Trustees of the Austin Independent School District (AISD) on Monday night heard from over 100 people testifying on the district’s new sexual education curriculum, including numerous Hispanics who cautioned that they would pull their children out of the district if the board went ahead with the new curriculum.
If the district does lose students over the sex ed curriculum, it would worsen an existing trend of enrollment losses, which district officials blame on the growth of public charter schools and the process of gentrification, which is pushing Hispanic and Black families out of East Austin and into more affordable outlying suburbs. The issue came into focus in recent months over plans to close 12 schools.
“There will be an exodus,” said Jorge Ordoñez, the father of two AISD schoolchildren. He said that Hispanic parents would look for alternatives such as schools in outlying areas like Buda or Kyle. “Most Hispanic parents are offended with this, even people who do not have a religious affiliation are offended with this. This is just going to make worse the district’s enrollment problem. Students are leaving the district.”
“I come today on behalf of the Latino community,” said Hugo Delgado, who said he had helped translate and explain the new lessons to hundreds of fellow Spanish-speaking parents in recent weeks. “Many of them are poor, they don’t speak English. They feel shocked, sad, frustrated, and marginalized.”
Delgado added that the new curriculum is “opposed to their culture, values, and their Catholic faith.” More than 55% of AISD students are Hispanic, a demographic that is 77% Christian, including 48% Catholic, according to national data from the Pew Research Center.
Witnesses told trustees that their traditional values conflict with the new curriculum. In the Catholic Church, for instance, believers are taught that there are two genders, male and female, created by God. AISD’s new lessons instead teach that gender is fluid and not binary.
From 2016-2018, the district already lost 1,957 Hispanic students, more than any other ethnicity, according to AISD data.
Hanoi Avila, a pastor and the president of the Consejo de Iglesias Cristiansas Independientes, which represents a number of Hispanic congregations Austin, complained that the new curriculum was being pushed on parents “without considering their cultural values and heritage.”
He added, “55% of the student body of this institution are Latinos. According to my investigation, parents of the Latino community have not been surveyed, have not been educated on the curriculum, and materials have not been presented in Spanish.”
“This curriculum goes against our beliefs and is harmful,” said Drew Garza, a parent of three children at AISD. “The reason you didn’t send any letters or survey home is because you know the majority of parents would have objections,” said Jose Guadalupe Martinez, another parent.
Dr. Lisa Goodnow, Associate Superintendent of Academics, later responded to this, saying, “We did have various forms of communication and outreach both in English and Spanish. There was no districtwide email sent out… however, there was districtwide engagement with parents in grade levels three through eight, including Spanish-speaking parents. We had two parent meetings for non-English speaking parents.”
As the testimony continued, Board President Geronimo Rodriguez remarked at one point, “This is the largest group of speakers we have [ever] had.”
Hispanic parents were not the only ones to say that they might remove their children from AISD schools. Doug Harrington commented, “Many families of faith are seeing the need to seek other opportunities for our kids. This is not helpful for district enrollment.” Rebecca Smikle, the mother of three kids in the district, said she already moved one of her children to a charter school “in favor of more academic rigor and less agenda.”
Speaking through a translator, Jorge Navas, another father of two children attending AISD schools, urged trustees not to vote for the new sex ed curriculum. He said he took issue with the display of gay pride flags on the desks of several trustees. “Have you ever seen a judge that makes decisions before the facts are presented? This is what I’ve seen in the voting meetings of AISD.”
“Those who are in charge of making decisions should not show their affiliations of thoughts such as flags, images, and things like that during the debate. This takes away from the credibility of the final decision taken by the board of trustees. It’s not a just debate that shows equity.”
The trustees unanimously approved the new sexual education curriculum in a vote shortly after midnight. The new lessons for the 3rd through 8th grade will be introduced next year. They cover topics like healthy relationships, personal safety, gender identity, anatomy, puberty, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Under the approved lesson plans, 6th graders will learn to “differentiate between gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation” and “recognize injustices and plan ways to denounce inequality.”
Using a matching activity, 7th graders will learn terms like “gender identity,” “transgender,” “cisgender,” “transphobia,” and non-binary.” They also will be presented with a drawing of a “genderbread person,” pictured below, which explains terms like gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
Several speakers hinted at the likelihood of legal challenges to the new curriculum on several possible grounds.
For instance, some speakers suggested that the new lessons would violate the free conscience of Christian educators who might disagree with what they were being asked by the district to teach. David Walls, the vice president of Texas Values, also said that it was illegal to teach children “to denounce and challenge students that don’t share their views.” (Lessons call on children to “recognize injustices and plan ways to denounce inequality.”)
Walls said the curriculum “will send the message that people of faith are not welcome in AISD.” Similarly, Laurie Moenig said the curriculum “pushes many teachers and Christians out of the public education system.”
The President of Texas Values, Jonathan Saenz, said that his organization “will explore all legal avenues if you pass this.”
Trustees were undeterred. At the end of the night, Trustee Arati Singh commented, “If any students are watching, you heard a lot of hate tonight in this room and I just want the students to know that their school is a safe place. That’s why I have these flags here” – she indicated a gay pride flag on her desk – “so that they know that their school is a safe place. I am so proud to be voting for this tonight.”
