Reclusive Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, blamed for failed coup in Turkey - LA Times

Reclusive Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, blamed for failed coup in Turkey - LA Times:

Reclusive Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, blamed for failed coup in Turkey

 the wake of Friday's deadly coup attempt in Turkey, that country's president quickly laid blame on Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who has lived in exile in Pennsylvania since 1999 and controls a $25-billion religious organization.

Gulen, 75, who denied the charges in a statement, is a virtual recluse at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center, constructed near Saylorsburg, Penn., in the 1990s as a center for Turkish American children.

Praised by supporters as a moderate who supports education and interreligious dialogue though his Hizmet movement, Gulen also has been accused of stealth efforts to topple the Turkish government and spread Islamic law, or Sharia, in Turkey and abroad.

"Fethullah Gulen is the leader of a terrorist organization," Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said in a statement Saturday. "Especially after what happened yesterday, I don't believe any country would support him. Whichever country supports him isn't a friend of Turkey. It is practically at war with Turkey."

Fethullah Gulen is the leader of a terrorist organization. And a American Charter School Chain!— Benali Yildirim, prime minister of Turkey

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the Obama administration would entertain an extradition request for Gulen, but he added that Turkey's government would have to prove his complicity. Visiting Luxembourg, Kerry said Saturday that Turkey hadn't yet requested the United States send the cleric home. But later in the day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a demand that the U.S. extradite Gulen.

In a statement released by his foundation, the Alliance for Shared Values, Gulen condemned Friday's coup attempt and rejected claims he was involved.

The government said more than 200 people were killed in the attempt, and 1,440 wounded. In addition, 104 soldiers identified as coup backers were killed in the fighting, and 2,839 members of the military had been arrested.

"Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force," Gulen said. "I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly. As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

After a night of clashes, Turkish president asserts that military coup has been defeated

A spokeswoman for Gulen's foundation, Safiye Embel, was unsure whether any of its officials would be available for an interview Saturday.

"As you can imagine, we have a lot of [media] requests right now," she said.

Earlier this year, Gulen was put on trial in absentia in Istanbul, accused of attempting to overthrow the government by instigating corruption probes that targeted people close to Erdogan.

Gulen and 68 others, including former police chiefs, have been charged with "attempting to overthrow the Turkish republic through the use of violence," leading a terrorist organization and "political espionage."

In a video that surfaced after his departure from Turkey in 1999, Gulen ordered followers to infiltrate key government positions and prepare for a coup — allegations that mirror charges the government filed against him in 2014.

In a purge of Gulen sympathizers that year, Turkish police arrested the editor of the Reclusive Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, blamed for failed coup in Turkey - LA Times:

 Big Education Ape: US would consider extradition request for exiled cleric - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/us-would-consider-extradition-request.html


 Big Education Ape: Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup - The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/fethullah-gulen-islamic-scholar-turkey.html

Big Education Ape: Coup in Turkey: Is Fetullah Gulen Behind It? | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/coup-in-turkey-is-fetullah-gulen-behind.html

Big Education Ape: KILLING ED: 120 American Charter Schools and One Secretive Turkish Cleric -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/01/killing-ed-120-american-charter-schools.html

 Big Education Ape: Update: Gulen Harmony charter school network accused of bias and self-dealing Dallas Morning News - http://go.shr.lc/1qV85Hm

Big Education Ape: Turkey Links Texas Charter Schools to Dissident - WSJ - http://go.shr.lc/1OW1ZfV

Big Education Ape: Magnolia Science Academy - A Gulen Charter School: Gulen Magnolia Science Academy links discussed at LAUSD board meeting -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/magnolia-science-academy-gulen-charter.html

Rev. William Barber at SOS Rally - Living in Dialogue

Rev. William Barber at SOS Rally - Living in Dialogue:

Rev. William Barber at SOS Rally



For Reverend Barber’s full speech click here.

Rev. William Barber at SOS Rally - Living in Dialogue:

Schoolhouse Live - YouTube - https://youtu.be/uJ6SgeZN9BM on @youtube

US would consider extradition request for exiled cleric

US would consider extradition request for exiled cleric:

US would consider extradition request for exiled cleric

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — The Obama administration would entertain an extradition request for the U.S.-based cleric that Turkey's president is blaming for a failed coup attempt, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday.

But he said Turkey's government would have to prove Fethullah Gulen's wrongdoing.

Visiting Luxembourg, Kerry said Turkey hasn't yet requested that the United States send home Gulen, who left Turkey in 1999.

Gulen has harshly condemned the attempted coup attempt by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is blaming the chaos on the cleric, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Erdogan has long accused Gulen, a former ally, of trying to overthrow the government. Washington has never found any evidence particularly compelling previously.

"We haven't received any request with respect to Mr. Gulen," Kerry told reporters. "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen. And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately."

"I'm confident there will be some discussion about that," Kerry added.

President Barack Obama on Friday urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government in Turkey, a key NATO ally.

In a statement issued after a meeting with his national security advisers Obama also urged those in Turkey to show restraint and avoid violence or bloodshed. Obama was to be briefed on the situation Saturday by his national security and foreign policy advisers.

Gulen is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats. His movement called Hizmet includes think tanks, schools and various media enterprises. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

In a statement, Gulen said he condemned, "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey."

"Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force," he said. "I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly."

Gulen sharply rejected any responsibility: "As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

Reiterating American support for Erdogan's government, Kerry said the U.S. opposed any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected leader. He said a change of government should only come through a legal, constitutional process.

Kerry also said that U.S. military cooperation with its NATO ally has been unaffected by the turmoil. Turkey plays a key role in U.S.-led efforts against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

"All of that continues as before," Kerry said.

He said the U.S. had no prior indication of the coup attempt, which came as Erdogan was on vacation.

It appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey's main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government. Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence. He said 2,839 plotters were detained.

"If you're planning a coup you don't exactly advertise to your partners in NATO," Kerry said. "So it surprised everyone. It does not appear to be a very brilliantly planned or executed event."

Turkey plays a key role in U.S.-led efforts against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.US would consider extradition request for exiled cleric: 

 Big Education Ape: Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup - The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/fethullah-gulen-islamic-scholar-turkey.html

Big Education Ape: Coup in Turkey: Is Fetullah Gulen Behind It? | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/coup-in-turkey-is-fetullah-gulen-behind.html

Big Education Ape: KILLING ED: 120 American Charter Schools and One Secretive Turkish Cleric -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/01/killing-ed-120-american-charter-schools.html

 Big Education Ape: Update: Gulen Harmony charter school network accused of bias and self-dealing Dallas Morning News - http://go.shr.lc/1qV85Hm

Big Education Ape: Turkey Links Texas Charter Schools to Dissident - WSJ - http://go.shr.lc/1OW1ZfV

Big Education Ape: Magnolia Science Academy - A Gulen Charter School: Gulen Magnolia Science Academy links discussed at LAUSD board meeting -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/magnolia-science-academy-gulen-charter.html

Keeping retirement weird. Trumpence a bag. | Fred Klonsky

Keeping retirement weird. Trumpence a bag. | Fred Klonsky:

Keeping retirement weird. Trumpence a bag.

 Mary Poppins sings Trumpence a Bag.

Recent polls show Donald Trump polling zero among African Americans.

He could be getting less than zero, if you count the margin of error. The poll suggests that not one African American in all of Ohio and Pennsylvania will admit that they are voting for Trump.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence is not positioned to improve on those numbers. What Pence brings to the ticket is the anger of retirees. Anger at Pence. See, Pence’s record in Congress is one of voting against Social Security and Medicare.

He calls them entitlements. 

Entitlements is one of those loaded words that makes it seem as if we are getting a freebie.

The Alliance for Retired Americans is just one of the organizations who this week did a spit take when Trump finally, finally, finally decided on Pence.

The ARA gives Pence a 22% rating. They consider him anti-senior.

The good news for Trump is that Pence’s rating isn’t zero.

The conventional wisdom is that old angry white guys are Trump’s core constituency.

Pension activists. Here you have (from left) Bob Zahniser, John Dillon, Bob Lyons, this blogger and Glen Brown celebrating the first anniversary of the Illinois Supreme Court’s broad ruling in defense of the constitution’s pension protection clause. Missing from the photo is Ken Previti. He lives in Florida.

There are many others missing from this photo as Keeping retirement weird. Trumpence a bag. | Fred Klonsky:

"Islands" That Separate Education Haves From Have-Nots : NPR Ed : NPR

"Islands" That Separate Education Haves From Have-Nots : NPR Ed : NPR:

"Islands" That Separate Education Haves From Have-Nots

A close look at New Jersey's school districts shows "island" districts with higher levels of poverty than the surrounding districts. EdBuild

The school district of Freehold Borough, N.J., has a 32 percent poverty rate. It is fully surrounded by another school district, Freehold Township, which has a 5 percent poverty rate.

Freehold Borough is what a new report calls an "island district" — and it's not alone. The report, from a nonprofit called EdBuild, maps 180 of these islands around the country: Districts that, by historical accident or for political reasons, lie completely inside other systems with a disparate poverty rate and often different funding levels.

And that can correlate with very different outcomes for students — something educators in Freehold Borough have long struggled with.

"Surrounding communities are able to provide a better education than we are," says Rocco Tomazic, superintendent of the K-8 district. "It's not supposed to be that way per the state constitution."

SCHOOL MONEY

Why America's Schools Have A Money Problem

As we noted in our School Money project, around half of school funding in the U.S., on average, comes from local property taxes. That means districts with high poverty often struggle with limited resources, a one-two punch.

"We have a mismatch between the way we're funding schools and what we're expecting schools to deliver," says Rebecca Sibilia, the founder and CEO of EdBuild, which focuses on school finance.

Though they are rare, Sibilia argues that these island districts serve as vivid examples of a larger pattern that holds true in many places throughout the country: The resources available to your local public school may depend on your zip code, or sometimes even your specific address at birth.

In the late 19th century, New Jersey passed a series of laws to allow town centers to incorporate as "boroughs." These are separate from surrounding townships, with separate governments, separate tax bases and separate school districts.

Drawing those lines would prove fateful in Freehold. Back then, Tomazic says, townships tended to be agricultural and boroughs were more prosperous. Today, he adds, his small urban district has many county buildings, which don't pay taxes, and more existing density compared with the surrounding township, which makes it harder to build more housing to generate property taxes.

"We have surrounding communities that spend $22,000 per student and we're spending $11,600," Tomazic says.

Freehold Borough has seen a recent surge of students due to immigration, even as state aid has been held flat for the past three years. It must pay rent to its more "Islands" That Separate Education Haves From Have-Nots : NPR Ed : NPR:

Mississippi’s Charter School Funding Challenged in Court | deutsch29

Mississippi’s Charter School Funding Challenged in Court | deutsch29:

Mississippi’s Charter School Funding Challenged in Court

On July 11, 2016, the Southern Poverty Law Center backed a lawsuit by several parents (also on behalf of their children) against Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, the Mississippi Department of Education, and the Jackson Public School District; the suit challenges the constitutionality of using ad valorem tax money and per-pupil funding to fiscally support charter schools in Mississippi (as per the Charter Schools Act of 2013, or CSA).

The gist of the suit involves giving public money to schools that are not overseen by the state and district. An excerpt from the suit:

Section 206 of the Mississippi Constitution provides that a school district’s ad valorem taxes may only be used for the district to maintain its own schools. Under the CSA, public school districts must share ad valorem revenue with charter schools that they do not control or supervise. Therefore, the local funding stream of the CSA is unconstitutional.

Section 208 of the Mississippi Constitution forbids the Legislature from appropriating money to any school that is not operating as a “free school.” A “free school” is not merely a school that charges no tuition; it must also be regulated by the State Superintendent of Education and the local school district superintendent. Charter schools– which are not under the control of the State Board of Education, the State Superintendent of Education, the Mississippi Department of Education, the local school district superintendent, or the local school district– are not “free schools.” Accordingly, the state funding provision of the CSA is unconstitutional. …

The CSA heralds a financial cataclysm for public school districts across the state. … The future is clear: as a direct result of the unconstitutional CSA funding provisions, traditional public schools will have fewer teachers, books, and educational resources.

The suit refers to three charter schools already open in Jackson and an additional 14 planning to open– with 11 of the 14 intending to set up shop in Jackson.

The CSA language is clear in its intent that the “money should follow the child,” so to speak, with the state department of education being directed to pay the charter schools “for each student in average daily attendance at the charter school equal to the state share of the adequate education program payments for each student in daily average attendance at the school district in which the charter school is located.” Mississippi’s Charter School Funding Challenged in Court | deutsch29:

Big Education Ape: SPLC lawsuit: Mississippi charter school funding violates state constitution | Southern Poverty Law Center - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/splc-lawsuit-mississippi-charter-school.html



Big Education Ape: In Southern schools, segregation and inequality aren’t just history -- they’re reality | PBS NewsHour - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/in-southern-schools-segregation-and.html



Big Education Ape: After Being Ordered To Consolidate, District Argues It Would Create White Flight | ThinkProgress - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/after-being-ordered-to-consolidate.html

Russ on Reading: Five Ways to Fight Summer Reading Loss

Russ on Reading: Five Ways to Fight Summer Reading Loss:

Five Ways to Fight Summer Reading Loss

I am sitting at my computer this morning looking outside at an absolutely sweltering mid-July day in southeastern Pennsylvania. The weather people are warning us that the combination of heat and humidity makes it dangerous to go outside. So, I am thinking that this is a great opportunity to keep the kids inside and have a family reading day (and for me to avoid the needed garden work).

These days most elementary schools provide dedicated in class time for kids to read from books they have selected because of their interests and reading abilities. Unfortunately, for many kids summer is not a time when books are readily accessible or reading time a part of a daily routine. This lack of practice in reading often leads to a phenomenon that reading researchers call summer reading loss or summer reading setback. Kids who don't read over the summer, lose reading gains they made over the school year.

There is plenty of research documenting summer reading loss and you can access some of it here and here. Not surprisingly, summer reading loss impacts children in low income families more than in middle income and high income families. While  there is less research on how to combat summer loss, there are some common sense ways that parents and teachers can use to help fight summer loss.

Give Access to Books

When kids have access to books that they want to read and that they can read, their reading improves. There is actually some good research to demonstrate this. In many lower income families access to books is limited. In order to combat summer loss we must get books in kids hands. Schools can play a role in this. Research has shown that just getting high interest books in the homes of low income children can make a difference in summer loss. Simply by giving kids books to take home at the end of the school year, schools can make a difference. Different schools have found Russ on Reading: Five Ways to Fight Summer Reading Loss:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Parent's Guide to Public Education in the 21st Century

by Russ Walsh

Giveaway ends August 31, 2016.

See thegiveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

A Parent's Guide to Public Education in the 21st Century is now available.

• Book Discussion Guide for A Parent's Guide to Public Education in the 21st Century

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A Teacher in LAUSD Explains the Affair Rafe Esquith | Diane Ravitch's blog

A Teacher in LAUSD Explains the Affair Rafe Esquith | Diane Ravitch's blog:

A Teacher in LAUSD Explains the Affair Rafe Esquith 

A 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles public school district, who is also NBCT, explains the Rafe Esquith situation here. The writer has the nom de plume of Geronimo. I know who he is; I have met him. But I am not telling.

ON RAFE ESQUITH’S SUIT AGAINST LAUSD

Education has been on trial for a long time in Los Angeles.

We have seen it in many forms, most notably in how business interests in education trump pedagogical interests on many fronts…corporate technology, standardized testing, Charter Schools and billionaire influence on public policy.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is misnamed. It is not a “unified” entity. It can be divided in two using hoary Edu-Marxism (apologies, but I beg your indulgence!). There is the 1% at the top of the District apparatus (or apparatchiks) who control and set policy and then there are the actual educators who are supposed to be the reason for the season–but have been demonized by the structure that ostensibly is supposed to support their efforts.

On Wednesday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge Wednesday denied LAUSD request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by the internationally renowned fifth-grade teacher Rafe Esquith, whom they fired last October.

A veteran of the district for over 30 years, Esquith filed the defamation lawsuit against the district in August after he was placed on paid leave and assigned to “teacher jail” pending an internal investigation after a fellow teacher complained that Esquith made a joke about nudity in front of his students in regards to the production of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” the students were performing.

Huck Finn began the entire sorry process that led to Esquith’s dismissal and the current class action suit against LAUSD; it is a top level farce that Twain would have ridiculed in his day but would not have been the least surprised about.

It is most helpful to think about the people who actually run LAUSD as proprietors of a brand that should be called LAUSD, Inc.

LAUSD, Inc. is not interested in good teaching. It is not interested in good pedagogy. It is not interested in what inspires students to want to learn.

LAUSD, Inc. is interested only in LAUSD, Inc. itself.

LAUSD Inc’s greatest concern is for its brand. The apparatus set up in LAUSD headquarters functions only to propagate a self-serving system. In Ken Kesey’s famous “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, Chief, the deaf-mute Indian narrator, calls this system “The Combine.” Not that many of the people who run LAUSD have actually read that novel, but their day-to-day priorities are very different from what Education SHOULD and COULD be; it is much more mundane–the business of Education is the Business of education.

Alas, I also can not say with any confidence that many of the District’s top brass have actually read America’s most famous novel, Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”–the literature that got him into trouble in the first place. They would insist that it wasn’t part of their job description and irrelevant to their duties.

Without going down the rabbit hole of all the anti-education, anti-teacher, anti-student policies that LAUSD, Inc. has championed over the years, let us examine this one emblematic case that sort of sums up all that is wrong with how education is viewed by the LAUSD Corporation.

Rafe Esquith’s case should give people who are interested AND vested in true, meaningful education great pause.

Depressing as this telling fact is, I will not go into how completely unsurprising that not any single District Big Shot ever could make it down to Hobart Elementary School to watch Esquith’s magic in action. The author of many acclaimed bestselling books on teaching and an A Teacher in LAUSD Explains the Affair Rafe Esquith | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Illinois high school PARCC testing violated federal law, Education Department says - Chicago Tribune

Illinois high school PARCC testing violated federal law, Education Department says - Chicago Tribune:

Illinois high school PARCC testing violated federal law, Education Department says 

linois' move to get rid of a hodgepodge of high school PARCC exams and give a college entrance exam to 11th-graders was praised by educators who had pushed for change and felt their voices were heard.

But new details show there was more to the story: The testing decision announced Monday came after the U.S. Department of Education determined that Illinois had run afoul of federal law and threatened to withhold federal education dollars because of the controversial way the state tested high school students in 2015 and 2016, records show.

Not all high school students were given the same state exams in reading and math, and the Tribune reported earlier this year that some students were left off the testing rosters, including kids in special education, limited English and even gifted and honors classes.

In April, the USDE placed Illinois in what the agency calls "high-risk status" for not complying with federal testing requirements, according to correspondence provided to the Tribune Friday by the Illinois State Board of Education. That status jeopardizes student poverty-related funds that states receive from the federal government.

"My decision to place Illinois on 'high-risk' status was based on the fact that Illinois did not administer the same assessment to all high school students," said USDE official Ann Whalen in a June 14 letter.

"This ... resulted in districts throughout Illinois holding high school students to different academic content and achievement standards in reading/language arts and mathematics ... based solely on their zip code, and afforded inconsistent information to parents and the public about student achievement among districts in Illinois."

The testing problem is not related to the PARCC test given to students in grades 3-8.

Illinois ends much-debated PARCC test for high school students

Federal law requires that states give reading and math exams at least once in high school, and beginning in 2014-15, Illinois launched PARCC, short for the Partnership for Assessment in Readiness for College and Careers.

PARCC is a Common Core based exam that focuses on critical thinking and problem-solving and is designed to prepare students for college and work. Test scores have been dismal and the state tests have drawn opposition from families who questioned the amount of testing at school — part of a national movement Illinois high school PARCC testing violated federal law, Education Department says - Chicago Tribune:

What California Kids Will Learn About LGBT History | TakePart

What California Kids Will Learn About LGBT History | TakePart:

What California Kids Will Learn About LGBT History

The Golden State is the first in the nation to include prominent LGBT facts and figures in its public school curriculum.

 Along with learning how to add two-digit numbers and construct intelligible sentences, second graders in the state of California will soon learn about all kinds of family structures—including those with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender parents.

This week, the California Board of Education unanimously approved a history and social studies curriculum that includes prominent LGBT figures and milestones—from the Stonewall riots of 1969 to the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015—for public school students. 

“An LGBT-inclusive curriculum helps create an environment where all students can thrive,” Rick Zbur, the executive director of Equality California, said Thursday in a press release. Zbur noted that LGBT students face higher rates of bullying and depressionthan do other kids. “By seeing themselves reflected in lessons and materials, students’ experiences are validated and their sense of self-worth reinforced, creating the opportunity for students to be able to achieve academically,” he said.

In the new curriculum, LGBT milestones will pop up in history and social studies lessons multiple times throughout elementary, middle, and high school. After the initial introduction about diverse families, fourth-grade students will learn about the emergence of gay rights advocacy groups in the 1950s and one of the nation’s first openly gay public officials, Harvey Milk. In eighth grade, students will learn about traditional gender norms and groups that rebelled against them when settling out West in the first half of the 20th century.

RELATED

Students Declare Victory in Fight for Gender-Neutral Bathrooms

A more in-depth analysis comes junior year of high school, with a history curriculum that looks at attempts to weed out gay and lesbian service members from the military; surveillance of suspected gay and lesbian government officials in the 1950s; and police raids on gay bars in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City in the 1960s. Students will also learn about the U.S. Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage in 2015.

The changes to the state syllabi have been a long time coming. Equality California cosponsored the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, which was signed into law in 2012. Its implementation lagged as conservatives argued that it should be each family’s choice if and how they teach their children about the LGBT rights movement.

Those complaints appear to have fallen silent. During an hours-long public forum this week, several families and educators objected to the ways religious groups were presented in the proposed educational plans, The Associated Press reports. No one protested the inclusion of the history of LGBT rights.What California Kids Will Learn About LGBT History | TakePart: