Chicago faces education crisis with only one in four students reading at grade level
Mailee Smith, a mother and senior director of labor policy at the Illinois Policy Institute, joins 'Fox & Friends.'
Chicago Public Schools' sexual education curriculum begins as soon as kindergarten, teaching kids first about human anatomy, followed by first-grade lessons on how to define "gender identity" and an introduction to puberty blockers by fifth grade.
The Chicago public school system's "Personal Health and Safety Education & Sexual Health Education Scope and Sequence" was uncovered this week by parental rights nonprofit Parents Defending Education. The group found that in a district where elementary students are struggling with academic proficiency, faculty and administrators found a link between the "health and safety" programming and the students' learning time.
"You can start to see the process where they just slowly inch the kids and nudge the kids in the direction of hardcore queer theory," said Rhyen Staley, the Parents Defending Education researcher who uncovered the sexual education curriculum. "That’s why, by the time you get to fifth grade, you see that they are starting to teach the kids about transgenderism and puberty blockers."
Only 31% of elementary students in the Chicago public school system are considered proficient in reading, which is two percentage points below the latest national average for fourth grade students recorded by the National Center for Education Statistics in 2022. Meanwhile, just 19% of elementary Chicago Public Schools students are proficient in math, which is 17 percentage points below the national average recorded for fourth graders in 2022.
DOZENS OF ILLINOIS SCHOOLS HAVE 0 STUDENTS PROFICIENT IN MATH, READING
A teacher instructs students on how to write cursive. (Ridofranz)
"Only one in six third graders in Chicago can read at grade level. How about the individuals in charge at CPS focus on carrying out the basic requirements of their jobs instead of using their taxpayer-funded positions to push a radical activist agenda on children as young as 4 years old?" Michele Exner, a senior adviser for Parents Defending Education, told Fox News Digital.
"This shouldn't be hard. Parents deserve to know their children are learning academics in school, not having their class time wasted with useless and divisive content."
After learning how to identify the various female and male body parts in kindergarten, Chicago Public School students in first grade learn how to "define gender, gender identity and gender role stereotypes" and can "name at least two things they’ve been taught about gender role stereotypes, and how those things may limit people of all genders."
Parents with students (iStock)
In second grade, students are taught "the concept of gender stereotypes" and how to "advocate for change." By grade four, the district curriculum utilizes a "Gender Snowperson" to help students "explore the concepts of gender identity, sexual orientation, sex assigned at birth, and gender expression."
A "Gender Unicorn" is then utilized by fifth grade instructors to teach their students about "sexual orientation," among other concepts like "gender role stereotypes and gender expression." By the end of the lesson, fifth graders are expected to be able to define terms like "cisgender," "non-binary" and "transgender." The fifth-grade curriculum also includes a lesson on "changes during puberty," which includes instruction about "puberty blocker medications that transgender young people may use."
An academic professional helps her students become proficient in mathematics. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Citing a lack of teacher comfort with instructing students on the district's sexual education curriculum, Chicago Public Schools has reportedly begun inviting unlicensed "health educators" to do the work, according to Chalkboard News.
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Before Parents Defending Education uncovered Chicago Public Schools' sexual education lessons, the district repeatedly denied requests for such materials. Among those requests was a federal Freedom of Information Act request filed by conservative digital news outlet The Daily Caller.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Chicago Public Schools system for comment but did not receive a response.
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