I am appalled that some of our teachers have commented that this is an issue of "free speech" or over regulation. It suggests that some teachers do not share the natural concerns of Virginia parents that their children not be exposed to deeply immoral and objectionable materials in a way that suggests that what their parents teach them, or what they learn in their respecitve houses of worship, is not true, and that true "freedom" and "self actualization" means rejecting the stale orthodoxies represented by parents and religion.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the goal of many of these teachers, who believe that education is illegitimate if it constitutes a search for truth. Many seem to think that their approach in the classroom must be "value neutral." This is a serious pedagogical error that is harmful to Virginia's children.

I urge you to pass this amendment.  

Sincerely,

Tom Farr