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State Education Officials Slam New Ads For Prop. 8

SACRAMENTO (BCN) ― State education officials spoke out Tuesday against a series of ads released by the "Yes on 8" campaign that claim same-sex marriage would be taught in public schools if the statewide initiative fails.

Proposition 8 would change the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. Voters will decide the measure on Nov. 4.

One recent "Yes on 8" ad depicts a young girl arriving home from school and showing her mother a picture book the teacher read to her class that day. The book, "King and King," is about a prince marrying another prince.

The girl says to her mother, "And I can marry a princess," to which the mother reacts with concern.

Another ad, which began airing Monday, tells the real-life story of a Massachusetts couple whose 7-year-old son was read the "King and King" story by his second-grade teacher. The couple describes in the ad how they were denied the right to "opt out" and exempt their son from lessons on same-sex marriage.

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and his predecessor Delaine Eastin spoke out against the campaign today, along with California State Board of Education president Ted Mitchell, saying the proposition is not tied to public schools.

"There is nothing about Prop. 8 that is connected to public education in any way," Mitchell said. "There is nothing in California state law that would require the teaching of marriage in any of its forms."

Mitchell said state law allows parents to opt students out of lessons they find to be out of keeping with their personal beliefs. The "Yes on 8" advertisements suggesting that students will be taught about same-sex marriage if the proposition fails are untruthful, he said.

Mitchell said he is "disgusted" by the "Yes on 8" campaign, "in particular this misleading set of advertisements about the impact of Prop. 8 on education. This is political campaigning at its worst," he said.

O'Connell, in a prepared statement, called the ads "alarming" and "irresponsible."

"Our public schools are not required to teach about marriage," he said. "And, in fact, curriculum involving health issues is chosen by local school governing boards."

Chip White, spokesman for the "Yes on 8" campaign, said the initiative is, in fact, connected to public education.

White said a recent field trip by first-graders to San Francisco City Hall to witness their teacher marry her lesbian partner drove home the points the "Yes on 8" campaign was trying to make to voters.

"In the first place they say this had nothing to do with education," White said. "Now people who have seen this story ... it's not believable that this has nothing to do with education."

White said the claim that California law allows parents to opt their children out of lessons involving same-sex marriage is a lie.

"The bottom line is that parents don't have an absolute right to remove their children from a lesson they don't agree with," White said.

White said the idea of same-sex marriage could be integrated into all aspects of school lessons.

He used the example of a math book containing a word problem that tells the story of "Johnny's two mommies" going to the store or celebrating an anniversary.

"They want folks to think that it will only be taught in sex ed," White said. "This will infiltrate literature, vocabulary, social studies, science, math (and) all the subjects that kids learn."

Opponents of Proposition 8 said the timing of the recent ceremony at City Hall, officiated by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, whose fervent support of same-sex marriage has been used in another "Yes on 8" campaign ad, was unfortunate.

"I'm sure some of us wished that it hadn't happened just because of timing," Eastin said Tuesday.

Eastin reiterated, though, that the issue on the ballot doesn't affect schools.

"Prop. 8 isn't about reading school books or teaching, it's about treating people differently - that is the one and only thing on the ballot," she said. 

On Tuesday morning, black leaders gathered in Los Angeles, San Diego and Oakland to rally against Proposition 8. In Oakland, the gathering was scheduled to include Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris and Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Alameda.

A series of "No on Prop. 8" events has been organized targeting ethnic communities in California, including members of the Latino and Asian Pacific Islander communities, campaign spokesman Eddie Fernandez said.

Some draw parallels between the same-sex marriage issue and race-related discrimination.

White said the Yes on 8 campaign has also performed outreach to ethnic groups in the state.

"Yes on 8 is using a variety of media and a variety of methods informing voters of the serious consequences to school children if Prop. 8 were to pass," White said.

He said the comparison to racial discrimination is unreasonable.

White said opponents of Prop. 8 who compare the California Supreme Court's decision on same-sex marriage to its 1948 decision to overturn a ban on interracial marriages are wrong, because the decision on interracial marriage maintained the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

"The benefits of traditional marriage, marriage between a man and a woman, are so strong, so compelling and so universal that four activist judges don't get to redefine marriages," he said.

Both campaigns continue to raise money and produce advertisements on TV, radio and newspapers.

Additional information about the Yes on 8 campaign is available online at http://www.protectmarriage.com. Additional information about the No on Prop. 8 campaign is available online at http://www.noonprop8.com/.

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