My name is Mary Riley.
I have been a Bloomington taxpayer for the last 23+ years. Not being a parent, I paid very little attention to school issues. At last month’s school board listening session, I was shocked to hear of gender theory pronoun indoctrination targeting elementary school aged children.
Contrast that irrelevant lesson with the following facts about Bloomington school students:
Slightly more than one out of three are proficient in math.
Less than one out of two are proficient in reading.
The graduation rate is 76%, which is in the bottom 50% of Minnesota school districts.
The gaps between proficiency scores and graduation rates are alarming. Are nearly two thirds of district high school graduates not proficient in math? Are over half not proficient readers?
During my 5 decades of steady employment, NEVER did the topic of gender pronouns come up in my job description or daily schedule. Skillsets based on math and reading proficiency were the bedrock that made me a reliable worker and tax paying citizen.
It is time to stop the distracting nonsense of gender theory dogma that does NOT prepare young people for the workforce. Resources need to be focused on cultivating the skills that will make them employable workers and productive citizens.
