To the editor,

I believe that one of life’s greatest challenges in our current society is being a parent. There are so many more “alerts” to be aware of in raising a child today than there were 20 years ago. Besides easy access to the internet, cell phones, drugs, driving privileges, choices of friends, and social interactions, etc. parents now are faced with keeping a close eye on school districts to educate their child on the basics without hidden agendas that betray their family values and push ideologies in curriculums and class discussions.   

It all started with our government claiming OUR children as THEIRS and insisting they were better educated than parents to know what was best for that child. Parents began to accept this transfer of power until the Covid lockdowns and online lessons opened many of their eyes. EID, ESG, and CRT were introduced as teaching goals and advocated by school boards across the nation. Candidates for school board campaigned on these goals with no mention of academic ones. The government cleverly used funding and free materials to retrain teachers and administrators to introduce ideas that would promote America’s need to be “reset.” Parents values and patriotism were marginalized and replaced with “reforms.”    

With double income parents needing to combat inflated costs of living, faced hectic schedules and found themselves too busy to attend school board meetings, much to the delight of Wok promoters. School boards soon became powerful, adopting policies without much opposition. If enough board members were Wok, policies like River Falls School policy on transgender access to girl’s bathrooms and lockers, selection of controversial books, display of curriculums, “private” classroom surveys, and parent notification of a student’s emotional issues were matters only for school personnel, and policies passed easily. Our busy schedules permitted the ideologies to flourish and transparency to be closeted. Those seeking more information on school practices got run-arounds. The days of trusting schools to teach the basics without ideologies began to quickly vanish. The time to confront the teaching goals in our schools is NOW! Our tax dollars require transparency and must justify specifics on budget plans. 

School board members need to be held accountable for their decisions. Parents MUST make attending or viewing those meetings on the internet a priority if they hope to regain their power to influence their child’s education. On Feb. 20, the school board will ask for your vote on a referendum they drafted. We recently received it in the mail with options to meet the superintendent for coffee or lunch. When considering budgets, needs and wants must be addressed. If our district claims it’s on a “financial cliff,” is it wise to add positions, programs, and services (some of which we oppose) that we can’t afford and leave the mounting debts to our children? Can we afford to build a new school for 50 students, staff it with five additional teachers, and pay its operational costs? The RFSD received almost a 4% raise from the state in general aid for operational expenses, but claims it will need referendum money to buy curriculums, etc, The school will also continue to receive grants and donations even if the referendum passes. ( The form chose not to tell us this.) Please study it carefully. Challenge it with your questions. If you have looked at your last tax statement, did you notice how much you gave to RFSD and CVTC, and that we still are paying towards the last referendum? If our district claims “it’s on a financial cliff,” let’s advise them to “back up!” New garages, new schools, and extra room spaces will need to wait until our economy makes that possible without sending our future generation “over the cliff.”

Jan Jablonski            

River Falls