America’s public schools are finding themselves at the center of disagreement on moral issues, with various factions on both sides placing school officials in the crossfire.

The trend hit close to home in the past several years with the debate over display of the Rainbow Flag at Marshall Middle School. We were by no means an isolated situation. The dissension, disunity and controversy exist in many places.

I saw a news segment this month about a special interest group of parents with “mothers” in its title. They were founded several years ago in Florida and have greatly expanded.

Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Donald Trump appealed to them at a recent event asking for their support.

It’s reached the point where I think this kind of influence from special interest groups is bad rather than good. At least in our local situation the concern seemed to come from the grass roots. For that reason I tried to see both sides.

I would have felt differently if the issue had been spearheaded by citizens under the guidance of a national group. I would have wanted national special interests to stay out of it, to let our local community have a dialogue and hopefully come together for a mutually acceptable solution.

It’s important for parents with a concern to go through due process. School administration is structured so that everyone except the superintendent has a supervisor. The superintendent is overseen by a school board made up of six or seven citizens elected by a district’s voters.

Good relations between parents and school personnel is important. It should follow along the lines of the traditional Parent Teacher Association activities, which provide opportunities to exchange ideas.

Things might go too far when a small, vocal minority tries to have teachers disciplined or tries to force a district to remove materials from the school library.

In the national media some of the newer parent-based organizations have represented themselves as defenders of the rights of all parents and families. It’s almost as though they regard teachers and school officials as enemies rather than friends.

I’ve enjoyed the joke that there are three types of people whose judgment should never be questioned (engineers, coaches and bartenders). There’s a point when something close to that standard should come into play with educators.

Teachers and librarians are valuable gatekeepers of knowledge. They work with young people every day. They have professional experience when it comes to encouraging them to be good students and good citizens.

Some caution is needed with controversial political and social issues. There should be enough flexibility, however, to uphold standards of tolerance, mutual respect and human dignity. It shouldn’t be seen by the far left or the far right as political advocacy. They are non-political concepts.

Parents who have unresolvable disagreement with public schools still have rights. They have a right to attend a private school, or even to get together with like minded parents and form a school of their own. They also have a right to home school their kids.

The rights should not include telling teachers how to teach, or telling other school families what’s acceptable and what’s not.

Hopefully the checks and balances within school districts are enough to resolve questions that come up about what’s being taught. Hopefully, accommodations can be made for those who object to something in particular. If a small handful of parents object to certain books or assignments, maybe their students can do something else.

Schools should be positive places, not locations of controversy. There are millions of people who became teachers because of the positive experiences they had between pre-school and senior high.

That needs to continue even as we’re seeing a trend toward conflict over political and social issues. The most important thing is to do what’s best for kids, There’s nothing more important than kids. They’re society’s future. Their learning experiences should be a starting point to fulfilling that mission.

— Jim Muchlinski is a long time reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent