Bentley speaks on “miseducation”
The Bandera Republican Women hosted Texas Freedom Coalition Founder and President Christin Bentley, who presented a talk titled “Miseducation in the Public Schools” at the Silver Sage Community Center Great Room on February 17.
About 30 people attended to hear from Bentley, who moved to Tyler, Texas, from California in August 2019, and at that time she founded the Texas Freedom Coalition.
Bentley began her career as a special education teacher in the California Public School System. After leaving teaching in California, she became a conservative activist and special education student advocate. While Bentley admits that she spent most of her adult life in California, her ancestors hail from Texas.
As an educational activist, Bentley encourages parents to get more in volved in monitoring their children’s daily curriculum and the books available through school libraries. Her program was titled “Miseducation in Public Schools.” Bentley is an opponent of Social Emotional Learning. She also opposes any activity that includes features of diversity, equity, and inclusion which she describes as “woke.” While she referenced critical race theory, her talk included very little on that topic.
Bentley spoke for over an hour and ended her talk with a call for questions. Then she took out her “dirty book bag” to show audience members what kind of objectionable topics each book portrayed. Most of the books were adult fiction, “young adult” fiction or graphic novels. She did admit that she did not find any of the most egregious books referenced in the Bandera ISD library collections. Bandera ISD has Board Policy to guide any parent wishing to contest use of specific instructional materials including library books.
BCRW member and candidate for County Judge, Susan Junker was honored by the Texas Federation of Republican Women with a certificate that recognized her completion of the Candidate Development Program.
President Skoglund reported that Bandera County Republican Headquarters is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. zSkoglund requested volunteers to help man the headquarters during those hours.
Skoglund also thanked those BCRW members who provided sweets and worked at the table for the bake sale. The group made $140 to be dedicated to the senior scholarship fund. The group also discussed having a spaghetti lunch later in the Spring to support the scholarship fund.
Secretary Janeen Ergang read the minutes from the December and January meetings which were approved. Treasurer Alma Baker gave a financial report. Janeen Ergang reported that the applications for the BCRW Annual Scholarship had been distributed to Bandera High School and Medina High School. Membership Chair Melanie Burns reported that the club had 25 members and annual dues would be due within the next few months.
The next meeting of the Bandera County Republican Women will be on Thursday, April 7 at 6 PM at the Silver Sage Community Center. Mike Miller of ”Warriors for Ranchers,” a YouTuber and speaker on illegal immigration will be the guest.