Editor’s note: Columbia County school parent asked that a letter she recently sent to the Columbia County Board of Education be shared as a letter to the editor.
Dr. Flynt and Board Members,
Over the last few years I have steadily watched national trends expand their footprint in my children’s schools in Columbia County, Ga. I watched as Critical Race Theory heroes such as Ken Shelton were brought to our county to train teachers at the Peach State Summit. I have also watched $16,000 of taxpayer money get wasted as the school board and administrators finally cancelled their contract with Panorama Ed – after parents brought to their attention that it was filled with invasive personal questions for students and data mining concerns. However, these national trends have now evolved into globalist influences penetrating Columbia County schools, brought in through the curriculum choices of our Board of Education and CCSD administration.
Opinion
Climate change, child activism, and equity have somehow become a part of nearly every subject my children learn about in school. Even knowing this, I was quite surprised to learn that my child was taught that eating bugs is good nutrition, and that bugs are the future of protein because they are an “eco-friendly food.” To be precise, the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt textbook currently used in 4th grade states the following: “lots of bugs are nutritious, tasty, and perfectly safe to eat” and “attitudes about bugs are already changing… if we can get over the “Gross!” factor, bugs could one day become part of our daily diet.” This is followed by activities telling children to “provide strong reasons why people should eat bugs, supported with evidence from [the story].” This lesson is taught in the context of teaching children to identify “eco-friendly foods” and to be aware that “beans that are produced locally using oil-based fertilizers and plowed by diesel tractors” may not be “eco-friendly.” Apparently, this theme is also found in the iReady reading materials, though I am not able to view my child’s work in that program to verify (yet another transparency issue in itself).
Interestingly, though not incidentally, the World Economic Forum (WEF) supports these exact concepts and for the very same reasons – climate change and the need for a new global protein source. In their article entitled Why We Need to Give Insects the Role they Deserve in our Food Systems, the WEF states “Insect farming for food and animal feed could offer an environmentally friendly solution to the impending food crisis.” They also proudly proclaim that mealworms have already been approved for human consumption throughout Europe and even have their own startup company Ÿnsect ready to provide farmed bugs for this anticipated “demand.”
As I watch our school board vote to expand this curriculum, I have to ask… is this the best we can do for students in Columbia County? With only 60% of elementary students reading “at grade level target” in our county, is this the curriculum worthy of our taxpayer dollars? Our district must think so, since they and the Board of Education intend to expand Houghton’s footprint in our schools by adding the 6-8th grade curriculum as well. Between this and the CRT-focused Savvas company, I can only conclude that our district and school board agree with these agendas and reject classical curriculum options such as those provided by Hillsdale College. I ask that the school district and Board seriously reconsider the direction they are taking our children with their curriculum decisions.
Our teachers don’t want to teach these agendas. Our children don’t want to be taught them. So again, I must ask… why is our school district teaching our children to eat bugs?
Sincerely,
Katie Allen, Parent and Taxpayer
