An elementary school near Burlington, Vermont is replacing the words “boy,” “male,” “girl” and “female” with “person who produces sperm” and “person who produces eggs”, respectively, in classes for fifth graders.
In a letter sent a week ago to parents and legal guardians, the elementary school says the changes are being made in light of the fact that the “science/health unit […] focused on puberty and the human reproductive systems” is coming up.
But “in an effort to align [the] curriculum” with the district’s equity policy, “teachers will be using gender-inclusive language throughout th[e] unit,” states the letter from the Essex Westford School District. That means that “boy,” “male,” “girl”, and “female” will not be used, nor will the words “assigned male/female at birth.”
“We are working on editing worksheets and handouts to reflect these changes but you may see some worksheets that have not changed yet,” the letter advises.”
Erika Sanzi of Parents Defending Education, a critic of the policy, notes that “new language rules just dropped for 5th graders in Vermont and they don’t include the words boy and girl or male and female.”
This mindset is spreading. Instead of “mother,” “father,” or “biological parent,” use terms created by students like “gene-givers,” “biological life transmitters,” or “storks,” urges the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) in a “gender-inclusive” guide issued in 2022.
In the guide, the world’s largest science teachers association urges teachers to “Show students that myriad, naturally occurring families exist, such as same-sex swan couples.…On our website, we have compiled a Queer Species Database with hundreds of instances of diverse sexual behavior, sex, and gender.” Also warned against are the terms “mother,” “father,” “male,” and “female,” notes law professor Jonathan Turley. Instead, teachers are advised to refer to “people with ovaries” and “people with testes,” or refer to people by their chromosomes.
Teachers’ unions also avidly promote woke ideology. For example, the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers’ union in America, approved New Business Item 39, which resolved to promote and defend critical race theory (CRT).
Meanwhile, Detroit’s school superintendent, Nikolai Vitti, said critical race theory was deeply embedded in his school system: “Our curriculum is deeply using critical race theory, especially in social studies, but you’ll find it in English language arts and the other disciplines. We were very intentional about…embedding critical race theory within our curriculum.”
Hispanic students in a California school district were forced to learn critical race theory. They hated it.
“Unequivocally, critical race theory is taught in K-12 public schools,” said the Heritage Foundation’s Jonathan Butcher, who wrote a research paper detailing numerous instances of school districts openly using the phrase “critical race theory” in curriculum plans.
