Amee Jada is running for school board in the April election and is not too happy about SB818, a Comprehensive Sex Education bill that seems to have removed to option for school districts to opt out of the courses aligned with the “National Sex Education Standards.”
“As a parent of three kids, these are things that do not need to be discussed with kids. These are family matters. Back in the day your parents would sit down and have ‘the talk’ with you….when did it become the school’s obligation or right to teach our kids about sex,” said Jada. “Why put these ideas in their heads? What do these standards have to do with sex education? My second grader’s thought process is not there yet, he has no idea of any of these things. ”
The National Sex Education Standards are published by Future of Sex Education, a non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C.
A standard laid out by the NSES: “2nd graders to be able to define consent, define gender identity and stereotypes, define reproduction and identify different types of families.”
Another standard: “8th graders able to define vaginal, oral and anal sex. They should be able to define different sexual orientations including two-spirit and pansexual.
According to Researching for LBTQ2S+ Health, “Two-spirit” refers to a person who identifies as having both a masculine and a feminine spirit, and is used by some Indigenous people to describe their sexual, gender and/or spiritual identity.
Jada said she, Brad Wurth, Mollie Emery and Dennis Frank are all stumped when it comes to Unit 5 opting in to the NSES for eigth and ninth graders.
“What is there about this that you think it’s okay and you think it’s appropriate when how many other schools said, ‘No way!’ What makes you want this?” asks Jada.
An Illinois school district is speaking out against legislation that’s been debated in Springfield during lame duck session that would force schools to teach sex education beginning in kindergarten.
The measure looks to amend the current state law, which allows entire districts to abstain from the National Sex Education Standards, to only allow individual students or their parents to opt out of the curriculum.
The St. Charles school board has gone on record opposing the measure and urged residents to contact their local lawmakers.
Blaine Wilhour, a State Representative, said they want to change a word within the current law from “shall” to “must” which would force schools to teach this.
“They might start withholding funding for this,” said Wilhour. “As we saw with COVID, anytime our schools are threatened with funding they get pretty weak in the knees, quick. We have our eye on it because parents don’t want this stuff. Some Democrats are not comfortable with this.”
Jada said that kids talk, so even if a parent opts their kid out of the sex-ed curriculum they will find out about those things second-hand at recess or at lunchtime.
“My little, soon-to-be second grader, they don’t need to be learning those things right now they are going to be influenced. You are putting those thoughts in their heads at an early age. Unless a thought is put there…they don’t think of those things. They are innocent, once the thoughts are put there they’ll wonder about it and act on it,” said Jada. “They’ll start asking a lot of questions. How do you separate a group of kids? One group is going to learn these things and then a different group will pry the other group and say, ‘What did you learn about today?'”
Tax referendum
Amee Jada also took a position against the tax referendum coming back to the April ballot and said Unit 5 would deprive the children by taxing parents even more.
“We pay thousands in taxes every year,” said Jada. “How then is that effect the child in our home? Are you depriving the child in our homes and in our finances? If we pay those taxes… go after the government for the money. We paid it once, why do we need to pay it again? Figure out where you need to make cuts. With everything going on with inflation, we have to figure how to do more with less, so why can’t the school system?”
Jada pointed to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department at Unit 5 who is headed up by Kristal Shelvin, a school psychologist and educator, who has a base salary of $98,000 and was hired in 2021.
Jada said Unit 5 parents pay the most and that it doesn’t show in the academics.
Jada is married and has three children. One of her children goes to Illinois State University and is pursuing education.
