The totalitarian-minded education establishment and its extreme left-wing allies are starting to freak out as conservatives abandon futile efforts to “reform” government schools in favor of a mass-exodus strategy. Even powerful union bosses are starting to panic.

The trend has been building quietly for years. But it has accelerated rapidly in recent months as a trickle of families fleeing the system became a tidal wave amid face-mask edicts, vaccine mandates, Critical Race Theory, Marxist indoctrination, extreme “sex education,” and other controversies.

The first major shoe to drop in response came on September 30, when the fringe left-wing magazine New Republic released a major article claiming Republicans were now out to destroy the public-school system instead of “reform” it.

“Republicans Don’t Want to Reform Public Education. They Want to End It,” blared the headline in the far-left magazine, famous for lying about and even praising the mass-murdering Soviet dictatorship. “Florida’s recent struggles over masks in schools augur a terrifying shift in the right’s approach to education policy.”

According to the article, conservatives are increasingly abandoning the idea of “reforming” public schools. Instead, the article argues, the new approach is to get as many children as possible out of the system and into private schools or homeschooling.

The article begins by examining a speech by Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran at Hillsdale College. Corcoran noted, correctly, that education will be the key to winning other issues, too. But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the article claims, is at the helm of pursuing the strategy to destroy government education.

“Trading in the decades-old, substantially bipartisan education reform agenda, a formula that was born in Florida, he is mustering a naked attack on the very existence of public schools,” the magazine claimed, arguing that this shift is taking place in the broader Republican Party in general as well.

And bigwigs of the trillion-dollar-per-year “education” regime are getting nervous. For instance, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) boss Randi Weingarten, who is quoted in the New Republic article, blurted out her concerns on Twitter.

“This isn’t just about masks or about Governor DeSantis’ political aspirations,” she said as state-level union bosses parroted her comments as well. “It’s about the complete destabilization of public education so that parents will choose private schools.”

And it is true: Conservative leaders nationwide are increasingly advocating an exit from government schools altogether. Just this weekend, conservative heavyweight Candace Owens urged parents to remove their children from government schools on Fox News.

“Pull your children out of public schools,” Owens told the cable network on Sunday. “The time is now, remove your children from these indoctrination camps, they’re not learning to be smart,  they’re not focused on hard academics, they are being brainwashed and and systematically controlled and what they want to produce, by the way, are failures.”

Before that, Evangelical leader Franklin Graham, conservative pundit Dennis Prager, talk-radio titan Rush Limbaugh, and many others also called for parents to remove their children in recent years.

Some have been sounding the alarm for decades. Exodus Mandate Director Lt. Col. Ray Moore (Ret.), the godfather of the exodus movement, was thrilled by the shift in the conversation. “After decades of futile efforts to reform government schools, conservatives and Christians are permanently opting out,” Moore told us by phone.

“The dam is about to break,” added Moore, who is also chairman of Public School Exit (where this writer serves as executive director) and the Christian Education Initiative (CEI). “When this happens, on a large scale, Christians and conservatives will become good neighbors again, by providing Christian education services for our nation. This is the great hope for renewal of our families, churches and our nation.”

Conservatives and Christians now have the momentum — the wind is in their sails when it comes to rescuing millions of children from the dumbing down, sexualization, and indoctrination in government schools. The exodus is already happening, and it will accelerate in the years ahead.

As the forces of liberty advance, the next challenge will be to keep the same “education” establishment from destroying homeschooling and private school by providing tax funding with strings attached or other subversive methods. The future of America depends on the outcome of this fight.

This article was originally published by FreedomProject Media.

An assault has occurred on parental rights within the public school system. Parents have voiced their concerns across the nation about everything from perverted curriculum to forced masking. If any good came from the pandemic, it is that parents have seen what public schools are doing behind closed doors. This revelation should lead parents to remove their children from the grip of the government-run education system.

Here are my top ten reasons to leave public schools:

The Marxist Agenda:

Many parents and grandparents were in school during the Cold War, or just following it, and view Communism as the enemy. However, universities hid a dark secret: Marxist philosophers, economists, and educators were devoted to continuing to teach the theory to the next generation. As the Marxist agenda became more elevated on college campuses in the 1980s and 90s, we were unconcerned. After all, this action only involved a handful of academic elites, right? Wrong. Today the consequences of ignoring the indoctrination of university students are readily apparent in our public schools. Those university elites educated the current teachers, curriculum developers, and administrators that now teach in your child’s school. The ideas of hatred towards capitalism, American exceptionalism, and devotion to humanism have slowly infiltrated public schools, starting with high schools and are moving towards younger students. Now, even kindergarten classes are taught Marxist ideologies.

Critical Race Theory:

CRT is in direct relation to the Marxist theory. As a result, CRT, which started in universities, is now spreading like wildfire across public school systems. Schools across the nation are telling teachers to divide their students by race. Instead of finding common ground and cooperative ways of interaction, students are divided and labeled according to race and ethnicity.

LGBT Agenda:

The LGBT lobby and organizations have forced their agenda into every facet of life, including schools. Girls’ sports are being decimated by male athletes masquerading as females, and neither girls nor boys can assume privacy in their respective bathrooms or locker rooms. Teachers are asking students to “choose” their sexuality and pronoun identifiers. Children are allowed to change their name and gender on school records without parental permission. Schools across the country are forming clubs like the Gay-Straight Alliance, yet denying official status to Bible clubs. The agenda has taken over the public schools to such a degree that parents cannot question the schools’ policies. (Illinois lawmakers passed legislation in 2019 to mandate the teaching of LGBT history in classrooms K-12th grade.)

Explicit Sexual Education:

The LGBT agenda has given birth to explicit sex education programs. In previous generations, kindergarteners were taught about proper touch and “stranger danger.” Now, school programs are teaching about masturbation and sodomy, and even grooming children for pedophilia. The new, approved curriculum in Illinois is entirely lewd. This curriculum includes cartoon-drawn images of acts of hetero and homosexual acts. Children are encouraged to participate in masturbation. Although the Department of Education claims parents can opt-out of the classes, parents will not be able to stop their children’s classmates from sharing the curriculum’s text and pornographic images. (Illinois lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year to require all public schools—including charter schools—to align teaching in grades K-5 on “personal health and safety” with “National Sex Education Standards.)”

Declining Academics:

It should not come as a surprise that academics are declining. As educators push their agendas, there is little time to teach mathematics or reading. In the last year, Illinois raised funding per student to $14,492, one of the highest per-student budgets in the nation. Yet, Illinois students are not succeeding academically. In Illinois and across the country, students are falling behind. The US ranks 38th in the world in math and, according to a recent study by Gallup, deficiencies in reading cost trillions of dollars. Many business owners state that they cannot find entry-level employees with basic skills such as money counting, phone etiquette, or even basic reading abilities. Declining academic achievement is devastating our children and our economy. (Click HERE to view the proficiency scores of the largest school districts in Illinois.)

Lack of Transparency:

The local school board and the state have actively limited transparency. They often refuse to show how funding is being distributed and deny parental involvement in the decision-making process. In January of 2021, the Williamson County Circuit Court ordered the Illinois school board of Herrin District #4 to repay $2.7 million in misused tax funds. The school was taken to court by one taxpayer who noted the misappropriations. Parents could prevent fraud and misappropriations if school boards would issue regular reports on the distribution of funds. Schools also lack transparency regarding the curricula they choose. A group of Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin are circulating a bill requiring schools and teachers to publish a list of materials and all curricula utilized by the school. If approved, schools failing to publish these lists will incur a $15,000 penalty. Transparency of materials and texts is an excellent idea; however, the Department of Education and teacher unions are fighting this bill and any attempt to require transparency.

Impediment of Parental Involvement and Rights:

The governmental system does not respect parents or their rights. During the pandemic, parents discovered the nature of curricula and were outraged at the indoctrination occurring in schools. As a result, parents and grandparents are attending school board meetings in large numbers. Parents have expressed concerns ranging from requests to remove CRT and Marxist curricula to concerns about forced masking. These parents are vocal but have been peaceful, with a few rare exceptions. Even though parents have a right to voice concerns about their children’s education, the local boards and teachers have been defiant. Often school boards have refused to answer questions. Have these board members forgotten that they are elected officials? Regardless, parents have been vilified, doxxed, and faced cancel culture for simply wanting to protect their children. Recent Virginia gubernatorial candidate, Terry McAuliffe (D), stated, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” This statement is a shared opinion held by teachers, unions, and board members across the nation.

Authorization of Greater Federal Control:

A memo from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) was sent to the Biden administration claiming that parents attending school board meetings were a threat to teachers and board members. As a result, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to investigate parents attending school board meetings as domestic terrorists. The federal government’s defamation of parents’ character is just the beginning of bringing the federal government into a more significant role in education. If the elimination of parental control in education occurs, then the states and the federal government can indoctrinate children without interference. Federalization can occur not only through the removal of parental influence, but also through financial control. Politicians such as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) have long called for the federalization of funding. Complete federalization creates an oversight nightmare. This type of system would likely eliminate all local control within the schools.

Removal of God and Country:

The landmark decision of Engel v. Vitale (1962) removed school-mandated prayer from the classroom. It did not end there. Students have had a constant fight to keep student-led, voluntary prayer and Christian clubs in schools. However, we should be clear that the Left intends this ban to only include prayer to the God of the Bible. At the beginning of the school year, parents in California filed suit after the California State Board of Education unanimously approved a curriculum that included chanting to Aztec gods. These are the same false gods that the people of ancient Mesoamerica worshipped through the practice of human sacrifice. Schools have also removed anything that might resemble patriotism. One teacher, who has now been dismissed, removed the American flag and replaced it with the gay pride flag. Although this teacher was fired, many teachers across the nation are denouncing both God and our country in their classrooms.

Your Children Deserve Better:

The best reason to remove your children from the failing public school system is that they deserve better. The current system is rooted in hatred and indoctrination. Twenty years ago, Christian parents sent their children into the public system to be young evangelists. Today any possibility of that is squelched before the child even leaves the primary grades. Before they reach middle school, they will have already seen lewd images and been given ample opportunity to denounce all values their parents instill. Protecting our children means finding alternatives to public school that will support parental rights and values. We must develop our own systems that uphold Christian values. Whether it is home education, private schools, or church co-ops, now is the time to determine what option works best for your family and remove your children from the tyranny of government-run schools.

In the Old Testament, the sound of a trumpet is often the signal to God’s people to assemble for battle. Right now, in Illinois and across the nation, Laurie Higgins is sounding the trumpet to call parents, grandparents, and all concerned citizens to fight for the hearts, minds, and innocence of our impressionable schoolchildren.

Janet Parshall, host of In the Market with Janet Parshall, welcomed Laurie to a this past week to her program. In this interview, Janet and Laurie discuss the death of common sense and logical thinking, as evidenced by Illinois’ embrace of all things radically progressive. They consider the Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards, LGBT History mandate, REACH Act (mandatory sex education for K-12), and the newest lunacy, the Equitable Restrooms Act. Their conversation also includes thoughts on how Christians must prepare to best confront these misguided policies, the people who are promoting them, and our friends and neighbors who need to hear the truth.

Please listen and share this informative interview with family and friends.

Laurie Higgins has been the cultural affairs writer for IFI since 2008. Her insightful, no-nonsense articles can be found at IllinoisFamily.org.

In addition to hosting her nationally syndicated radio program, Janet Parshall is also a sought-after public speaker, author and family advocate.

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At what point does this stop? At what point does our society say, “Enough is enough” when it comes to the assault on our children? At what point do we stand up as a nation and put a stop to this attack on innocence?

There was a time when our kids were not bombarded with “pornographic” sex-ed curricula in middle school.

There was a time when condoms were not given out to elementary school students.

There was a time when first graders were not taught LGBTQ terminology.

There was a time when we did not celebrate 8-year-old drag queens (and when drag queens did not twerk for our toddlers in libraries).

There was a time when movies were not made about 11-year-old girls joining sensual dance teams.

But that time is not now, and the assault on our children’s innocence is at an all time high. Should we not be concerned? Should we not be grieved? Should we not be outraged?

Lest you think I’m exaggerating, the California Globe reported on May 9, 2019,

Despite hundreds of parents protesting and testifying, on Wednesday the California State Board of Education approved highly controversial changes to the state’s health and sex education framework including teaching children about bondage, anal sex, pederasty, sex trafficking, sexual orientation and transgender and non-conforming students.

One book, recommended for transitional kindergarten through third grade includes “graphic, close-up illustrations of child/adult genitals and the sex act itself.” This is for kids aged 6-9!

Another book, also recommended for the same age group, teaches “kids they can be a boy, a girl, both, neither, gender queer, or gender fluid, etc. and that adults guess a child’s gender based on body parts.”

As for high school students, one textbook, “Introduces or encourages anal sex for all sexual orientations, BDSM (bondage, domination, sadomasochism), body fluid (urinating on each other) or blood play, fisting, and a long list of other sexual debauchery.”

If you blush while reading these words as an adult (or don’t know what some of the terms mean), can you imagine teaching this to high school kids? Yet it is adults, many of them parents, who approve of trash like this. What an outrage.

Now, Netflix has come under attack for its new documentary called Cuties. Yes, “The streaming giant is facing backlash for its promotional poster for the French film, whose young stars are 11-years-old. The promo image in question shows the children wearing revealing dance attire of shorts and crop tops and striking various dance poses, like kneeling on the floor and squatting.”

Netflix quickly apologized for the poster, removing it from the promotional material. But it did not apologize for the movie itself, stating,

We’re deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties. It was not OK, nor was it representative of this French film which won an award at Sundance. We’ve now updated the pictures and description.

Ah, but of course. The film won an award at Sundance. It must be good and moral. After all, Sundance is kind of like the Bible Belt of movies. Conservative. Almost prudish. Right.

Rather, as Indie Wire noted, “The Sundance Film Festival has been shocking audiences — and launching careers — for years.” An early Sundance winner was the 1989 movie “Sex, Lies, and Videotape.”

As described on IndieWire, “In someways the quintessential movie of Sundance’s early years, Steven Soderbergh’s landmark debut remains one of the best movies ever to come out of the festival — and one of the most sexually frank.”

So much for winning an award at Netflix.

And what, exactly, is “Cuties” about? As reported on Heavy, in the movie, which earned a TV-MA rating, “Amy, an 11-year-old girl, joins a group of dancers named ‘the cuties’ at school, and rapidly grows aware of her burgeoning femininity – upsetting her mother and her values in the process.”

It is also described as a “coming-of-age moving about an 11-year-old,” which really says it all. Girls that young are not “coming of age” to sensual dancing unless someone else teaches them. The thoughts would never enter their minds on their own, especially when they come from traditional religious backgrounds, as does Amy.

A headline in The U.S. Sun reads, “THIS IS GROSS! Netflix’s new ‘Cuties’ show sparks fury with ‘highly sexualised’ drama about 11-year-old girl joining ‘twerking squad.’” This should spark fury among parents. (And what about the little girls who posed for the Netflix poster? Should anyone think about them?)

Someone might say, “But the film simply tells the increasingly common story of a girl raised in a religious home (in this case, a Muslim home) who discovers a whole new world through social media and her school. This is the new reality.”

But that’s the whole problem. The new reality is rotten. The new reality defiles. The new reality destroys. And the new reality gets worse by the day. Almost all innocence has been lost.

Young kids grow up singing the most salacious lyrics, gyrating sexually as they mouth the words, being exposed to filth long before they can even understand it. And kids as young as 8 are regularly encountering porn. How have we let this happen? How have we let our children be emotionally and morally raped?

There is even concern now about pedophile dolls. I am not making this up.

As a nation, we are outraged over the allegations against the late Jeffrey Epstein. And we are mortified when we learn that sex trafficking is taking place in front of our eyes in major cities across America.

But our outrage should go deeper. The very souls of our children are under daily assault, from their cell phones to their classrooms. Shall we not put up a wall of protection around them?

Dr. Brown is the founder and president of Fire School of Ministry in Concord, North Carolina. He is also a radio and podcast host of The Line of Fire and a prolific author. Jezebel’s War With America: The Plot to Destroy Our Country and What We Can Do to Turn the Tide is his latest book. This article was originally published at AskDrBrown.org.

It’s truly hard to believe that “some” state lawmakers want what’s best for Illinois. Tragically, “some,” refers to the majority in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly.

You know the saying that is often meant for children, “Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile.” Well, it also applies to liberal ‘big government’ activists and power-hungry lawmakers.

We have seen it many times. But let me refresh your memory and give you one prime example.

In the 80’s, homosexual activists wanted to be left alone and not discriminated against. Sounded fair enough. So they got lawmakers to amend the Illinois Human Rights Act. And that opened Pandora’s Box.

In the 90’s, homosexual activists claimed that all they needed was a domestic partnership registry so that they could visit their partners in hospitals. They got what they asked for and before the ink was dry, they suddenly needed an upgrade to same-sex “civil unions” so their joint possessions would be treated like a married couple’s possessions. They got what they asked for and before the ink was dry, they were fighting to redefine the institution of marriage.

While that tragic day will go down in history, it still wasn’t enough.

In the years that followed, the homosexual agenda morphed into the LGBTQIA+ agenda in which they vigorously pursued legislation for hate crime laws, bans on counselors from treating minors who struggle with same-sex attraction and gender confusion, mandates for schools to teach impressionable students in K-12 about the “roles and contributions” of homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators.

Furthermore, they joined forces with feminists in an effort to pass the federal Equal Rights Amendment, which, if ratified, will remove all gender distinctions in over 800 federal laws, irreparably hurting women. They now demand the Equality Act, which will force employers and workers to conform to new sexual norms or lose their businesses and jobs. Check out our Springfield Bill Tracker for even more.

You get the point and now I’ll get to mine.

Lawmakers have no qualms that they’ve legalized a very addictive drug, high potency marijuana, with no medical value. But that was only the beginning. Here’s what they hope to pass into law for 2020.

HB 4706 (Rep. Sonya Harper D-Chicago) Bring Your Own cannabis – allows county boards to license and regulate businesses for on-site marijuana use.

HB 4889 (Rep. Michael Zalewski D-Riverside) allows for advertising and marketing marijuana products in newspapers.

HB 4339 (Rep. David Welter R-Morris) allows electronic advertising and marketing of marijuana. David Welter was one of 3 Republicans who voted with the House Democrats to legalize recreational marijuana.

HB 5274 (Rep. Sonya Harper D-Chicago) allows for marijuana to be delivered to residences and other locations.

HB 5352 (Rep. Marcus Evans D-Chicago) allows expungement of criminal records for ANY AMOUNT of marijuana.

HB 5472 (Rep. Theresa Mah D-Chicago) allows licenses to sell marijuana at temporary events.

Though many churches and businesses have been forced to close, Governor JB Pritzker has classified liquor and marijuana retail stores as “essential,” and as a result, sales are at a record high. But so is domestic abuse and suicide. Domestic abuse in Chicago is up 18%  and suicide hotline calls have increased 800 percent. One Illinois suicide hotline does not have enough staff to field all the calls.

Does it strike you that they are not acting in the best interest of Illinois families? Can you imagine what this will do to our state if they continue to have their way?

Thankfully, the “stay in place” order prevents lawmakers from being in session, which is extremely good for Illinois families. But that won’t stop them from pushing a broad progressive agenda that will incrementally destroy our state, if we don’t speak out.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state leaders. Or better yet, Click HERE to get their district office phone number and give them a call. Urge them to stop pushing for Schedule 1 drugs to flow freely in Illinois. Lawmakers need to hear from everyone. Please email/call today!

If you appreciate the work and ministry of IFI, please consider a tax-deductible donation to sustain our endeavors.  It does make a difference.

In the midst of the COVID-19 craziness, it is alarming to recognize there are many who are willing to use our current health crisis for their own gain and/or agenda. As these snollygosters and media types grandstand, I cannot help but think of Rahm Emanuel’s infamous quote, “never let a crisis go to waste.”

Ironically, Emanuel first used that phrase in 2008 during the nation’s financial crash and then again last week in response to our nation’s coronavirus emergency. Is it a repackaging of one of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, in which he writes “in the arena of action a threat or a crisis becomes almost a precondition to communication”? I’ll let you decide.

The truth is, the board and staff here at IFI are deeply disturbed to hear the incessant petty partisan criticisms of the Trump Administration by political leaders and media pundits who only seem interested in stoking anxiety and exacerbating division among the American people. In that regard, Illinois’ Governor JB Pritzker has made a name for himself as one of the nation’s chief nitpickers over the last several weeks.

In his first fourteen months as CEO of the state of Illinois, Gov. Pritzker hasn’t pursued policy solutions that would have helped Illinois prepare for a pandemic. Gov. Pritzker hasn’t tried to bolster Illinois’ rainy-day fund, which is now vitally needed to purchase respirators and other medical equipment. In fact, Illinois remains disadvantaged because of the billions of dollars in unpaid bills dragging us down. Instead, like a petulant child, Pritzker awaits bailouts from the federal government.

For the most part, Pritzker’s political priorities have concerned the “social issues.” Working with the “Progressive” Caucus in Springfield, he followed through on his pledge to “make Illinois the most progressive state in the nation” for killing babies through abortion. He helped pass the mandate to indoctrinate young children through teaching positively about “LGBT” history in government schools (K-12). He helped pass an expansion of gambling and increased both gasoline taxes and the cost of doing business with a hike in the minimum wage.

Pritzker’s involvement in getting recreational marijuana passed in the state cannot be over-emphasized. This foolish policy will only exacerbates our current national/international health predicament, as marijuana consumption has been proven to suppress the immune system, leaving users more vulnerable to sickness. He did a great disservice to Illinois’ families, the healthcare system and first responders. BTW, who do you suppose will be paying for these unintended consequences of legal pot? Regarding the “stay-at-home” order, which has now been extended through April 30th, why are abortuaries, liquor and pot stores considered “essential businesses”?

In all of this, Christians should not forget the centrality of prayer and worship to the only One who can heal our land of the myriad forms of suffering people are experiencing. We owe Jehovah-Rapha (i.e., the God who heals) all of our love and devotion (Psalm 41:3). It is imperative to acknowledge that “that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind …” and to recognize that He works in miraculous ways through doctors, nurses and medicine.

Let us not be like the insolent King Nebuchadnezzar who foolishly took credit for building up Babylon the Great. Instead, it is far wiser to humbly and with great lament seek God in worship, praying fervently for His merciful hand of healing and restoration (See Daniel 4:28-37).

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to Gov. Pritzker to ask him respectfully to stop using this national crisis to divide the American people. Ask him to stop grandstanding and instead focus on responsible policies that will shore up our foundation. These priorities have been neglected for far too long, and it is past time that we address them instead of focusing on petty politics.

If you appreciate the work and ministry of IFI, please consider a tax-deductible donation to sustain our endeavors.  It does make a difference.

A recent headline of a Chicago Sun-Times article alarmingly reports that a Chicago Public School watchdog is fielding 3 complaints of sexual misconduct per school day. This comes on the heels of a 2018 Chicago Tribune report that exposed Chicago public schools of having more than 520 sexual assault cases all across the city over the past decade.

According to the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), only 38 percent of Illinois public school students meet proficiency expectations in English Language Arts, only 32 percent of students meet proficiency expectations in math. This despite the fact that the NEA reports that taxpayers pay $16,925 per student per year in Illinois. For that kind of investment, the vast majority of students should not only be meeting proficiency expectations but exceeding them.

In addition, we now have the serious problem of gender-confused boys demanding unrestricted access to girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, and school boards and administrators affirming this nonsense. We also have a new state mandate that requires all students in K-12 public schools be taught, in a positive manner, about the “roles and contributions” of homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators; as well as, textbooks purchased must include discussions of the those purported “roles and contributions.”

And let’s not forget that we have a state mandate in favor of highly objectionable sex ed material for the impressionable minds of government school children in 6th through 12th grade.

As if that isn’t enough, government schools are using instructional time to promote left-wing political views on climate change; open borders and global citizenship; Islamic studies and prayers to the god of Islam; Howard Zinn’s warped view of America’s Founding Fathers; and the pernicious ideology of “intersectionality” that is designed to divide and pit Americans against each other.

Christian parents and grandparents must seriously consider the great options they have for their students, and make the move away from government schools. The prevalence of perversion, subversion, and indoctrination are becoming more pronounced, and in order to protect the hearts and minds of our children, it is wise to consider other options.

We invite you to join us on Saturday, April 25th, to hear from a great line up of experts as we explore what we need to do to begin to rebuild the culture through education. The event is free and open to the public. Click HERE for a flyer for this event.

2020 IFI Education Forum

WHEN: Saturday, April 25th
WHERE: Church of Christian Liberty
  502 Euclid Avenue
Arlington Heights, IL  60004
TIME: 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Our tentative schedule includes:

9:30-10:15        Rescuing Our Children from Government Schools (Alex Newman, The Liberty Sentinel)

10:15-11:00       Homeschooling: What in the World is Going On? (Dr. Brian Ray, NHERI)

11:00-11:30       Home Education is Possible (Kirk Smith, Illinois Christian Home Educators)

11:30-Noon       The Benefits of Christian Schooling (Rev. Calvin Lindstrom, Christian Liberty Academy)

Noon-12:15        The State of Education Choice in Illinois (Lennie Jarret, Heartland Institute) 

12:15-1:00         Q&A Session

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and never miss a video report or special program!

Last week School District 65, which serves the racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse Evanston and Skokie, Illinois communities, went whole hog on disseminating a controversial ideology to captive audiences of other people’s children who came to school with open minds and hearts into which “progressives” poured  poison masquerading as inarguable truth. District 65’s celebration of “LGBTQ+ Equity Week” offers a glimpse into the kind of pernicious indoctrination that the cunningly named “Inclusive Curriculum” bill signed into law by Governor J. B. Pritzker will bring to Illinois school children.

The mess of poisonous pottage was a project of the Gender and Sexuality Educator Alliance (GSEA), “a group of educators in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 who seek to advocate for inclusive schools for parents, students, and staff.” The GSEA has some eye-popping goals that include,

Creating inclusive and safe school spaces for all identities, especially LGBTQIA+ identities; Creating a community and safe space for all gender expressions and sexual orientations represented in our district staff; Growing a community of LGBTQIA+ allies within District 65 staff; Working to provide educators, staff, and families in District 65 with the necessary training to support inclusive school cultures; Creating LGBTQIA+ focused newsletters and resource guides to improve district wide inclusive pedagogy. (emphasis added)

Don’t let the Newspeak deceive you. “Inclusion” of all “identities” really means affirmation and celebration of homosexuality and cross-sex impersonation. “Necessary training” really means compulsory indoctrination.” “Safe spaces” really means spaces where dissenting voices are prohibited, and theologically orthodox Christians are unwelcome and excluded.

So, what did the leftist activists instruct faculty to teach other people’s children? Here’s just a bit from the guidelines:

Pre-K and kindergarten: The unit for the littlest ones is titled “Family/Flag/Identity.” Introducing pre-K and kindergarten students to “family” means conditioning them to understand that “all families are different” and to believe that all these different family structures are “cool!” The view, however, that all family structures are “cool” is not a fact, and it’s not even a view that “progressives” hold. If they did, why didn’t they introduce pre-kindergartners to polygamous and polyamorous family structures?

Leftists have concluded that families headed by homosexuals who intentionally deprive children of either mothers or fathers are “cool,” so they will use government schools to advance that idea. But family structures they don’t view as “cool” are omitted. But here’s the rub. Some people don’t view families led by homosexuals as cool and they don’t want their children exposed to any images of or ideas about them—and certainly not leftist views of the coolness of them.

Some naïve readers may think the reference to the “flag” is to the American flag. No such luck. It’s a reference to the rainbow and “trans” flags that 4 and 5-year-old children—who should know nothing about cross-sex passing and homosexuality—were expected to be able to “explain the importance of.” Our government schools are not only introducing preschoolers to sexual perversion but also affirming it to them.

First grade: For five days straight, six-year-olds were to be taught Leftist pronoun rules using a book titled They, She, He easy as ABC, which is described on Amazon as “a… much-needed picture book about pronouns and gender fluidity.” It begins with this: “Ari loves to arabesque. They hold their pose with ease.” Ari, a single child, is referred to by the third-person plural pronoun “they.”

Children were to “introduce themselves, choosing pronouns” from those in the book—which includes “ze” and “tree” as pronouns—and “explore foundational concepts in pronoun use, presentation, and bias.” Whose understanding of bias do you suppose the children were exposed to? To be clear, public school teachers are teaching 6-year-olds incorrect grammar in the service of advancing a Leftist sexuality ideology.

Grades 2 and 3: “Students will analyze a traditional fairy tale through an inclusive lens, ensuring gender neutrality and culturally relevant content. Students will learn basic LGBTQ+ vocabulary. They will recognize and discuss stereotypes, and create their own inclusive folk tale to share with lower grades.” Did you catch that? District 65 teachers were encouraged to force 2^nd and 3^rd graders to disciple younger students in the “LGBTQ+” religion.

Grades 4 and 5: Teachers were instructed to have 9, 10, and 11-year-olds play a matching game in which they would match terms to definitions. The terms were cisgender, gay, lesbian, binary, gender identity, gender expression, sex assigned at birth, bisexual, transgender, and preferred pronouns. Teachers were urged to have students examine “androgyny” and study these photos:

By the end of the week students were to have created “their own gender inclusive and diverse advertisement for a product,” which they would then “present and ‘sell’… to the class.”

Grades 6, 7, and 8: The title for the week’s unit for 11-14-year-olds was “Activism: Breaking the Binary.” The curriculum overview explains that “During this week-long curriculum, students will interact with content that encourages the allyship, visibility, and activism for the LGBTQ+ community. Students will… think outside the binary norms of society. They will become familiar with LGBTQ terminology in order to become better allies, learn significant historical events & people that contributed to the LGBTQ rights movement, and take a deeper look at the relationship between activism strategies and major change.”

Wowzer. No need to speculate about the agenda of leftists for taxpayer-funded schools. They’ve got the power now, so subterfuge is no longer necessary. Their goal is to transform the moral, political, and ontological beliefs of other people’s children and turn them into activists who will continue promoting the anarchical sexual revolution. No matter if these leftist beliefs conflict with the moral, political, ontological, or theological beliefs of these children’s parents. Leftists are presumptuous and self-righteous enough to violate both parental trust and their pedagogical obligations. This curriculum goes far beyond the requirements of the school indoctrination law—which itself goes beyond proper ethical boundaries. This curriculum is a totalitarian imposition of controversial leftist assumptions about sexuality.

Virtually every term, presupposition, and concept employed by the cultural regressives who designed and approved this indoctrination curriculum is debatable. Will dissenting definitions, presuppositions and concepts ever be taught? Lol. No way. Regressives have proclaimed from on high that dissenting views are hateful and, therefore, they rationalize their censorship of them.

In the service of concealing the non-factual, controversial nature of the “LGBTQ+” ideology that the GSEA and its accomplices are dumping on and pouring into children, they do what Leftists always do: manipulate language. In other words, they engage in Orwellian Newspeak. Just slap the magic words “equity,” “inclusivity,” “safety,” or “cultural competency” onto whatever moral or political dung they want to preach, and abracadabra, assumptions become “facts” and indoctrination becomes “education.” It should be clear to everyone by now that the biased ideologues, censors, and oppressors who foster intolerance, division, and exclusion and transform education into indoctrination are regressives who absurdly call themselves “progressive.”

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Progagandists-Call-K-8-Indoctrination-Equity.mp3

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-and, please-

On August 15, I wasted a half hour of my day by agreeing to be interviewed by Chicago Tribune reporter Hannah Leone for an article she was writing on the “LGBTQ” school indoctrination bill that Governor J.B. Pritzker recently signed into law and which takes effect July 1, 2020. Before I talk about her article, I should explain more about the interview.

Leone asked what my primary concern is with the law, which is a difficult question because there are so many problems with it. I responded that my primary concern is that our culture-makers—including the Tribune, lawmakers, and “educators”—never discuss the arguable presuppositions on which this law depends, and which “progressives” simply assume are inarguably true.

Those presuppositions are that homosexuality and cross-sex identification are ontologically analogous to race and, therefore, the actions that emerge from homosexual feelings and the desire to be the opposite sex are morally benign or good. I told her that if “progressives” are asked to identify the specific points of correspondence between homosexuality or cross-sex identification per se and race per se, they come up empty.

I further said that “IFI supports the teaching of historically significant cultural contributions. We object, however, to teachers identifying the sexual predilections of historically significant cultural contributors and to basing the selection of cultural contributions on the sexual predilections of cultural contributors.”

She then asked me,

What about movements/milestones like the stonewall riots, HIV/AIDS epidemic, don’t ask/don’t tell, and legalization of same-sex marriage?

I responded,

Because of the complex and controversial nature of these cultural events, they should not be presented in elementary school at all. In middle and high school, they should be presented only if teachers are willing to spend equal time exploring fairly, neutrally, and comprehensively both sides of debates regarding whether these movements have served the culture in positive ways or corrupted culture. Such presentations must include discussions of foundational presuppositions. If teachers are unwilling to present the best resources on both sides of the debate or unwilling or unable to discuss neutrally foundational presuppositions, then they have a pedagogical obligation not to introduce the topics. If they present only affirming views of these movements, they transform education into indoctrination. If they believe reading criticism of these movements will make some students too uncomfortable, they should avoid the topics. If they believe students are too young to understand the foundational presuppositions, then the topics are age-inappropriate. I would argue that most public school teachers are intellectually ill-equipped to address the foundational presuppositions, which are critical to the entire project mandated by this law.”

I also addressed the reason we don’t see leftists fighting for the roles and contributions of polyamorists and zoophiles to be taught to children and teens, which is that lawmakers and “educators” understand that teaching about their roles and contributions would contribute to normalizing polyamory and zoophilia, which they don’t want to do because they’ve concluded polyamory and zoophilia are immoral. And there you have it: Lawmakers and “educators” are imposing their moral beliefs about homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation on Illinois children.

Leone initially told me her article would be published sometime the following week. When it wasn’t, I asked her when it would be coming out. On Monday night, Sept.2, she told me it would be out Tuesday and told me this:

We had a limited amount of space to work with and your interview did not get included, but your perspective still helped inform the article, so thanks for your time anyway.

Then Monday, I read her front-page, lengthy, 2,136-word article. For perspective, the average newspaper article is between 600-1,500 words.

Here are just some of the nuggets of Fool’s Gold in Leone’s biased advocacy masquerading as a news story:

1. The Inclusive Curriculum Law, signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Aug. 9, mandates that by the time students finish eighth grade, public schools must teach them about contributions to state and U.S. history made by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Note that the law mandates that indoctrination must begin before eighth grade. And it must include contributions to state history made by homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators, which tells you that the contributions chosen will not be based on historical or cultural significance but on the sexual predilections of contributors.

2. “This law will give more young people the opportunity to see themselves in those who came before us and recognize they are not alone,” [Chicago mayor] Lightfoot said in a statement to the Tribune.

What about the young people who experience other types of powerful, unchosen, seemingly intractable subjective, internal desires that they choose to act upon? What if they or their many parents identify as polyamorous? What if they identify as kinksters or zoophiles? Should people from those marginalized communities have an opportunity to see themselves in those who came before them and recognize they are not alone?

When I pose this question to “progressives,” they get all judgy-judgy, huffing indignantly that it’s offensive to compare homosexuality or opposite-sex impersonation to zoophilia or any other sexual identity they view as disordered or immoral. Their indignation reveals that the Leftists who run the Springfield swamp and public schools have, indeed, arrived at ontological and moral conclusions about homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation and treat them as indisputable facts. And now they’re imposing their subjective beliefs on all Illinois families who have the misfortune of not having a choice on where their children are educated.

President of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, Mark Klaisner (who carries around a bit of baggage), who is “Helping compile resources for schools to draw from,” whines about the possibility that the “vagueness” of the law will result in schools not indoctrinating enough:

3. Being that vague could mean a simple unit or a few lessons at one grade level in the school, which I think is insufficient.

Can’t have positive portrayals of what many view as sexual perversion be foisted on other people’s children for a mere unit. That’s not nearly enough time for propaganda to take effect.

Imagine an “educator” saying, “a simple unit or a few lessons about polyamory or Genetic Sexual Attraction at one grade level is insufficient.”

Even more troubling is feckless Klaisner’s view on the appropriate age at which to introduce children to ideas about homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation:

4. For younger students, it may make sense to introduce names and fewer details, and wait until around third grade to mention someone identified as gay or transgender. (emphasis added)

Third grade—an age at which children are wholly incapable of understanding the conservative and “progressive” foundational assumptions about homosexuality and opposite-sex identification—is the age by which Klaisner wants these topics introduced.

Michelle Vallet, mother of a daughter who “identifies” as (which in plain language means pretends to be) a boy, disagrees with Klaisner:

5. Vallet said she doesn’t think it’s ever too early to bring up [these topics]…. Normalizing these identities early is key.

There you have it in plain, unguarded English. The goal of Leftists is to use curricula, taxpayer money, and captive audiences to normalize abnormal, disordered sexuality.

Leone writes that one of the law’s sponsors, State Representative Anna Moeller (D-Elgin), is not yet satisfied:

6. [T]hough passing the law reflects an advancement in civil rights, more still needs to be done, Moeller said.

Then Moeller trots out the tired and absurd comparison of homosexuality and opposite-sex identification to race:

In the way schools have become required to teach about African Americans, Latinos, women and other marginalized communities, now they’ll be required to include… some discussion of LGBT.

Moeller doesn’t explain in what specific ways homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation per se are like race or biological sex per se. Nor does she say whether she ultimately wants schools to be required to discuss all “marginalized communities” or just the ones whose volitional acts she deems morally acceptable.

Like Moeller, Garcia High School biology teacher Bryan Meeker has disturbing hopes for students:

7. Meeker said he’d also love to see students in English classes reading works by Harvey Milk, a San Francisco politician and one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States before his assassination in 1978.

Yikes! A high school teacher wants the works of an ephebophile (i.e., an adult who is sexually attracted to teens) to be taught in government schools in order to change the perception of teens toward homosexuality? Harvey Milk was a “short-tempered demagogue” and ephebophile who exploited multiple suffering teen boys for his own sexual gratification. And he was not a martyr for the cause of “equality.” He was murdered for “petty” political reasons by a supporter of “gay rights.” Milk was also a friend and promoter of cult leader Jim Jones. Are schools now going to teach positively about the “roles and contributions” of ephebophiles and murderous cult leaders?

Perhaps high school teachers should teach Cult City: Jim Jones, Harvey Milk, and 10 Days That Shook San Francisco. And English teachers who teach The Laramie Project should include as a companion piece The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard written by homosexual journalist Stephen Jimenez.

The only “opponent” of the law Leone cited in her article was retiring State Representative Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) who voted against the “LGBTQ” school indoctrination bill but only for fiscal reasons:

8. “It’s not … that it’s not a good cause…. I vote against mandates no matter how worthy the topic may be, and of course this is a worthy topic.”

With Republican friends like this, conservatives definitely don’t need enemies.

Leone reveals her bias when she refers to “milestones such as marriage equality.” “Marriage equality” is a Leftist term. Conservatives would refer to “marriage redefinition.” Defining marriage in law as the union of two people of opposite sexes is no more evidence of inequality than is defining marriage in law as the union of only two persons or of only persons not closely related by blood, definitions which exclude plural and incestuous marriage.

Experience both in my current job and my former job in the writing center at Deerfield High School has taught me that many—perhaps most—”progressives” violate with regularity their purported commitments to tolerance, respect for diversity, inclusivity, and critical thinking. They substitute epithet-hurling for argumentation and evidence, and they censor dissenting views. As everyone knows, this is most common when it comes to issues involving homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation. What is remarkable and troubling is that the hatred of progressives is virulent and directed at those who hold theologically orthodox views, including those who are Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Orthodox Jews.

My views on these issues are historical, mainstream theologically orthodox views. They are not fringe positions. I’m just willing to express them publicly. And why do so few Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestants express their views as boldly and publicly as I do (and as progressives express theirs)? They recoil from being falsely called “haters” or losing their jobs. Toxic progressivism has led to religious discrimination of a kind never seen in America, and it’s getting worse.

It’s also remarkable and troubling that the Chicago Tribune seems so incurious about these topics. There are brilliant men and women writing about these issues eloquently, intelligently, and piquantly. I suspect most Trib writers and editors (and public school teachers and Springfield swampsters) haven’t heard of them, haven’t read their material, and don’t have any interest in interviewing them for articles, book talks, or festivals.

Perhaps the Trib’s incuriosity is bolstered by the bias evidenced by news reporters like Hannah Leone who must have thought I just tumbled off the proverbial turnip truck. She seemed to think I would believe that in a front-page, 2,100-word article, she had insufficient space to include anything from our interview or any comment from any other conservative opponent.

I’m not sure how my “perspective helped inform the article” as Leone claimed it did unless she’s referring to this one sentence about opposing positions: “But some detractors see the state forcing local districts to promote an agenda conflicts with their personal or religious beliefs.” If so, wow.

Word to presumptuous lawmakers and propagandists who identify as educators and journalists: It is not the role of government-employed teachers to make students feel good about their subjective sexual feelings—not even those sexualities that Leftists have deemed the darling identities ‘o’ the day.

Word to conservative parents: GET OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

Word to churches: Help parents get their children out.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Toxic-Schools.mp3

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-and, please-

If you follow politics and public policy at all, you know well the saying, “elections have consequences.” Well, during this most recent General Assembly session (January-May), and especially the last two weeks, we have seen those consequences in spades, as super majorities in both the Illinois Senate and Illinois House passed far-reaching agenda items that can only be described extreme, duplicitous, and destructive.

The most wicked of these legislative proposals this session was the Reproductive Health Act (SB 25), the “Kill-Babies-Bill” proposal as Laurie Higgins termed it in a recent article. This bill, which, among other pernicious things, creates a fundamental “right” to abortion, redefines fetal viability, and expands the definition of “health of the patient.” It passed the Illinois House by a vote of 64-50 and the Illinois Senate by a vote of 34-20. Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign it into law this summer.

The exploitation of children doesn’t stop with the push to eliminate them in utero. Those who survive regressives’ blood-lust agenda must now navigate the LGBTQIA+ minefield thanks to the LGBT History Mandate (HB 246). This proposal will mandate that all students in K-12 public schools be taught about the “roles and contributions” of homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators and that textbooks purchased include discussions of the roles and contributions of homosexuals and opposite-sex impersonators. This legislation was passed in the Illinois Senate by a vote of 37-17 and in the Illinois House by a vote of 60-42. Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign it into law this summer.

Then we have the push to legalize “recreational” marijuana (HB 1438), a policy against which left-leaning publications opined, include the Chicago Tribune, New York Times and New Yorker. For two years now, IFI has worked tenaciously to educate Illinois residents in every part of the state, with special forums, articles, videos, web conferences, radio interviews and through a variety of other social media postings. With the help of a few Republican lawmakers in each chamber, this legislation was passed in the Illinois Senate by a vote of 38-17 and in the Illinois House by a vote of 66-47. Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign it into law this summer.

I would be remiss not to mention the anti-IFI resolution (HJR 55) that is still pending in Springfield. The sponsors have not withdrawn this indefensible motion that Springfield regressives would exploit to use the power of the government to quash our work, speech, and presence in Springfield. Their call to curtail our right to lobby at the Capitol and for the Illinois State Police to investigate us for “hate speech” is still hanging over our head and could be called for a vote anytime through January 2020 when the 101st General Assembly ends.

To say that this session has been frustrating is an understatement. The floor debates have been both laughable and discouraging. For example, State Representative Maurice West (D-Rockford) spoke on the House floor during debate on SB 25, self-identifying as a Christian minister to justify and advocate for baby slaughter.

There is a dearth of wisdom, common sense, courage, integrity, and compassion in the Illinois General Assembly. Hosea 4:6 laments, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” and 2 Timothy 4:3 warns that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.” This toxic combination was on full display this month. There aren’t many serving in Springfield who are resolutely pro-family conservative in their political ideology and even fewer who hold to a biblical worldview.

After a season of a lot of hard work and prayer, it is easy to be discouraged by the outrageous politics of Illinois. We are well down the slippery slope. Where it will bottom out, no one knows. It appears that God has turned Illinois over to debased (depraved) thinking as Romans 1:28-32 predicts. In short, our state’s political leaders have not just forgotten God but are also arrogantly shaking their collective fists at Him. At the same time, far too many church leaders sit on the sidelines doing their very best to stay lukewarm. As a result, Illinois is under judgment.

At this point it is wise for us to take a deep breath, take a step back, and gain some perspective.

The Lord doesn’t call His servants to victory, but rather to faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:2; Luke 16:10-12). We are called to do good works (Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 2:10). We are called to observe all of God’s commandments (John 14:15; 1 John 2:3) and to teach them to our children (Deuteronomy 6:7; Proverbs 22:6; Psalm 78:2-4) and to the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). And Jesus tells us that all of these things and more hang on the second great commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).

In the end, we must be mindful that many of our neighbors are oblivious to what Scripture teaches. They are captives of false ideologies (Luke 4:18; 2 Corinthians 10:5) and distracted by vain worldly pursuits (James 4:4). More importantly, we are called to keep our eyes on the prize (Philippians 3:14), not the storm around us. And we are instructed not to grow weary of doing good (Galatians 6:9) — even in the People’s Republic of Illinois.

We have a lot of work ahead of us. Establishing and reinforcing a biblical worldview in our families and in our churches is vital if we hope to help our own family members, let alone our neighbors, to navigate the culture in Illinois. The snares have been set out for us, our children, our grandchildren, and our neighbors. And with every legislative session, those snares are multiplying.

We remain resolved to work hard to educate and influence the hearts and minds of anyone who has ears to hear and eyes to see, for the sake of the King and His Kingdom. May His will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

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