About Us
The "Us" behind this Web site is a group of like-minded parents who are concerned with the content and quality of many of the books assigned as required reading in our public schools.
We started as a small group of parents who simply liked to read, and therefore made it a point to read many of the same novels our children were assigned in school. Each of us had picked up separate novels that our kids were required to read in the Blue Valley high school system, and each of us had deep concerns about the age-appropriateness of much of the content. Since coming together, we have found that many of the books that our children are required to read contain sexually provocative material. Other books contain a ridiculous number of obscenities, and others promote immoral values. As parents and taxpayers, we find these influences on our children absolutely unacceptable when hundreds, and perhaps thousands of other award-winning and classic literature choices that meet course objectives could be made. In short, we do not want our minor children required to read sexually-stimulating and vulgar books.
In our journey to understand why these books were selected for required reading assignments we found the following problems...
- no official documentation to explain how the current book selections are tied to specific district Communication Arts course objectives
- inadequate documentation on how the books have passed Blue Valley district's internal Board Policy 4600 -- a policy that states that 14 criteria (including age-appropriateness) shall be considered before a learning resource is selected
- no Board policy for parents or students to request an alternative book in a consistent, districtwide, nonpunitive manner
- Board Policy 4610 "Challenges to and Reconsideration of Learning Resources" is ineffective in that the Board has publicly stated that they are not sure if they can legally remove a learning resource. To date, they have not clarified the legal opinions they have used to justify this position leaving the challenge process somewhat meaningless.
In other words, the Blue Valley Communication Arts department has a lot of work to do during the summer of 2004 to put their house in order. We do want to support that effort, and sincerely hope they view this opportunity as a new start -- a time to make the best possible literature selections for our children and to fully document and communicate the reasons for their choices as required by their own written policies. We also sincerely hope they draft and implement an official alternative policy that gives everyone involved -- parents, students, and teachers -- up-front and informative guidelines to help a parent determine what is most appropriate for their child.
The information at this Web site has been received by the vast majority of parents with overwhelming gratitude. Over the period of a few short months, our group has expanded to dozens of families, businesses, and Blue Valley employees who are supporting classkc.org in many different ways. To those individuals, families, and businesses, we say THANK YOU. The following is a partial list of the ways the community has supported our efforts. You are...
- Reading and reviewing the books your child is assigned.
- Attending school board, PTO, and other committee meetings to learn about the issues.
- Contacting your teacher, school, and Board members with your thoughts.
- Asking your teachers for alternative book selections as necessary.
- Asking that the book selections be formally tied back to course objectives.
- Asking that the book selections be age appropriate.
- Speaking at Open Forums during Board and Board subcommittee meetings.
- Sending classkc.org donations to defray the costs of the Web site.
- Donating time and technical talent.
- Discussing this topic with your neighbors.
- Providing book reviews for this Web site. Currently, we have several moms and dads who are providing parental reviews.
- Reviewing this Web site and sending us feedback.
- Discussing why pornographic and vulgar material is unhealthy for minors within the privacy of your own families.
- Praying for everyone involved.
Click here to read some of the feedback we've received from this Web site and in conversations with many Blue Valley parents. Also, be sure to come back often, as we post new book reviews each week. Please note that the book reviews simply focus on what you, as a parent, would probably want to know about a book before your child is forced to read it for a grade. No one knows or loves your child quite as much as you do. Being informed about this content helps you to make the best educational decisions for your own child.
A final note -- although we do see some positive changes due to the information we are providing on this subject, we have also come to the realization that many Blue Valley teachers, administrators, and Board Members simply do not have the same concerns about the influences of sexually-charged and vulgar required reading assignments imposed on our minor-aged children. The novels that are assigned to our kids in the Blue Valley school system represent a tiny sliver of the literature available for class purposes -- hundreds of wonderful books have been filtered out. Unless you, the parents, get involved in this process, the obscenities and sex that have become commonplace in required reading assignments will simply continue.
classkc.org