The Latest Culture War Dustup: Balancing Parent Rights with Student Rights (Ep. 14)
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Episode Notes
Host Ken Futernick and his guests strive for civil dialogue around a contentious debate playing out across the country: What rights should parents of public school students have when it comes to what’s taught, the books students have access to, and the policies educators must follow?
Ken’s guests, which include parents, a high school student, and two school board members, discuss their views on these related questions: What rights do students have and what if they conflict with parents’ rights? What rights do the people of a state (or of our nation) have when it comes to the education students receive in our public schools?
Tune in and see what happens when we turn down the volume and people agree to listen to one another on these complex questions.
Featured Guests:
Chris Hasegawa
Now retired, Dr. Hasegawa serves the community as President of the Board of Trustees for the Spreckels Union School District and as President of the board for ALBA (Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association) which provides educational and business opportunities for farm workers and aspiring farmers to grow and sell crops grown on two organic farms in Monterey County, California and the Monterey Peninsula Choral Society.
Tanya Kravchuk
Tanya is a mom of four kids and running to represent parents on the San Juan Unified School District Board of Education in Trustee Area 5. She is a joint owner of a residential construction company and the creative arm of their remodel ventures.
Tanya has devoted most of her career to serving children in both a volunteer and professional capacity. She has volunteered for Robert’s Family Development Center, Boys and Girls Club, Volunteers of America, and The Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento, where she later worked for nearly a decade.
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She’s served as VP of her School Site Council, taught Sunday School at her church for over 20 years and has been a board member and committee chair for various community groups and events including the Rotary Club of Sacramento, Planned Giving Forum of Sacramento, and the extremely successful Night of Hope benefit concert. Tanya also worked with schools and local governments during the 2020 Census to secure support for an accurate count.
Born in Ukraine, Tanya moved to the U.S. when she was five years old. She attended elementary school in the Sac City school district and later Sylvan and Mesa Verde in the San Juan district when her family moved to Citrus Heights. Despite various barriers including language, socio-economic status, and cultural differences, Tanya was able to excel in school and therefore understands the hardships and nuances of navigating the school system from an “outsider” perspective. This gives her a unique sense of compassion for kids experiencing challenges in learning while understanding the importance of academic rigor.
Tanya holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from California State University of Sacramento. Early in her career, she worked in marketing at Farmers Insurance and in public affairs at Intel Corporation. She then transitioned to non-profit work as the Resource Development Manager at PEACE for Families and later the Director of Development & Communication at the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento focusing on our communities most vulnerable– abused and neglected children.
The role of the school board is to ensure that school districts are responsive to the values, beliefs and priorities of their communities. If elected, Tanya will make your voices heard. Parents and caregivers deserve accountability and transparency. Teachers deserve to be well-equipped to provide the best possible outcomes for students. San Juan Unified must build trust with parents, teachers, and community partners by making each stakeholder a part of the decision-making process.
Will Johnson, Parent
Will Johnson is a father of three school-age boys. He volunteers with the Minnesota Parents' Alliance, a non-partisan organization that promotes a culture of academic achievement, equality, and parental rights in K-12 education. His writings on education have appeared in the Daily Signal, the Denver Gazette, and Complete Colorado. He and his wife live with their three sons in Minneapolis, MN.
Yordanos Lema
Yordanos Lema is a junior in high school and is passionate about educational equity. She is currently involved in Bezos Scholar Program and Citizens University Youth Collaboratory.
Related Readings:
De-transition discussion group on Reddit.com.
Robert S. Eitel, April 3, 2023. “Give parents this simple solution to take back their rights in education,” Fox News.
Lindsey Tanner, March 5, 2023. “How common is transgender treatment regret, detransitioning?” Associated Press.
Azeen Ghorayshi, May 4, 2022. “Few Transgender Children Change Their Minds After 5 Years, Study Finds,” The New York Times.
About the Show:
Courageous Conversations About Our Schools is a podcast that brings people together for respectful conversations about today’s most contentious issues affecting our schools.
Host, Ken Futernick
Courageous Conversations About Our Schools is hosted by Ken Futernick. Ken also hosts Teacher Stories, a podcast about the profound impact so many teachers have on their students and communities. Teacher Stories produced a special series of episodes on the question, What can schools do to help save our democracy?
Ken is an experienced moderator, a teacher educator, and a long-time advocate for collaboration and civil dialogue.
He is the author of the book, The Courage to Collaborate - the Case for Labor-Management Collaboration in Education.
Please feel free to send comments and questions to ken@schoolconversations.org.