OPINION:
The Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland listed three concerns in support of its decision to deny parents the choice to opt out of story times including “books that teach about gender transitioning and drag queens” (“Supreme Court to hear challenge from parents over LGBTQ story time for elementary kids,” Web, April 18).
The first of the board’s concerns — high absenteeism — should on its own tell board members that they are teaching the wrong stuff. On the second excuse — the infeasibility of administrating opt-outs across classrooms and schools — I say this: Obviously, if too many of the parents object to your material, again, maybe you are teaching the wrong stuff.
Finally, the board is concerned that students who identify with the books may be stigmatized and isolated by their peers. But it’s the board that is stigmatizing the students by bringing up age-inapproporiate subjects in the first place.
ROBERT H. KAMMER
Silver Spring, Maryland
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