Personally, I’m very liberal. We have gay/lesbian friends, and our kids have been exposed to same-sex couples (with and without kids) from the beginning. I’ve always spoken very honestly and openly about gay couples, polygamists, various types of adopted/step/single-parent families, etc., and have tried to keep any kind of moral judgment out of it as long as everyone is happy with the arrangement, and nobody is being hurt (including polygamy, as long as ALL people consent, especially the first spouses).
Having said that, I fully respect that some parents are not comfortable with this type of openness regarding sex and non-traditional families. It should be up to the parents to decide when and how they want to present this information to their kids. IMO, we really are pushing agendas in the public (and private) school system, and that might not be a good thing in the eyes of many people.
Perhaps we should have two “tracks” in the public school system: one that teaches ONLY academics, without any regard for moral teaching; and the other track could include subjects that relate more to morals and include behavior modification objectives.
I’m just not sure why we should expect the public school system to take on so much responsibility that (IMHO) rightly belongs to the parents. Schools should exist for education, not for social engineering, IMO.
Of course, paramount is free to put his kid(s) in private schools or homeschool them. There are still plenty of options available to parents who agree/disagree with certain educational philosophies and principles. If a parent feels so strongly about this, one would think they’d pull their child from the school and find other alternatives. You don’t need vouchers, and it can be free, in the case of homeschooling through a charter, too. You can even get money for classes and other educational supplies if you want to homeschool via the many public school options. Any reason why you’re not doing this, paramount?
