(Headline USA) A Southern California school board has voted to approve a social studies curriculum for elementary students, resolving a dispute with Gov. Gavin Newsom over lesson plans that instruct elementary students about homosexuality and gender bending after Newsom threatened them with a hefty fine.
Rejecting the grooming curriculum meant the district would have to use a textbook published in 2006. Those textbooks do not comply with a 2011 state law that requires schools to teach students about the historical contributions of gay, bisexual and gender-bending Americans.
Newsom threatened to fine the district $1.5 million if it didn’t approve the curriculum.
The board approved the curriculum during a special meeting late Friday night.
They also instructed the district’s interim superintendent to review a portion of the curriculum that includes a discussion of gay rights and how same-sex marriage came to be legal in California.
The board recommended “substituting age appropriate curriculum” that complies with state and federal law but “is also consistent with the board’s commitment to exclude sexualized topics of instruction from elementary school grade levels.”
Board President Joseph Komrosky explained the role of a lawsuit in the board’s reasoning.
“If we do not provide [this] curriculum — I want everybody to hear this — we will literally be sued.”
Newsom said Friday’s vote ensures “students will receive the basic materials needed to learn.”
Textbooks have become a flashpoint in U.S. politics as conservative Americans fight against the indoctrination of their children.
Kimberly Velez, the district’s interim superintendent, assured board members that staff would order the new curriculum on Monday and it would arrive in time for the start of school next month.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
