Thoughts from a teacher at last week’s B.O.E. meeting
Below is a transcript of Jan Lowry’s comments given at the Rockbridge County Board of Education meeting 8/10/2021. Besides her courage in standing up to the craziness from the left, her points are well spoken and mirror what many of us are thinking. Hopefully her comments can inspire more of us to take a stand.
Because this was given to me as a transcript I did not make any corrections to what I received. This is exactly as I got it, included an obvious transcribed typo.
Enjoy!
Jan Lowry, Rockbridge County…As background, I am a 35-year veteran teacher having
taught in several different states and overseas with the Department of Defense.
Because we live in a representative government, you were elected to represent
the citizens of Rockbridge County in your specific Districts. You may think you get your
“walking orders” from the VA Department of Education but you are answerable to the
parents and citizens of Rockbridge County.
As our representative I employ you to please stand up to the VDOE and say enough is
enough! That is why you were elected! To serve the citizens that put you into the
positions you hold!
All of our children deserve to be educated…They ALL deserve to be taught they are
good and worthy individuals and can achieve great things. Not because of their skin
color or sexual orientation…But because they are smart and worthy individuals!
Of course, if there is a racist incident in any of our schools — that incident needs to be
delt with! But to say our children and teachers are ‘systematically oppressive and
racists’ is WRONG!
Not only is spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion training diverting funds
from actual education, but the VA Dept. of Education guidelines are destructive. They
reject the fundamental idea on which our constitutional republic is based. Applying this
philosophy would violate a multitude of American civil rights laws by treating people
differently according to race or gender. It should NOT be elevated in Rockbridge
County Schools!
Threatening to withhold funds is a bullying tactic that the state is using. We are wasting time
and energy on these indoctrination programs and policies.
Rockbridge County Schools should be spending time, energy and money in teaching educationally sound programs —The 3 R’s Reading, ‘lilting and ‘Rithmetic NOT Radical Racist Rhetoric! Our students, in ALL grades, should be taught about our Founding Fathers documents.
So in closing, I’d like to quote what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said about our founding document in his “I Have a Dream” speech.
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution
and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which
every American was a full heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as
well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness.”
