*By Julie Barrett, Founder, Conservative Ladies of America
For decades, Fred Meyer in the Pacific Northwest was the only store that offered “one stop shopping.” That was their tagline too. Long before the mega-Targets and Walmarts came to our corner of the country, we had Fred Meyer. Here you could get your groceries, your back-to-school clothes, toiletries and makeup, tools, home goods and furniture, plants and garden supplies and of course, decorations and more for whatever the current holiday happened to be.
When I think about Community Schools, I liken them to Fred Meyer stores – one stop shopping, where you can get everything you need. Unlike Fred Meyer, Community Schools is not a positive concept for our children/students. They sure do go out of their way to make it sound nice with things like “wrap around services” and creating “deep community engagement.” To most parents and citizens, these terms don’t raise a red flag or sound the alarm and you go about your day. Meanwhile, as we’ve been busy working to provide for our families and add value to our own communities, there has been a strategic, consistent, and patient communist movement, inching its way into our schools and every other aspect of America.
Simply put, Community Schools will replace the family unit as the foundation of our American society.
What are Community Schools?
“Community schools are neighborhood hubs with wraparound services that provide everything from mental health services to food pantries, academic tutoring to prom dresses, and healthcare to after care. Through meaningful partnerships with families and deep community engagement, they become centers of their communities.” AFT Launches High Six-Figure Ad Buy Highlighting Benefits of Community Schools | American Federation of Teachers
The idea is to provide students with all their basic needs, thus circumventing and replacing parents and the family unit. Some students do not get their needs met at home and need additional services and support – we have systems in place to help these students. A “universal” approach like Community Schools is socialism.
Community Schools also require (and already receive) millions of American taxpayer dollars every year. For one year alone, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) will spend $5 million in advertising campaigns. With the pitch that Community Schools are what’s needed for students to recover from the learning loss and other damage done by the way these same people handled Covid-19, namely closing schools for almost 2 years in many places.
The AFT’s goal is to have 25,000 Community Schools by 2025. In January the US Department of Health and Human Services announced $50 million in grants to help states implement School Based Health Centers. Many states have state grants available in addition to federal grants.
Also in January, Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates company, and MacKenzie Scott donated $23 million to the School Based Health Center Alliance to expand healthcare in schools.
Community Schools are a big piece of the CDC’s Whole School Whole Child Whole Community (WSCC) model.
“The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child, or WSCC model, is CDC’s framework for addressing health in schools. The WSCC model is student-centered and emphasizes the role of the community in supporting the school, the connections between health and academic achievement and the importance of evidence-based school policies and practices.”
The School Based Health Center Alliance works in collaboration with the CDC’s WSCC model, by being the vehicle for bringing healthcare (and more) into the school setting.
“Local health organizations apply school expertise and linkages to an array of services—medical, behavioral health services, oral health care, nutrition services, vision services, and health promotion—that enable children and adolescents to thrive in the classroom and beyond. The ultimate goal of the partnership is to create a culture of health within the school community.”
Many states have existing laws that allow children 13 and older to make many healthcare decisions for themselves, without parental consent. Community Schools removes that awkward moment when your child’s doctor asks you to leave the room so they can speak to your child in private…you’re just not there at all, pesky parent. In many states these schools allow students to access things like so-called “gender affirming care” and abortions.
What do you do?
- If you have school-age children, do everything in your power to homeschool them. There are many resources available for free and you can make it very flexible to fit your lifestyle.
- Vote. But voting isn’t enough (and yes, I know “it’s rigged”….that’s another conversation), you must also engage in your government: city/county council, school board, state legislation, even federal legislation. There are easy ways to engage that you can do directly from your phone!
- Educate your friends. We must raise awareness if we are going to stop this and save our children.
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