Misinterpretation of 'Parents Rights Law' at Crux of Massachusetts Controversy
by Jim Brown
September 29, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Massachusetts school superintendent is instructing teachers not to inform parents when their children are being exposed to discussions about homosexuality in class. The action has roiled pro-family activists.
At issue is an article in the Lexington Minuteman newspaper written by Lexington school superintendent Paul Ash. In the article, Ash says according to a Department of Education interpretation of the Parents Rights Law, he does not have to inform parents when homosexual relationships are discussed with children in elementary school classes.
Brian Camenker with the Massachusetts-based group Article 8 Alliance says Ash's stance is "so arrogant and outrageous" he can hardly believe it.
"I am the one who wrote the Parents Notification Law in Massachusetts, so I'm very familiar with it -- and I wanted to see what [Ash's] interpretation was," Camenker recalls. "So we went to the [Massachusetts] Department of Education and got what they sent him -- and it turns out that he's not even interpreting their interpretation properly."
That interpretation, according to Camenker, says that if homosexual relationships are being discussed during class time, parent must be notified. Superintendent Ash, he says, is lying about the department's interpretation.
"He's misinterpreting it because he just does not want to inform parents," the Alliance spokesman says. "This is the arrogance and the hostility toward traditional faith that some of these school officials have."
Camenker states he cannot recall ever seeing "anything as bad as this -- but they are intent on pushing homosexuality on the youngest of kids."
Lexington parent David Parker was arrested and jailed last April for protesting the school district's refusal to notify him when his kindergarten-age son is exposed to classroom discussions about homosexuality and transgenderism.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
