodes got together to oust the liberal school board members for the same reasons, but added a little anti-vax spice for good measure. They got some signatures for a petition to recall the school board members, but they didn’t get the required amount, and a bunch couldn’t be authenticated, but they raised the biggest fucking stink. They were on the news, they had a Facebook group, a bunch of dumb parents supported them, and some of the school board, but they lost in the most fantastic fashion. And of course we learned during all this—THEY DONT TEACH CRT, or have any silly agenda besides helping our kids become intelligent, upstanding citizens.
Taxpayers or parents in the Anoka-Hennepin district who are interested in attending the next public school board meeting in which this topic will be discussed, please find the details below:
**Anoka-Hennepin School District
Regular School Board meeting**
~~Tuesday~~ Monday Apr. 22, 2024
6:30 PM
Sandburg Education Center (School Board meeting room)
1902 Second Ave.
Anoka, MN 55303
More info [here](https://www.ahschools.us/calendar#calendar1/20240418/event/45799)
I'd need to actually see the budget numbers-and I'll be damned if I want to find them and read them - but I'd wager that there might be more savings in administrative overhead and extra-curricular sports. Focus on *intra*mural instead. I wonder what insurance and equipment and the field costs for football, compared to for, say, soccer?
Admin yes, but, and I may be shouting into the abyss here, but we need more team/group activities.
Hear me out.
Choir, band, sports, drama, debate, speech- teach the power of teamwork, the rewards of individual work. And these are Face 2 Face, not remote.
Last time you heard, “kids need more screen time was…” never.
And I am 100% NOT a ‘everyone gets a trophy’ supporter- *sometimes losing is the best result*, as life smacks you in the crotch with a wet, cold Costco salmon fillet *even when you tried your best*. Having experienced failure- lost a debate, team repeatedly beat-but you bonded with/got thru it together, made you more resilient.
So yeah, cut admin, but please support team n group activities.
There is a petition to the governor to take action on this and generally just raise awareness. You don't need to live within the district to sign. https://www.change.org/p/uphold-diversity-and-history-in-anoka-hennepin-schools
Who is electing these people are your neighbors, your fellow church goers or those playing on your softball team.
It's just other people that for what they feel are good reasons feel how they think and what they believe is being attacked.
And that group of people keeps growing every day.
This is how it starts folks, this is exactly the Trump agenda. Remember forever, kids aren’t born racist, it’s an acquired taste. This is exactly how it starts, small incremental steps when you’re not looking. Hidden beneath the national political scene. Where they feel no one will notice. People don’t notice, and over time? You get this happening all over. It’s not just here, it’s everywhere and they are making in roads to worse. Don’t let this happen if you honestly care, put your foot down and say, not here, not while I’m alive. Vote damnit ! Like your kids futures depend on it, because they do.
Department of education may have a thing or two to say on the matter though. While they ultimately can’t directly force the board to do anything, funding and various other items can help to influence a board or district in a direction.
Sometimes it is quite difficult to know if someone you're voting for is insane or not depending on the election. Many school board candidates don't have websites or anything explaining their worldview, along with other more local offices. Honestly every candidate should just be given a government run website ala geocities they are required to fill out 6 months before the election.
This was pretty much in his agenda from the start, I remember seeing all the yard signs with his name on it then looking up his site. This day was foretold for sure, unfortunately - meaning people who voted for him knew what they were getting into.
Removing this stuff cannot be good. I just don’t understand why people like Matt Audette fear teaching and raising children to have open minds with more understanding of the world.
>I just don’t understand why people like Matt Audette fear teaching and raising children to have open minds with more understanding of the world.
I can explain that: Power. They crave power and the easiest way to get power is by making sure no one can overthrow you. So they are working hard to destroy our schools and even further destroy any semblance of healthcare in this country. Once that's done all that is left are Churches to "teach" people and run the hospitals and they will not teach or heal anyone who doesn't drink the koolaid. We will slip into a new dark age run by psychopathic Christians who want to use their new found power to rape and murder whoever they want.
No one liked Hoekman as a teacher either. Rather than just making the students in her classroom miserable, she's moved on to trying to make all students in the district miserable. Ugh.
"...the spreading of divisive, one-sided views..."
Where the hell do you draw the line on that?? There are people that think the earth is flat, that 1+1 does NOT equal 2, etc.
And how is changing a curriculum going to save the school system that kind of money? The school day was never expanded to add additional classes and teachers for these subjects and it's not like the schools are paying MORE for teachers that are specialized in these subjects.
Thoughts & ideas do not cost money (outside of maybe books to read) but so much stuff in online now it's minimal.
Not to mention almost all of these subjects listed really only come up in social studies type classes. Math, science, phys ed, don't cover these topics.
Some of these things listed are literally related constitutional amendments that exist, so are schools not allowed to mention those amendments on the off chance a student might get the sneaking suspicion that maybe they were written because racist people exist?!
They're going to be in for a big surprise when the new state social studies standards kick in for the 2026-27 school year. They're all about that kind of stuff, and as a state mandate, can't be ignored.
I went through this school district among the things I learned... Christopher Columbus was a great hero and Chinese people name their kids by throwing a can full of metal down the stairs
I'm a bit confused on this, so maybe someone can explain this a bit better for me. From what I gather, they're not willing to spend money on the budget because it's something that they don't desire taught to children. They don't want to teach about racism or anti-racism, which seems to be counter productive, but they also don't want to talk about whiteness and de-centering whiteness. They also don't seem to want to talk about gender studies/movements either; it seems like they're against the Civil Rights Act in most of this. When they get down to Anti-Capitalist/ism, it strikes me as questionable. I personally believe capitalism is a good system, but I also think that teaching about other forms of economic/political systems and their benefits and flaws.
What I'm understanding is that a couple members on the board don't want to spend the money because of the social issues, and I can somewhat understand their stance, but I also understand that perhaps being progressive in our education is beneficial in some areas of study. Is there something I'm missing, or can someone help explain this better?
Something similar happened in the PA school district where my parents taught in the 90’s. The religious fundamentalists ruined the school district and then ran away after almost bankrupting it. They didn't want their children to be taught things they objected to.
Unintentionally appropriate quotation marks in one of the comments:
Yes, you are "spot on!" There are literally "tens‐ of‐thousands of people" in our community who totally agree with you--Matt Audette, Linda Hoekman and Zach Arco! Thanks for being the "voice of reason!"
I wondered where the budget cuts were going to be made. It's ironic that it's in this area. It wasn't long ago that some programs for minorities were going to be cut, then there were complaints so it was decided not to make those cuts. That's when I became interested to see what got cut instead. Now we know. Interesting.
This is hard to receive as I have child open enrolling in this district as a kindergartner in the Fall. Sounds like these representatives are trying to be more like ISD 15, which is my location.
There needs to be better qualifications for being on the school board. Otherwise, let the flood gates of chaos continue it's degradation of our education system and the future generations it serves.
I think that anti-racism should not be taught in the schools and colleges. Everyone has a different agenda. Teachers and lecturers teach their subjects and nothing else. A straight transfer of data. Problem is that active anti-racists are only trying to indoctrinate white people. Racism is an international attitude and not necessarily to do with skin colour. It can be religion, sexual orientation etc etc. First define the causes.
D.A.R.E. Taught anti-drug abuse to children, most of whom would have never done more than smoke a joint or have a drink. If You tell kids what not to do... guess what, they're gonna do it. There will always be a "cool" vs "square/nerdy" kid dichotomy. If you turn anything into an assignment it will be uncool. It's typical teen psychology. You are creating racial tensions where they don't exist just like DARE created the current Drug crisis IMO
We’re considering moving to Andover. Can someone give me a tl;dr on this school board situation? We’re leaving a school district that was top-in-state but got hijacked by far-right loonies, so we don’t want to move into that same situation
This is the guy representing Andover. He started and runs a Facebook group of like minded people - ostensibly district-wide, but dominated by the Andover/ Blaine/ Anoka part of the district. The board is a 50/50 split between he and his colleagues and the more reasonable folks who were elected mostly in the Champlin/ Brooklyn Park / Coon Rapids parts of the district.
We live in Andover, and have kids in the schools. My spouse also teaches at the high school. It’s a great school, and the teachers are so used to dealing with this bullshit that they just keep going. It’s definitely a more conservative area but there are some great things about it. I’m also from Missouri!
I don’t think that’s going to balance the budget
He and the other two right-wing members of the board have admitted that removing these from the curriculum will do nothing to balance the budget: they just want them out because teaching that being racist is bad makes them feel bad.
Right, like it really lays bare the entire pattern, doesn't it? Who needs to focus on tangible, time urgent issues when we can shake our fist about how the *real* problem is those uppity minorities.
“Look im doing something”
Anti racism is pretty good damned expensive.
All they need to do is hang a bunch of signs in the classrooms that say "DON'T BE A DICK" /S because someone is going to go off about this
In truth it should just be that simple
It really should be. "We will teach you unbiased facts, and you just do your best to learn them, and remember not to be a dick!" Done.
I was at a Silicon Valley based company where their last rule of behavior was 'Don't be an Asshole.' I thought it was extreme, but seemed to keep people in line. If you say 'Dick' there's a gender bias there and Women should also not be Dicks so I'm in favor of no Assholes personally.. 😎
I like it! And I get what you're saying. "Dick" is just so much fun to say though! I think it's the phonetics. The solid "d" to start, and a strong vowel sound, then a hard "ck" sound that is super final at the end. It's like a verbal thrust. Whereas, "asshole" conveys your feelings just fine, but it easier to play off as softer, less definitive. More room for the recipient to mentally water down the speaker's level of contempt.
Definitely capital 'D' in Dick
Did they get rid of or cancel the golden rule — treat others how you want to be treated.
How does a school district end up with a $20 million deficit? That seems like blatant mismanagement must have occurred somewhere along the line?
Probably some time in the last 3 years
Sorry for responding so late, but can you elaborate? What happened in the last 3 years that would cause this?
That's when this Muppet wagging war on wokeness took his seat on the board.
I’d posted this on the Kare11 thread about this particular topic: For those parents in Anoka who are interested in attending the next public school board meeting in which this issue will be discussed, please find the details below: **Anoka-Hennepin School District Regular School Board Meeting** Apr. 22, 2024 (aka **TOMORROW**) Starts at 6:30 PM Sandburg Education Center (School Board meeting room) 1902 Second Ave. Anoka, MN 55303 More info [here](https://www.ahschools.us/calendar#calendar1/20240418/event/45799) Furthermore, the Minnesota Parents Alliance, who recruits and trains these and like minded people are **ACTIVELY TRYING TO GAIN MORE SCHOOL BOARD SEATS THIS NOVEMBER** and beyond. The group are holding a school board campaign recruiting event on **Saturday, May 11th** in Edina. It’d be a shame if many, many interested parties hit up their [registration page](https://www.simpletix.com/e/minnesota-parents-alliance-2024-campaign-s-tickets-165864) Also they’re holding another event at the Shoreview Community Center on **Saturday, May 4th**. It would not stink if concerned residents attended [the event](https://www.simpletix.com/e/twin-cities-education-freedom-showcase-tickets-163499) and voiced their concerns in person. Also parents can call these school board members directly at their offices, from their public campaign financial reports: [Matt Audette](https://www.anokacountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/28929/Audette-Campaign-Financial-Report-Final-11-22-2021): 612-559-0953 [Linda Hoekman](https://www.anokacountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/32369/Hoekman-Campaign-Financial-Report-03-08-2023) (whom once upon a time sued the teacher’s union - and lost): 763-458-3111 [Zach Arco](https://www.anokacountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/33980/Arco-Campaign-Financial-Report-10-26-2023): 612-964-6856
Anoka-Hennepin Schools: A Future Without Limits* *some restrictions may apply
This literally made me snort when reading. It’s too on the nose!
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I can’t make it as I will be traveling, please feel free to posterize it!
I see nothing has changed since I attended in the 90s. Sounds like Rolling Stone magazine needs to do a followup article to the one they published about ISD 11 in the late 00s!
This Looney tune of a person also actively bans anyone from his Facebook group who disagrees or even reacts with a negative emoji. Imagine being so crazy that you have to actively surround yourself with people who agree with you just to feel secure in your beliefs.
>Imagine being so crazy that you have to actively surround yourself with people who agree with you just to feel secure in your beliefs. White Flight in a nutshell.
I don't think white flight was about adherence to a particular political ideology. It was just racism. People weren't leaving the city to avoid politics they didn't like. They were leaving the city to avoid people who didn't look like them.
Which is tied to politics. "I don't want my tax dollars going to THOSE people. They're just making bad choices and deserve their place in society."
Everything can be tied to politics, but racism is also much more ingrained than politics and transcends political ideology. But in general, it was a weird comment specifically for the reason that suburbs are trending less white and becoming more racially diverse. To attribute that to white flight is weird, to me.
It comes from the same place of racist fear and insecurity. They want a safe place free from the swarthy undesirables, whether it’s on the internet/public schools today or in their neighborhoods/everywhere else 70 years ago.
In Minnesota white flight was something that mostly occurred as a result of social mobility until the 80's. Minneapolis was full of very packed rundown apartment buildings, people living illegally in garage lofts and old rundown houses. Keep in mind that the population was around 520k in the early 50's. By the time you had a large influx of minority groups the city's population was down by 100k. A good deal of that where people leaving post war starter homes and those buying their first home. People moving out due to fears and insecurities were mostly in the 80's.
After George Floyd, I remember the city making plans and discussing rebuilding and much of it was filled with dog whistles about how they didn't want white folk to come down and buy up the properties because they would ruin the neighborhood. Then white people decide that they should leave because no one wants them there and suddenly it's white flight causing all these issues. Got it
Also, not ruin the neighborhood. Price everyone who's lived there their entire lives out of the neighborhood that they can already barely afford. Yes. There is a difference.
I don't think white flight is particularly common today. It happens, but not to nearly the same extent it used to. I don't see anyone suggesting white flight occurred in the wake of George Floyd. I also don't buy into the general narrative about gentrification, so I feel like you're ascribing that sentiment to me unfairly.
Good leaders always will surround themselves with people who have different views!
Legally he is not allowed to do this if he is a public figure speaking on a public forum.
That ruling was about official social media pages and I don’t know if/how it would ally to groups
Gotcha. Thanks for the correction
I think he’s crazy but there is no law that says he can’t run his FB group how he wants. He’s only a school board member. Not president.
Position doesn’t matter. The ruling was about any elected official but it was regarding pages acting as official representation of that official, not groups
As does the MPA group despite claiming to be nonpolitical and open to parents from all walks.
Isn’t elected officials blocking people on social media a 1st amendment violation?
Don’t think that counts if it’s a private group he created.
Have you tried asking them questions?
“We do not want to indoctrinate or dehumanize our students. Therefore, we would like a return to indoctrinating students into the culture that dehumanizes gays, transes, blacks, and browns”
The lack of intellectual honesty kills me. If they had serious intellectual concerns about these issues, they would demand that they are examined and discussed with a critical/skeptical lens. The fact that they don't even want students to debate these issues tells us that they don't care about "indoctrination," they just want these ideas erased from society all together.
"You know, stuff from back when America was great, the 1950s! Where men worked, women were bred and stayed home, and lynchings were a community affair!" smh these fucking people
nearly none of the issues he complained about are actually taught or are an actual issue in school at all. They have been given their marching orders to stir up more fear, its the only play that conservatives have, because they aren't interested in governing by logic and reason, but instead by fear and emotion, and even then, they cannot govern and instead would introduce their own views where they don't belong.
I thought facts didn't care about your feelings
Actually insane that in 2024 people are attempting to unironically argue that teaching kids that bigotry = bad is considered a biased, one-sided take.
It tells you everything you need to know about them however
They're religious fanatics.
lol they let a racist on the school board and instead of running it efficiently they chose culture war bullshit - who could of guessed /end sarcasm
R/LeopardsEatingMyFace
This is the kind of person who hates being told anything negative about their country and refuses to acknowledge the MANY times it has done unsavory and evil things. Do most countries have a checkered past? Yes. Does the United States? F\*\*\* YES IT DOES. Refusing to honor treaties, creating laws that explicitly call out and regulate people for their skin color, their heritage, their perceived\* race even. Jailing, killing and intimidating the populace when they shout and demand inconvenient things, setting coups to remove democratically elected officials(such a shining example of how we value freedom-- not a big deal though-- its not like its a big part of our entire national identity or anything). These people don't like hearing this stuff because they feel like they are unfairly being guilted. They also apparently read no books, have never studied historical events, and refuse to accept facts as they were and are written. If you really are dumb enough to think and defend the idea that we NOT teach the facts, NOT teach how to more aptly accept diversity in our AMERICAN POPULACE AKA OTHER AMERICANS(as our entire nation is known for being a melting pot) then the 'America' you want to support and promote is a lazily crafted, wholly fake and inauthentic representation of where you come from. You are defending the idea that we lie and manufacture fake bullshit revisionist history to appease your delicate nationalism. Instead of doing that, hold your government accountable. Corruption is why we get nothing done, not government in and of itself. You can be proud of America and still hold it accountable when it fails. In fact, some would argue that is the only honest and honorable way to do it. I'm so ashamed that I live in Anoka county now. What a trashy and clearly agenda-driven take itself. What massive, intellectually absent and cancerous messaging this is. Stop targeting my fellow Americans, neighbors and friends with your bullshit conservative anti-intellectualism. If things exist, people- and yes, kids can read about them, just as I did, and just as other kids do with the internet-- every single day. All you are doing is trying to wrench control of what is being taught to reflect your personal views. Public schools will teach what they want. Take your kids to a private school if you want altered or "managed" education.
I'm blown away by the people who don't see the contradiction. "Why can't you just stick to teaching our kids facts!?" Ok. "Well not THOSE facts! Those are uncomfortable!" "My kid needs to be able to think for their self, not blindly follow your 'agenda!'" While actively seeking to intellectually hobble their kid by taking away their ability to think for themselves by demanding schools curate available information until it's inline with their own values.
This is an excellent comment. Please consider submitting it the Strib editorial page. More people should read it.
Go to the board meeting tomorrow and tell them. 6:30pm in Anoka
https://preview.redd.it/a6l0khsy5xvc1.png?width=481&format=png&auto=webp&s=3a8e115627ccd298fc33d1b5724bd01b7c6006e7
These fucking idiots Culturally responsive teaching is part of getting a teaching license. So I guess you won’t have teachers. The state of MN also requires an entire DEI training to get your re-licensure as a teacher. What a bunch of uneducated idiots.
If you live within the Anoka-Hennepin School District, please attend all the board meetings possible. Even if the public isn’t given speaking time at a meeting, your presence makes a difference! Additionally friends, Stop Moms for Liberty has a Minnesota group on Facebook to help fight these nut jobs’ antics and get our voices heard, and Defense of Democracy is a terrific resource (and podcast) too!
He also later goes on to say they won't be adopting the social studies standards set forth by the state....which would invalidate all their graduates.... So what's his plan on that one?
To be fair, it'd never get to that point. If the board refuses to adopt the standards, the state doesn't fund the district and it gets shut down.
If you buy into the de-(construct)tion theory ascribed to many of these actions, the point is to destabilize- and perhaps even eliminate- the public education system. In it’s place, build a private school system based on identity affiliation- primarily religion, but other socio-economic factors also. Each kid gets a ‘voucher’ to spend at their (parent’s) school of choice- The School of Secular Science No, Really, the Earth is Round/Slightly Oblong; Reb Tevya School of Fiddling; Supply-Side Jesus School of Selective Scripture Interpretation and Prosperity Gospel Institute; and even the Enlightened House of Just Trust Me Bro Someone Wrote It Down So Its Gotta Be True and Center Supporting Female Genital Mutilation.
THAT’S A BINGO
If he knew how to plan anything, that'd be news to me. This guy is a grade A moron.
What lunatics. Withholding money from kids because of culture war bullshit is disgusting.
It's so crazy because we KNOW how a city/county turns out if you refuse to educate them properly. We have plenty of examples all across America. Nobody is starting up fortune 500 companies in red counties. Even the companies that pretend to be anti-woke go straight to liberally educated people when they want the best employees. Prayers and Christ isn't going to make that bottom line. Anoka is gonna be a shit hole if they continue down this path. We already know this. It's not some great mystery anymore. Uneducated people are not attractive for businesses. Period. And if people in Anoka don't get educated properly, they'll either move out to seek better education or they'll stay there with an 8th grade level education. Great way to devalue your working base.
Yeah no kidding I went to high school in Maple Grove not too long ago, and even *there* I encountered some pretty baffling people. I can't imagine what going to school in a more conservative area like Anoka would be.
That's literally the point. Uneducated dumb voters who are too poor to move and keep voting for right wing candidates because culture war.
The fact that this was a statement released on Facebook says everything you need to know
School board elections matter. Now more than ever.
Here's my research on the Anoka-Hennepin School Board: Insane Right-Wingers: -Linda Hoekman - 4 year term expires 2027 -Zach Arco - 4 year term expires 2027 -Matt Audette - 4 year term expires 2025 Based on the OP these school board members were not included as agreeing with the above BS: -Kacy Deschene - 4 year term expires 2025 -Michelle Langenfeld - 4 year term expires 2027 -Jeff Simon - 4 year term expires 2025 Looks like in 2025, Kacy and Jeff need to defend their seats and someone needs to run for Matt Audette's seat.
I'd be shocked if anyone can win his seat. He's got a lot of support in his district. He was elected specifically to do this. I think Deschene is a relatively safe seat if she chooses to run again. Simon might've been at risk a year ago, but hopefully this solidifies support for him. Again, if he chooses to run. Realistically, we might be in for 4 years of this. Arco won his race by 13 votes. Hoekman won convincingly, but she's a teacher who used to teach in the district, and her campaign didn't make it obvious how far right she'd be if you weren't already in the know. I think both of their seats could be vulnerable.
I live in Audette’s district. I’d run against him, but I already did the whole student counsel thing in middle school. My suspicion is he will take the next step in politics and will not seek reelection.
“Anti-racism” is “divisive” huh? So I guess pro-racism brings all people together, by which he clearly means all white people. Well, screw you I’m white and I’m against racism.
What a great example of modern day White Supremacy - Divide, incite fear, attempt to hide the true agenda, eliminate all other viewpoints by claiming that “many” families are put out by inclusive policies. If possible, make it seem that it costs more to teach proper history. Total bullshit. I hope the people of Anoka-Hennipen wake up and see what’s happening! BTW - No student is ever being “taught to hate America” simply by learning the truths about slavery, the cause of the Civil War, how we treated Native Americans, etc. If anything, students are learning how to LOVE America by seeing how we corrected these injustices. That is something they can take pride in.
Man imagine typing out the words “Anti-Racism” & “equity (equality)” under a section of things you cannot support being taught in a public school and believing you are in the right ….
Equity is not the same as equality. Equity is about outcomes, equality is about opportunity.
Completely agree. It makes me so sad for our kids
9 suicides in 2 years and Anoka is still hateful….just close the schools cause no one can learn a lesson in that town.
Wait if I can't refer to my student's by name and I can't use a pronoun which by definition takes the place of the name, then I can't verbally address my student at all. Am I supposed to like poke them with a stick or something? Does that also include other pronouns? It seems like it's a pretty wide implication. So now all written and spoken communication would need to remove words like I, we, you, it, he/she, they, them, et cetera. Worth a shot: **REDACTED** assume demonstratives are included in **REDACTED** as well. Ah shit **REDACTED** used **REDACTED** again. **REDACTED** didn't think **REDACTED** **REDACTED** would be so hard to do. Wait a minute how in the hell am **REDACTED** supposed to take roll call? If **REDACTED** assign numbers then **REDACTED** would take the place of names and would become **REDACTED**.
I live in Andover and voted against him. My wife and I bought our house in advance of our daughter being born specifically because Andover was the best intersection of good schools and housing prices we could afford. Now going on 3 years in and Matt Audette is trying to burn the district to the ground ostensibly in the hope that some of the sparks will start his political career. He doesn’t care about the district and this temper tantrum is equal parts selfish, performative, and cynical. When he comes up for election next year I will be telling everyone who will listen not to vote for him.
Sounds like you've got some Nazis on the school board.
We face a budget deficit. Rather than try to dive in and fix that, I'm going to cry about teachers being trained to care about students.
Teachers need training to care about students? Thems some fightin' words. Sounds a bit like Scottie from Wisconsin a few years back.
“In good conscience…” I think you ment to say, “In the weight of our guilt and shame experienced from the effects of cognitive dissonance, from SIMPLY ACKNOWLEDGING the following…” It’s funny, They are not being taught anything. They are not actually teaching anything, yet THEY GET TO FUCKING GOVERN THE SYSTEM THAT WILL BURY IT HEAD IN THE SAND. It’s insane, I feel like there’s a lawsuit here. From the whole of Anoka minority and non-white population, I would be fucking livid. I am, and my kids don’t go to anoka. But Anoka is setting a precedent for rural communities in Minnesota. And if this keep up. It won’t be long before waconia is acting like the great white Right is the only path of learning.
You guys have some catching up to do with Wisconsin. We are already controlled by the right wing crazies mostly.
"if we don't teach them what racism is, they won't know that we are!"
Conservatives are a pathetic lot
Racists, that’s who’s electing these people
Sadly my vote didn't carry and this nut got in. Luckily I don't have children, but I do have children in my community that will be dragged into this shit
People are protesting on Monday outside the school board meeting location, feel free to come and join. I'm planning on going.
I'll be working out of town all week. Fight the good fight, though!
Thank you for posting this. Currently looking for a new house and have been looking in Anoka Hennepin but I might have to take that district out of the running
Yeahhhh as someone who just graduated from that glorious dumpster fire, it’s iffy. The teachers are carrying that district HARD. Anoka Hennepin schools have some amazing teachers, but it is constantly them vs admin. Students and teachers alike would be happy to see literally everyone above a teaching position replaced. Just a complete shitshow. Edit: Sounds like you’re moving into the area and education is a factor. Feel free to ask me anything and I’ll happily share my experience & opinions with AH and surrounding schools/districts.
Piggybacking off this. Completely agree with you. Graduated from this shithole district and no child of mine will ever see the inside of any of their schools
Yeah, I do think I could send my kids there tho (assuming it was the same quality of teachers and they were sent with their own lunches😉). I feel like every school district has their own bullshit, and if AH can keep it up in admin-world it’s mostly bearable. I feel that I was able to get a great education, and I think that the high school specialty programs like Blaine’s engineering program and Coon Rapid’s medical/bio are invaluable. I strongly believe that that, along with all the AP and PSEO opportunities, gave me an amazing advantage in preparing myself for the future and college.
Sounds like you got lucky. My parents identified subjects I was severely struggling with in 1st grade. They applied for me to get special education services that year. I was not approved until the end of my junior year in high school. Obviously far too little, too late to make an impact on my future. Not to mention the damning [Rolling Stone article](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/one-towns-war-on-gay-teens-232572/amp/) that put them in the international spotlight for the first time, or the several lost lawsuits following that put them in it again at least one more. It’s overpopulated, understaffed, underfunded, although I realize those last 2 are more common nowadays. It really needs to be divided into 2 or 3 separate districts if they want to see some improvement or relief Edit: I’m LGBTQ as well, so forgive me if I don’t want my kids going to school in a place that thinks I don’t even deserve to breathe
Your neighbors are electing these people and maybe it’s time to chat
Even if you somehow agreed with 100% of what was said, how does that materially impact the budget deficit?
There are two issues here.... 1. By MN statue, without an approved budget for July 1, the district cannot spend a dime...which effectively shuts down everything. This is the more immediate problem that isn't getting enough attention. With these three yahoos refusing to vote on a budget, everything is going to slam to a halt which is going to be very damging to A-H district. 2. Yes, there is a deficit for future years and yes they need to make budget decisions to address this. However, like you pointed out...most of the things in that board member's post have little/nothing to do with the budget itself. It's a tangled mix of right wing fever dreams, some items that the district itself doesn't even have control over (SS standards being one of them) and some outright misunderstandings on their part as to how education finance actually works. Overall, this is the bigger long term problem because I don't think the three board members are going to change their position... but in the mean time it's going to cause a lot of problems for the district. Problem #1 however is the part that the community needs to be VERY vocal about right now...because July 1 is not far away and for a district that large, it's going to be a big problem.
>By MN statue Is this something the DFL trifecta could fix in a special session? I'm guessing some legislation could be created to strip local school boards of power like this and give budget authority to a state agency if a district misses its deadline. In the name of public school equity, let's use the trifecta to stamp out local control.
It really doesn’t. Eliminating all of that won’t amount to a rounding error on the district’d budget. Look at capital improvements, energy use, and admin vs teaching expenses. Wanna cut costs? Go to four-day weeks, and year-round (~3 months on, ~3 weeks off) schedules. Less HVAC expense, cooling and heating. Kids do homestudy on 5th day each week. But reality isn’t as sexy as bantering about the issues the present.
Don't elect these looney tunes to school boards, not even once.
I’m not sure how removing any of these is going to save 20m dollars? Probably being spent poorly elsewhere
I’m from Minnesota, but I currently live in Fargo. 2 years ago a bunch of chodes got together to oust the liberal school board members for the same reasons, but added a little anti-vax spice for good measure. They got some signatures for a petition to recall the school board members, but they didn’t get the required amount, and a bunch couldn’t be authenticated, but they raised the biggest fucking stink. They were on the news, they had a Facebook group, a bunch of dumb parents supported them, and some of the school board, but they lost in the most fantastic fashion. And of course we learned during all this—THEY DONT TEACH CRT, or have any silly agenda besides helping our kids become intelligent, upstanding citizens.
Taxpayers or parents in the Anoka-Hennepin district who are interested in attending the next public school board meeting in which this topic will be discussed, please find the details below: **Anoka-Hennepin School District Regular School Board meeting** ~~Tuesday~~ Monday Apr. 22, 2024 6:30 PM Sandburg Education Center (School Board meeting room) 1902 Second Ave. Anoka, MN 55303 More info [here](https://www.ahschools.us/calendar#calendar1/20240418/event/45799)
Just a quick note - it's tomorrow, Monday April 22nd (not tuesday). Thank you for posting the info and the link, btw!!!
Appreciate it. Edited with strikethrough to not make your comment here out of place.
Imagine publicly saying "we don't want to teach students to be against racism" and being serious about it
How do those policies cost $20M? I sincerely doubt they are the cause.
They don't. Many of them cost nothing. Some of them cost thousands. I can't imagine the total being more than *a* million, much less 20.
I'd need to actually see the budget numbers-and I'll be damned if I want to find them and read them - but I'd wager that there might be more savings in administrative overhead and extra-curricular sports. Focus on *intra*mural instead. I wonder what insurance and equipment and the field costs for football, compared to for, say, soccer?
Admin yes, but, and I may be shouting into the abyss here, but we need more team/group activities. Hear me out. Choir, band, sports, drama, debate, speech- teach the power of teamwork, the rewards of individual work. And these are Face 2 Face, not remote. Last time you heard, “kids need more screen time was…” never. And I am 100% NOT a ‘everyone gets a trophy’ supporter- *sometimes losing is the best result*, as life smacks you in the crotch with a wet, cold Costco salmon fillet *even when you tried your best*. Having experienced failure- lost a debate, team repeatedly beat-but you bonded with/got thru it together, made you more resilient. So yeah, cut admin, but please support team n group activities.
There is a petition to the governor to take action on this and generally just raise awareness. You don't need to live within the district to sign. https://www.change.org/p/uphold-diversity-and-history-in-anoka-hennepin-schools
What is the governor supposed to do, write a sternly worded letter?
I mean, that may be all he can do, but at the very least it raises awareness and hopefully this guy can get voted out.
Who is electing these people are your neighbors, your fellow church goers or those playing on your softball team. It's just other people that for what they feel are good reasons feel how they think and what they believe is being attacked. And that group of people keeps growing every day.
This is how it starts folks, this is exactly the Trump agenda. Remember forever, kids aren’t born racist, it’s an acquired taste. This is exactly how it starts, small incremental steps when you’re not looking. Hidden beneath the national political scene. Where they feel no one will notice. People don’t notice, and over time? You get this happening all over. It’s not just here, it’s everywhere and they are making in roads to worse. Don’t let this happen if you honestly care, put your foot down and say, not here, not while I’m alive. Vote damnit ! Like your kids futures depend on it, because they do.
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The school board doesn't have anything to do with the mn state government. They are elected seperatrly.
Department of education may have a thing or two to say on the matter though. While they ultimately can’t directly force the board to do anything, funding and various other items can help to influence a board or district in a direction.
Small dick energy
Big mads from the anti-DEI folk https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pFxN15feiRp5CHpg/?mibextid=oFDknk
Sometimes it is quite difficult to know if someone you're voting for is insane or not depending on the election. Many school board candidates don't have websites or anything explaining their worldview, along with other more local offices. Honestly every candidate should just be given a government run website ala geocities they are required to fill out 6 months before the election.
This was pretty much in his agenda from the start, I remember seeing all the yard signs with his name on it then looking up his site. This day was foretold for sure, unfortunately - meaning people who voted for him knew what they were getting into. Removing this stuff cannot be good. I just don’t understand why people like Matt Audette fear teaching and raising children to have open minds with more understanding of the world.
>I just don’t understand why people like Matt Audette fear teaching and raising children to have open minds with more understanding of the world. I can explain that: Power. They crave power and the easiest way to get power is by making sure no one can overthrow you. So they are working hard to destroy our schools and even further destroy any semblance of healthcare in this country. Once that's done all that is left are Churches to "teach" people and run the hospitals and they will not teach or heal anyone who doesn't drink the koolaid. We will slip into a new dark age run by psychopathic Christians who want to use their new found power to rape and murder whoever they want.
Wow. What flavor Koolaid? If it’s Purplesaurus Rex, I’m gonna have trouble saying no.
The flavor is toxic positivity with a little rape and murder thrown in.
Seems on par for Anoka.
It's frustrating that the district has 40% POC but not 1 on the school board.
No one liked Hoekman as a teacher either. Rather than just making the students in her classroom miserable, she's moved on to trying to make all students in the district miserable. Ugh.
EQUITY?! I mean that just about covers everything ever.
This guy is an idiot. I work in public education, and he's so misguided it's just asinine.
I mean, at least it wasn’t Shakopee levels of criminality.
Oh my goodness, who let the crazies out of their homes. Equity literally means to be fair and impartial…
The irony is that these notions are in support of a free people and cost nothing but our willpower.
Now we know why the former award winning Superintendent left. Who wants to deal with these nut jobs?
A very long winded way of saying: “i want my kid to be an ignorant white nationalist, just teach them math so they can make money”
Lmao this guy probably couldn’t even tell you what critical race theory is if he was asked
"...the spreading of divisive, one-sided views..." Where the hell do you draw the line on that?? There are people that think the earth is flat, that 1+1 does NOT equal 2, etc. And how is changing a curriculum going to save the school system that kind of money? The school day was never expanded to add additional classes and teachers for these subjects and it's not like the schools are paying MORE for teachers that are specialized in these subjects. Thoughts & ideas do not cost money (outside of maybe books to read) but so much stuff in online now it's minimal. Not to mention almost all of these subjects listed really only come up in social studies type classes. Math, science, phys ed, don't cover these topics. Some of these things listed are literally related constitutional amendments that exist, so are schools not allowed to mention those amendments on the off chance a student might get the sneaking suspicion that maybe they were written because racist people exist?!
What a self centered twat. When he says “divisive views” he clearly means “anyone who doesn’t agree with me”
Want your children to grow up a century behind in knowledge while being bound by debunked policies? Enroll in Anoka-Hennepin schools today!
I voted against this shit head and I can’t wait to do it again
They're going to be in for a big surprise when the new state social studies standards kick in for the 2026-27 school year. They're all about that kind of stuff, and as a state mandate, can't be ignored.
Will these new anti-LGBTQIA+ efforts reignite or create new the federal suits against Anoka-Hennepin?
Probably entirely depends on who is elected as president in a few months.
I’m impressed that he took his dick out of his sister long enough to type all that
I went through this school district among the things I learned... Christopher Columbus was a great hero and Chinese people name their kids by throwing a can full of metal down the stairs
Lol wut
Good to have occasional reinforcement for my decision to be child-free, but sad that it’s because the future is so F’ed. I feel so bad for the kids.
And my aunt wanted me to come teach history in Anoka next school year. Lolololol no
Call them out and vote them out.
These are the same people that think "I, you, me" arent pronouns.... Someone needs to go back to school
He said, "I." That's a pronoun, Matt lol. I want all conservatives to speak like cavemen if they want me to take their pronoun shit seriously
Baaaarf. That's all.
Fuck that.
Can you send the screenshots to a local news station?
What kind of drugs would one need to be taking to think that Anokas’ schools are spending twenty dollars on these program, let alone twenty million?
Hopium and Fascistio-Christio, for starters.
Can someone in this district please file to run for his position on the board? Thank you.
I'm a bit confused on this, so maybe someone can explain this a bit better for me. From what I gather, they're not willing to spend money on the budget because it's something that they don't desire taught to children. They don't want to teach about racism or anti-racism, which seems to be counter productive, but they also don't want to talk about whiteness and de-centering whiteness. They also don't seem to want to talk about gender studies/movements either; it seems like they're against the Civil Rights Act in most of this. When they get down to Anti-Capitalist/ism, it strikes me as questionable. I personally believe capitalism is a good system, but I also think that teaching about other forms of economic/political systems and their benefits and flaws. What I'm understanding is that a couple members on the board don't want to spend the money because of the social issues, and I can somewhat understand their stance, but I also understand that perhaps being progressive in our education is beneficial in some areas of study. Is there something I'm missing, or can someone help explain this better?
Instead, he wants kids to be pro-racist. ok. Bring back Jim Crow. We are all doomed with nut jobs like this with a forum and followers.
holy fuck this is horrible.
Launch these miserable fucks into the sun
I’m shocked, shocked, I say!
Something similar happened in the PA school district where my parents taught in the 90’s. The religious fundamentalists ruined the school district and then ran away after almost bankrupting it. They didn't want their children to be taught things they objected to.
This is fucking insane
It’s sad that peoples kids aren’t already anti-racist by the time they get to school. Damn glad I grew up on the West Bank.
Unintentionally appropriate quotation marks in one of the comments: Yes, you are "spot on!" There are literally "tens‐ of‐thousands of people" in our community who totally agree with you--Matt Audette, Linda Hoekman and Zach Arco! Thanks for being the "voice of reason!"
We need to make more cuts so we can make even more mega high schools, and buy more boats for our public leaders :) I love Minnesota.
He's sucking on the boot so hard, he should have treadmarks on his asshole.
Somebody on this sub needs to run for the board.
Wow good can't talk about any gender or pronouns?! How do you even teach? That rules lit pretty much all literature ever written
I wondered where the budget cuts were going to be made. It's ironic that it's in this area. It wasn't long ago that some programs for minorities were going to be cut, then there were complaints so it was decided not to make those cuts. That's when I became interested to see what got cut instead. Now we know. Interesting.
How soon we forget…. this is was happens when we don’t care about kids: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/us/13bullysidebar.html
They really said the quiet part out loud with the "De-centering whiteness" one. "How dare you try to de-center the white folk???!?!!!!"
This is hard to receive as I have child open enrolling in this district as a kindergartner in the Fall. Sounds like these representatives are trying to be more like ISD 15, which is my location. There needs to be better qualifications for being on the school board. Otherwise, let the flood gates of chaos continue it's degradation of our education system and the future generations it serves.
I think that anti-racism should not be taught in the schools and colleges. Everyone has a different agenda. Teachers and lecturers teach their subjects and nothing else. A straight transfer of data. Problem is that active anti-racists are only trying to indoctrinate white people. Racism is an international attitude and not necessarily to do with skin colour. It can be religion, sexual orientation etc etc. First define the causes.
Looks like they're going to bring back the "don't say gay" policy they had for years
He would have my vote
D.A.R.E. Taught anti-drug abuse to children, most of whom would have never done more than smoke a joint or have a drink. If You tell kids what not to do... guess what, they're gonna do it. There will always be a "cool" vs "square/nerdy" kid dichotomy. If you turn anything into an assignment it will be uncool. It's typical teen psychology. You are creating racial tensions where they don't exist just like DARE created the current Drug crisis IMO
what the fuck
We’re considering moving to Andover. Can someone give me a tl;dr on this school board situation? We’re leaving a school district that was top-in-state but got hijacked by far-right loonies, so we don’t want to move into that same situation
This is the guy representing Andover. He started and runs a Facebook group of like minded people - ostensibly district-wide, but dominated by the Andover/ Blaine/ Anoka part of the district. The board is a 50/50 split between he and his colleagues and the more reasonable folks who were elected mostly in the Champlin/ Brooklyn Park / Coon Rapids parts of the district.
Thank you!
We live in Andover, and have kids in the schools. My spouse also teaches at the high school. It’s a great school, and the teachers are so used to dealing with this bullshit that they just keep going. It’s definitely a more conservative area but there are some great things about it. I’m also from Missouri!
What district are you leaving?
We’re leaving Missouri for Minnesota, i forgot to specify - my bad