Washington schools superintendent sues over voter pamphlet language

UPDATE, June 30: The Thurston County Superior Court ruled in Reykdal’s favor on June 26, saying that the sentence in question is untrue, and that Reykdal had “a very substantial likelihood of prevailing in a defamation action.” The sentence was ordered to be deleted from the voters’ pamphlet.

Espinoza’s campaign manager said she plans to appeal the ruling.

Washington schools superintendent Chris Reykdal, who is running for reelection this fall, is suing primary challenger Maia Espinoza for what his attorney called “a defamatory statement” in the blurb she has submitted describing her candidacy for the state voters pamphlet.

Reykdal is asking that Espinoza, a Lakewood business owner and newcomer to state elective office, remove a line from her statement that says: “The incumbent ignored parents and educators by championing a policy that teaches sexual positions to 4th graders!” The pamphlet is under review by the secretary of state’s office and is expected to go out to voters in July. The primary election is Aug. 4.

Espinoza says she believes her sentence is accurate because Reykdal supported a new comprehensive sex education law, and one of the curricula she says could be used under the law showed “different sexual positions, including masturbation.”

Specifically, in the first lesson for fourth graders, the book “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health” by Robie Harris, is listed in a handout that is part of the curriculum called Rights, Respect, Responsibility, which is distributed by the organization Advocates for Youth, said Espinoza’s campaign manager, Monica Marchetti. The book “includes images of sexual positions, masturbation, etc.,” she said.

That curriculum is one of just a handful that meet the state’s new requirement for comprehensive sexual education, Espinoza said.

Reykdal responded in an email: “None of the curriculum or lesson plans in the curriculum shows anything like this. Those images are in a 3rd party book referenced in the curriculum for parents and caregivers. These materials are not provided to children by educators and none of those images are in the curriculum or lesson plans.”

Taki Flevaris, an attorney representing Reykdal, said via email that Espinoza had drafted “a false, misleading, and defamatory statement” and that “state law specifically prohibits such statements from being included in the voters’ pamphlet.”

“If Ms. Espinoza actually provides any evidence that she believes supports her allegation against Superintendent Reykdal, we would be happy to review it,” Flevaris said.

In a petition to the Thurston County Superior Court, Reykdal’s legal firm writes that the sentence “should be deleted, because it is patently false and defamatory on its face.” In the petition, he asks that the court direct the secretary of state’s office to delete the sentence from Espinoza’s candidate statement. A hearing is scheduled for Friday.

Because Reykdal supported the bill, and because the curriculum materials include this information, “I don’t think there’s anything factually wrong or inaccurate” in the description, Espinoza said. “Hopefully the courts see it the same way.”

Earlier this year, Washington lawmakers passed a comprehensive sex education law, which was met with resistance from Republicans in both the House and Senate, and some families and school board members who objected to statewide standards for what they consider a local decision.

The law requires school districts to begin providing age-appropriate sex education at least twice between sixth and eighth grade, and twice during high school. That instruction is to be expanded to elementary school grades by 2022-23.

The superintendent’s office has described the bill as teaching lessons to young children about how to express their emotions, accurate names for their body parts, and how to find a trusted adult.

https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/washington-schools-superintendent-sues-over-voter-pamphlet-language/

‘Karen’ Reports Kids for Playing Football in the Street–Then Cops Respond by Joining the Game

After an unidentified caller reported a group of children to the police for playing football in the street, officers promptly responded. But rather than reprimand the children, they chose a different response by joining in the game.

Shaker Heights, Ohio, mom Wendy Brown says that she encourages her children to “just be kids” by playing outside. “[T]hey were just playing football out in the street like they do any other time,” she told Fox 8.

“I don’t know the cop’s name,” Brown continued, “but he came to me and said, ‘I don’t know who would do it, but someone called police on the kids, they said they were playing in the street so we came by.’”

The police officer confided in Brown that he also used to play in the street as a child, then he and his two colleagues asked the kids if they could join in their game. Brown captured footage of the cheerful interaction on her cell phone.

The mom’s footage shows a young quarterback tossing the ball “downfield” toward two police officers, each vying for the catch. Sprinting down the street, they collide with the ball between them as onlookers whoop and laugh audibly.

On June 20, Brown uploaded her footage to Instagram, captioned, “A #Karen called the police on my kids for playing football in the street. The @shakerpolicedepartment pulled up and joined in on the game. Thank you for letting the kids be kids!”

“If we didn’t have the three gentlemen that came over to check on them, it could’ve gone way worse,” said Brown.

To date, Brown’s post has received over 24,000 likes. After the viral success of the first clip, Brown uploaded a second video of the energetic game between her children and the Shaker Heights police officers two days later.

“Probably the best call they had to go on all day,” commented one Instagram user.

The Shaker Heights Police Department responded to Brown’s footage on Twitter, writing, “The only thing our officers enjoy more than hanging with the kids is the chance to be kids themselves, even if for a moment!”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/karen-reports-kids-for-playing-football-in-the-street-then-cops-respond-by-joining-the-game_3399925.html