Education

Wisconsin School District Publicly Apologizes For ‘Propaganda-Laden’ Pro-Gay Marriage Video

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The superintendent of the school district in Janesville, Wis. issued a public apology this week after two parents (and a grandparent) complained that students at taxpayer-funded Craig High School had been forced to watch a “propaganda-laden” video endorsing gay marriage.

The 16-minute video entitled “Kids React to Gay Marriage” was shown on April 11 in support of a national Day of Silence, reports the Wisconsin State Journal.

The video shows kids – some very young – reacting to actual same-sex marriage proposals. The youngsters then share their wisdom on political issues, including gay marriage.

Meanwhile, text runs on the screen concerning things like discrimination and hate crimes.

The reason for the apology was that the video violated a school district policy mandating that teachers present all sides of politically charged topics.

“The appropriate thing would be to present both sides of an issue, or all sides of an issue, so that’s why I sent the apology, because I felt we did not follow board policy,” school district Superintendent Karen Schulte told the State Journal.

The superintendent called the video “very biased.”

She also noted that the Janesville School Board had ordered her to issue the apology.

A spokeswoman for the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, Jill Marcellus, disagreed with the public apology.

“Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth face so many barriers in school, from harassment by their peers to unfair policies that punish youth because of who they are,” Marcellus told the Madison-based newspaper.

The creators of the controversial video, brothers Benny and Rafi Fine, also disputed the apology, describing the “raw opinions of children” in their video as “incredibly valuable insight on our current society.

The purpose of the Day of Silence is to call “attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools,” according to its sponsor, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

School board member Bill Sodemann suggested that showing only a blatantly pro-gay marriage video on a Day of Silence that calls attention to bullying amounts to bullying against anyone who opposes gay marriage.

The Janesville School District is, of course, most famous for sending 92 students from taxpayer-funded schools and 12 staffers with taxpayer-funded salaries to Madison back in March for a White Privilege Conference. (RELATED: White Privilege Conference wastes thousands of taxpayer dollars this week)

The district was also home to Maria Caya, a 50-year-old elementary school teacher who showed up with the impressive blood-alcohol level of 0.27 percent to an end-of-the-year bowling field trip for 120 fourth- and fifth-graders. She resigned after the incident. (RELATED: This week in public school teachers who were awful and got fired)

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