Corey DeAngelis on school choice 'revolution': Teacher unions must be 'terrified'
American Federation For Children Senior Fellow Corey DeAngelis told Fox News Digital that a school choice revolution has ignited, highlighting the states that passed universal school choice this past year.
Broward County Public Schools board member Brenda Fam has been taking heat after she pressed her colleagues to define what a "woman" is at the last school board meeting, speaking on behalf of concerned parents who are weighing whether to pull their children out of the district.
"The parents want to know are the public schools honoring their traditional family values because they feel that they're being ignored and there are many different examples of that," Brenda Fam of District 6 told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
"So if this public school is not going to honor their values and respect their rights, then they're going to leave–very simple. They have a choice now. They do not have to stay where they don't feel welcomed or wanted or they feel discriminated against or they feel that they're being censored and silenced."
Fox News Digital’s interview with Fam came after a heated exchange she had over defining gender terms at a Broward County Public Schools board meeting on March 28.
Broward County Public Schools board member Brenda Fam has been taking heat after she pressed her colleagues to define what a "woman" is at the last school board meeting, speaking on behalf of concerned parents who are weighing whether to pull their children out of the district.
BCPS has been debating a proposed sex education curriculum since the district reworked the curriculum due to pressure from the Florida Department of Education.
At that school board meeting, Fam of District 6 shared questions from concerned BCPS parents.
Fam told her colleagues at that board meeting: "Some of my parents have had some questions that I actually posed and didn’t get a response for. They want to know what the definition of a woman is for sexual education curriculum in Broward County."
"They want to know what individuals can get pregnant and what individuals can give birth," she continued. "They want to know those definitions as well. I think this, especially, with school vouchers and school choice, this is going to weigh heavy on them in whether or not they choose to leave the school system or whether they stay based on some of these responses. And they are very serious, and they want answers to these questions."
The superintendent responded that there is "no clear-cut answer."
Fam told Fox News Digital that her question was considered a "political statement."
"The first thing that was said is that it was a political statement to ask for someone to define what is a man and woman when my parents have every right to know that," Fam told Fox News Digital. "They have the right to know if they have someone that's female that wants to be affirmed as a male that daughter [female] is going to be taught that she can still get pregnant. Her body hasn't biologically changed. She's still biologically a woman or a female."
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BCPS has been debating on a proposed sex education curriculum since the district reworked the curriculum due to pressure from the Florida Department of Education. (iStock)
The authors of the "Family Life and Human Sexuality" curriculum said that the BCPS school board will address Fam's question at a later date. So far, it is not immediately clear if the current draft of the curriculum already contains a definition of "woman" or any other gender-related terms.
The board will vote on a finalized version of the sex education curriculum at a later date. BCPS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
"It's really important all these distinctions, and it's really important that people understand that my parents, my community--we don't have to comply, we don't have to conform. We have choices. We are Americans. And if we don't like what's being taught in the schools--hasta la vista, baby," Fam said.
Fam was referring to Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signing universal school choice into law, resulting in the Sunshine State becoming the 4th state this year to pass such a law.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned transgender medical interventions for minors. ((Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images))
School choice became a salient issue after the COVID-19-induced lockdowns sparked a conversation on the scope of the government’s authority and the type of content that should be taught to children from public school curricula.
School choice, or providing all families with alternatives to the public schools they’re zoned for, can be expanded through multiple avenues at the state level, including school voucher programs, tax-credit scholarship programs, individual tuition tax credit programs and deductions, and education savings accounts (ESAs).
Fam added that BCPS is at a "crux at the crossroad" due to school choice affecting Florida's education landscape.
"Right now we're [at] a crux at the crossroad because Florida is enacting school choice where parents do not have to stay in public schools. They have the choice of going to a parochial school, private school, charter school, or Montessori school," Fam said.
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