Why Staying in Our Lane Works, Guest: Greg Burnett, Burnett Media

In today’s episode, Suzanne covers:

1. Parental Notification Policy in California School District:

In the CVUSD, a judge partially blocked a policy requiring schools to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender, deeming it discriminatory. The policy is temporarily halted, except for changes in student records. The district vows to continue the legal battle. Source: Fox News

2. GOP Pushes for Parental Control in Education:

Republican lawmakers in Washington D.C. advocated for more parental control over educational materials to protect students from explicit content, sparking debates on First Amendment Rights and the role of local school officials. Source: The Fulcrum

3. Kentucky School District’s Book Ban Controversy:

Boyle County Public Schools removed over 100 books following Kentucky’s Senate Bill 150, igniting a debate between the district and parents. Critics argue the ban sends a harmful message, while librarians advocate for book selection, not censorship. Source: WTVQ

In the "Why Staying in Our Lane Works" episode of the Parents' Rights in Education podcast, host Suzanne Gallagher outlines the mission of Parents’ Rights in Education (PRE) to restore and preserve parental rights in K-12 public education. She emphasizes the importance of local control and parental engagement in school boards, providing parents with resources and support for advocacy. Gallagher clarifies PRE's non-partisan, non-religious stance, and its readiness to refer legal cases when necessary. She also discusses the careful vetting process for partnerships and highlights PRE's commitment to informed, active participation in local governance for the benefit of education.

Greg Burnett from Burnett Media joins the conversation to talk how the national organization works to help parents reclaim control of their children’s education.

Transcript

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Welcome back to the parents rights at education podcast. We are a grassroots movement of millions of parents and allies standing together, speaking as one to protect children and ensure parents crucial role in their child's education is protected. We come alongside millions of parents and allies and equip them to stand up for their rights by free trainings, membership and community support. You can join this movement for free by visiting parents rights and education.com. And hey, if you love the work that we're doing, please leave us a five star review. Your review helps us get out our message and allows us to keep advocating for parents rights. Thanks so much for being here. Let's get into today's topic. Hey, everybody, here we go.

Let's start with the news. Okay, we've got the situation in Chino Valley Unified School District in California. And the district vows to continue the fight after a California judge blocks parental notification policy and a battle is not over.

Attorney General Rob Bonta immediately sued the Chino Valley Unified School Districts that cvusd over this policy. What don't you just love acronyms? Oh, I love them. Okay.

And it basically, this guy says that it's unconstitutionally it unconstitutionally discriminates against LGBTQ students and violates their privacy rights. Now, the reason I want to make that clear to you is because you're gonna hear that a lot coming from the other side. San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael A Sachs said parts of the policy were unconstitutional. Of course, he's chiming in. So there's a three part policy and the judge blocked two out of the three parts. While litigation is ongoing. Okay, the first part is the district cannot require staff to tell parents when a student asks to be identified or treated as a gender other than their biological sex. Oh, really? Okay, we're talking about minors here guys, just remember this minors. That second item is it blocks parents from being notified if a student wants to access sex segregated facilities, or participate in athletic teams.

Now judge sacks denied the state's request to block a part of the policy also, which says staff must notify parents of their child if their child wants to change information in their official and unofficial student records. So pretty much they want. They don't want parents to know anything about what's going on at school. Bottom line. So the board president Sonia Shah says she doesn't view the ruling as a victory or defeat. And the battle is not over. You go Sonia, we love her. Okay, we're gonna keep you posted on that one. second news item. Washington, DC.

October 18. Some Federal House Republican lawmakers want to protect students from explicit content in schools. So they've got a bill gone. And, you know, they're they're addressing this at the federal level.

Okay, they are pushing for parents to have more power over educators in deciding the materials used in schools.

Democrats fear the book banning in schools is encroaching on First Amendment rights. So here, this is the battle, you know, it's like whose rights prevail? Well, we say students rights prevail.

They discussed the importance of local school officials in this manner. Do not want to federalize books, content in schools, which is, you know, right up our alley, because what do we want? We want local control, always. And we want the decision to be at that level, because then we are paying attention to and including parents in those decisions. They have to engage in policy at the district level. So you know, if you guys out there are, you know, involved, it's going to be more difficult to for change to happen.

Okey dokey. Now, parents in school districts sometimes disagree on these book bands. As a result of Senate Bill 150. The Boyle County Public Schools removed over 100 books from their libraries. Wow.

Okay, so 100 books were removed by a Senate Bill 150. The bill states children enrolled in the district cannot receive any instruction or presentation on studying or exploring gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Wow. The opponents to the ban. Say when the message is that these books aren't welcome. You're sending a message to the kids and families that they aren't welcome

or whatever.

The other kids and families.

When there's controversy, we think it's good idea to take the conservative route, don't you? So the Kentucky Association of School Librarians, or k s l told ABC in a statement, quote, the K AASL believes in books election, not censorship. Well, now they're taking our line. But they don't mean the same thing we do. Yes, we believe in books election as well. So Kassala polls, the freedom to read and access to information is protected by your first amendment rights. But hey, guys, don't forget we're talking about minors here.

They say that banning books hinders student's learning by limiting access to reliable information sources.

Ha, that's pretty distorted. I'd say these people want kids to read about sexual things so badly, they are just making stuff up. 

Hey, parents and allies here at Parents Rights in Education, it requires us to all do our part in protecting our children's education. That's why we created club 12 by 12. For just $12 a month, you can sign up to become a club 12 by 12. Member and help us continue our work on training and forming and empowering parents and allies to stand up for their rights. Being a club 12 by 12 member gets you access to our exclusive monthly trainings, swag such as hats, T shirts, buttons, a monthly newsletter, and more. But most importantly, being a club 12 by 12. Member It means you are doing your part to protect parents rights for one more day. To become a club 12 by 12. Member, visit our website, parents rights in education.com and click club 12 by 12. That's parents rights and education.com. Click club 12 by 12. 

Let's get into the commentary for today. This is really, really helpful. And I want you to stay with me on it.

Why staying in our lane works.

So let's talk about that. What is our lane? Well, parent's rights and education is committed to restoring and preserving parental rights in K through 12. Public education. We empower and activate parents and allies. That's me. Okay, a lot of you out there we're allies.

We're activating them and empowering them to take their rightful place in local civil government.

Because we know local control is vital, not only in relation to K through 12 schools, public schools, but in every facet of the American governmental system. engagement in the public square is our number one strategy. Pretty straightforward. That's it. As I outlined last month, school boards have a duty to represent local communities. If and when they are not doing that our mission is to identify and support candidates for election to replace those undermining parental involvement.

Okay, we're focusing guys, we're focusing on K through 12. public schools.

We have discovered that many folks are uninformed about issues related to their individual freedoms. Public school issues have awakened folks to the reality. Something's very wrong.

Everything we address is related to policies and activities pertaining to K through 12 public schools and we provide information resources, training and tools for successful action strategies.

So you're thinking, Well, you know, they don't a lot of other people do that. I mean, other organizations, other groups? Well, there are some things that do separate us from others. So let's talk about what we're not.

Well, we're not politically partisan.

We are not connected to any political party.

Our focus is on issues related to what K through 12 public education at the local level, these are not partisan. This is not a partisan

concern, because it really, you know,

what candidates for school board

they don't declare any kind of partisan affiliation.

We are also not religiously affiliated. We welcome followers based solely on shared values. And we're finding that that that our stand on issues appeals to most parents and families. We can agree on these issues.

We're also not a legal defense firm. How

Ever. We do believe the role of legal defense is critical in protecting our rights. When those in power have no respect for constitutional principle, they pass laws that must be challenged. Parents Rights and education has strong relationships with several law firms and takes great pleasure in referring individual cases, when possibility for legal action is evident.

So who do we partner with? We're often asked, you know, you know, will you work in coalition with these other groups? Who do you partner with? Well, we protect our own followers and alliances with others, before any outside organization.

Sometimes, small local groups assume that we should offer help, just because they need or want it. Now, unless individuals are vetted and approved, we cannot allow our name or branding to be associated or used.

Parents Rights and education has ongoing partnerships with several organizations who offer services and expertise, we do not. And we will, on occasion, create temporary coalition's with similar groups, when appropriate.

So that's a summation of basically who we are and what we believe in. And I have a guest today that I'm so excited to be hosting. He is a media professional. His name is Greg Burnett, and we engage with him to assist us with our marketing and policy strategies. He has a full team of

folks that he relies on to help us. Stay tuned, this is going to be a lively discussion, deal of the work we're doing here at parents rights in education and want to know how you can become more involved. 

Become a member for free today, by becoming a member, you can connect with your local leadership, gain access to our free training, good advice, and stay up to date with the latest issues. Join today for free by visiting parents rights and education.com/join. That parents rights and education.com/join. 

Okay, so we're back. And I am so excited to be introducing to you, Burnett, media. This is Greg Burnett, Burnett media, and we consult with him on all things having to do with media, and politics. So welcome, Greg. Thank you. 

Good to be here. 

So I'm going to jump right into some questions because you are the expert, and I am not. But but we have a great time discussing all these things, and we seem to be in agreement on most of them. What do we mean by the term stay in our lane? 

That's a big that's a that's a that's a wide broad term, Suzanne. I mean, yeah, we are in agreement, certainly in a lot of things. That's why we worked so well together here, we kind of come from different backgrounds, but you know, long journeys along education, and education related issues over over the decades. And

I've known you for a long time. And this has kind of been one of my proudest moments to be part of parents rights, education national. So I'm really glad to be part of this. The Stan lane, I would say it has to do with we want to make sure that we can win this win this issue is such a big issue. I mean, I consider this the issue of our time right now. We watched as parents and you know, in Virginia lit it up, it woke a lot of the sleeping giant, which was, you know, millions of parents out there that woke them up one time when we had the rapes get covered up in Virginia, and people finally woke up and said, Hold on a second, what's going on here, and then COVID and the shutdown, or parents had a chance to see all the curriculum going on and what was really going on behind the scenes kind of the the mask was pulled off from what you and I have known all along is happening, right? It's just been on steroids. And get there's a lot of I've been around the nonprofit world for a lot of years, three decades. And I'm looking at this and there's a lot of think tanks out there. There's a lot of people that are educated people, there's a lot of lobbying going on. There's a lot of the organizations that are here to have social clubs. We ain't that. Right? We are Why think the one one spot that was really, really missing, where I'm looking at this as a fellow activist, growing up doing the door to door phone, banking, and so on my whole life and getting things done on the grassroots level. Really, our power comes from the parents comes from the individuals, every parent is one of our activists. And so where I came about this to stay and stay in our lane is we need to like really, really narrowly focused on what is it going to be that actually gets this over the line for 24 specialty and beyond. How are we going to turn this country back period? Yeah, and our country is at risk. Let's that's it.

not mince words, I mean, our kids are our future. I think everybody agrees to that, and our futures in the hands of a bunch of nuts. And they, they're taking a different direction than most of us would want that to be. And we're seeing that in every day, what happens in public. So the strength really what I found over the last three decades of strength as an individual, the strength is in the activists, and who cares more about their kids and their parents, and, and making that parent an activist, and making sure that parent has the power and the tools they need to get stuff done, and stand up and fight for their kid. That sounds fantastic. Totally. You're on the right track and what you're staying in our lane, Greg, you bet. Okay, so give our listeners an outline of prees most important strategy, what is that strategy, because we're all in agreement on the concept. But what's the strategy for restoring parents rights in K through 12. That's our specialty, K through 12. schools, public schools, certainly, and I think it is public schools and private schools have their own challenges and their own needs. And in public schools is where we need to fight this battle. A vast majority of people even given the opportunity school choice will stay in public schools. And that's really where we're seeing most of the issues happen. I mean, our strategy really is to activate parents and get them stand up for their kids period. And the way to do that is to train them active and give them the tools they need. And it's all about school boards, in a school board elections, that those few people typically five or seven people sitting there in a room are the ones that have the most power over our kids influence over. It's not sometimes how much they do. But they do and US ignoring that for so long. And just thinking that they all had the best interest of the kids in mind has really been well, kind of kind of proven to be a falsity, it's a myth. And so we need to stand up and take the action that we do as a parents rights, our strategy is to train parents find parents that are concerned with something in their school district get older, we have training online that says we're going to teach you how to run first school board and when or how to be an activist how to testify to your school board effectively and make sure you get results. We want to make sure that you know what you need to do to make sure change happens at your local level school school board elections. And that is a little bit different than some of the other organizations out there that are similar to ours. People say well, I've I've joined this or I belong to that, and how are you different, et cetera, et cetera? Well, are there any other organizations, though, that are doing what we're doing? This is our specialty, this is our strategy. Are there a lot of other organizations doing this? Very, very few doing this? And nationally, none that I know of, I mean, the the niche that we have, we get we're talking about getting things done. There's a there's there's there's space for everybody in the parents rights movement. There's space for everybody in saving our kids. There is a there's there's I mean, I have my heart is with all the people that are fighting the right battle, right. But in our case, we're looking at this as let's change the nation, one school board at a time. Let's make sure that we change the course of the history of our direction. And there's a lot of other people out there educating people doing again, think tanks, doing social social organizations, talking about talking about the strategy long term, we're talking about going in right now changing elections, changing the course of our country, turning it around. Okay, so Oh, okay, so help me with this dynamic of local versus national.

We need both, don't we? 100%. It all is local. But the whole point is, we're the national megaphone to the local individual. Okay, that's what we do. The we're the national footprint. We're the national megaphone, we're the we're the we're the ones that our entire role as a national organization is to be this to amplify the individual activist and what they have going on. And how do we get that out to a national level, if you have something going on in your school district, if you testify, record it, give it to us, we get it out to the press, if you have an article, you want to write some event happening, get it set it out to us, we promote it, we act as one voice nationally, in 50 states, we have 50 different websites, 50 different state organizations, we're able to get your message out for you, we're able to do the things you can't do as an individual. But it takes the 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of parents on the ground, giving us information to be able to create that voice. Exactly. You know, I've always felt that Greg, and for the last six years, I've been running this organization primarily in Oregon, but I got a lot of interest from people in other states, not just parents, but other people just like me, maybe their grandparents, maybe they just care about education a lot. Maybe they're retired teachers. We really appeal to a broad range of individuals who want to take a role in this fight and they're figuring out how do we do it? How do we get that national attention? And I explained to them now in fact, I was just talking with a woman that we've worked with in the past in Texas, amazing gals really smart and she said i Hey, Suzanne Yeah, you know, I think I've got a story. And I said, Okay, this is how we do it. You You need to be

a an affiliate, an affiliate member of our organization. She said oh, I don't know if I want to go down that path.

I said, Wait a minute, wait a minute, you don't have to have hundreds of people, you know, with, you know, you can be one person and being an affiliate. And that will then give you the ability to upload your story that you're writing your, you know, your report on your local school district, and how that's coming out. You can upload videos, you can upload your own article, you can upload other articles that have come out locally, you know, reporting on the issue there. And she was so excited. She goes like, oh, my gosh, she said, this is cool, because that's how we're really giving those people at the local level, a national voice. And there's actually nobody else doing that Suzanne, period. Right. And we and our and our podcast or show, like we're doing right now, is, is going to give voices to all of these individuals across the country. And I think people have been so frustrated, like, I'm only one person, how can I do it? I don't know what to do. Well, we need your stories. And they are I mean, it's unbelievable. The stories that we hear that are happening all across the country. So even you know, we're headquartered in Oregon, which of course, is appropriate. Because the stories we have here are like the most sensational.

It's crazy. But but we weren't getting any national press. And I kept thinking if we can just get national press, then then Oregonians themselves will believe what's happening, right? Yeah, because because they keep saying Well, I live in remote, or, you know, some little tiny town someplace in the middle of the state. And we don't have those issues. We are the story, Suzanne, I mean, so it's really what we are, we are the compilation of the stories of her parents, and then we are nothing without the parents stories. And that is who we are our job is to represent them. And most organizations just kind of circle back what you're talking about what makes us different, I guess you could sum it up as most organizations are top down, their board driven, their organizational driven, they're structure driven. We aren't we're literally what we're just literally grassroots bottom up, it is parent driven 100%. We are whatever you need us to be as your voice. That's it. If you have a need. And you're going to focus on that you don't have to follow any game plan. You don't have to follow anything, we train you how to do what you need to do to get what you need done. We're there for consulting, you can set up zoom calls with us where you can get on and say hey, I have a problem going on my school helped me write this testimony. We can we can help you set up an event we can help you promote it, we can literally what you need your issue is your school. That's it. And that could be an affiliate of one. Now we've talked about local control. We've talked about all these millions of voices. Why is the national approach to this strategy so important on a large scale? Why? Why national? I would say that the reason why the national is so important is the megaphone. So national media, we have to break through this is a national conversation. There are I mean, you might say that the the the the issue, there's a big issue going on Oregon or Seattle or San Francisco is happening everywhere around this country. And quite honestly leveraging all the parents together with one voice allows us as a national megaphone, to really bring the attention out from local parents. Your voice matters to the person if you're from Idaho, your matters from Florida. From California, it meant you're helping somebody from Vermont, we're that we're able to bring your message across the country and get that done. Got it. But there's one other silver lining here and that is the school board elections. How do they affect this country nationally? What is it about public education and school board elections specifically, that will have a positive effect on the future of the United States? Well, I think it was we were saying earlier, I think you know where this where the school boards go is where the future of our country is. I mean, there's nobody with more influence on the children right now. Good or bad. And I think we're realizing that quickly. Then the school boards on the on the future, they determine the curriculum, how things are, what history is taught how, how gender ideology, multiculturalism, intersectionality, all the things that we're talking about. They, you know, for lack of better word and doctrinaire children, that's their job. Now, whether they indoctrinate our children with things we agree with are things that can that can cause a lot of problems in the future. That is our future. And the school board elections. I don't know if there's any more important position in this country elected than a school board. It really is that straightforward. How the school boards go in this country is how our future goes. Agreed. Awesome. So, you know, and on on that note, too, we don't have like this gigantic war chest or someone out there who's kind of the puppeteer of our organization. We're not going away. And what I've seen just recently is there have been a number of very influential organizations who have joined our fight, but yet they do not have the longevity of being in it. Much more than I want to say a couple of years. They just you know, got got activated with it with the Virginia issue.

that you were discussing. So but this issue is most of our followers are beginning to realize if they didn't know before, it goes back 3040 years of influence, negative influence, don't be intimidated. That's the biggest thing I see with most of these parents are like, What difference does it make? And what can I do to make a difference? You're like me, you can make a massive difference in math, and it's really just being you. I mean, what easier thing to testify about than saying, then stop messing with my kids. I mean, literally, that is literally all we're telling you to do is like, Hey, we're just stand up, tell him to stop messing with your kids. And we'll make sure everybody knows about what you're doing. That's it. Exactly. And we don't have any litmus tests. We don't say, you know, you have to memorize Robert's Rules of Order. You have to know the constitution for front and back. And we're not. Yeah, and we're not specifically a religious organization. We have lots of people who follow faith in our organization. But but that is not a litmus test. And, and we're not necessarily political. I mean, we're, we're political in our activities, but we don't align with any particular political party. And what I found is like so many people at the local grassroots level, they have never been involved ever before. But when it comes to our kids, Oh, baby, now you've got my attention. I am not going to allow this. And it is a sight to behold. And I will I will say one last thing about that, too. And it's not just the moms guys, we're talking dads, dads, or they've had it, how dare you expose my son or daughter to this kind of information? Also, you as the most recent affiliate up here and hope, Idaho that? Yeah, Father, I will say that 100% It's about dads. Come on, come on, guys. And that just warms my heart, because when I first got in the fight 30 plus years ago, you know, men didn't really think that they had a place being involved in the school system. And that was not a good thing. So we're excited. Many of our leaders are man, so we welcome men, women, grandparents, parents, just people who love education, who love kids. Anyone who wants to join us, and and share our values. Gotta share our values, guys. And of course, we do have a little bit of a process, don't we, Greg? about giving them the status of affiliate? Certainly, yeah, but it's not hard. It's very easy to become an affiliate. I mean, you get in there for schedule, you joining becoming an affiliate, you join a membership, it's free membership, and then you join your affiliate application, we make sure you're, you're on the same page as we are, it's not much more complicated than that, then we get the brand of approval from the board. And then we can set you up in no time. And then we ask you, you know, ask you to support the organization and make sure you submit information to us and join the 12 by 12. At some point, of course. Absolutely. Absolutely. So pretty straightforward. Thank you so much, Greg, for your input today. Is there anything last thing you'd like to add? I would say just make sure everybody keep in mind that every parent is a voice for their child. That's their primary responsibility as a parent. And this organization recognizes that it is tailored for that. It is made specifically to reinforce and support parents voice supporting their child. If that's why we have the tagline stop messing with our kids at ends here. It couldn't be any more simple than that. Don't think it's that complicated. We're here to help you. We're here to make sure you win that you take back your kids school board that your school goes the right direction, and you're successful in standing up for your child. Awesome. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. Keep up with everything we're doing. Check out our website, parents rights in education.com and sign up for our newsletter. You can also join our movement for free by visiting our website parents rights and education.com. To do your part in protecting parents rights. You can become a club 12 by 12 member by donating $12 a month. It takes all of us to make the change that we want to see. Thanks so much for listening. Talk soon.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai