Pastor Mark Burns, of Easley, SC, who has been known as, “President Donald Trump’s favorite pastor”, was very motivational the other night at Silver Bay Seafood restaurant in Easley SC! I was thrilled to be part of this meeting! He has lit a fire that will be hard for anyone to put out.
Question of the night was and still is, “Do you believe your child’s education is your choice?”
Of course, the over 60 people in attendance at this planning meeting answer was an overwhelming, “YES!”
Pastor Burns’ plan going forward is to take this message to our local school boards here in the upstate of SC. Surrounding counties of Greenville, Anderson, and Spartanburg are joining in.
Why did Pastor Mark Burns get involved in this grassroots movement? He has children of his own in The School District of Pickens County, (SDPC) and understands that God has given parents the right to direct their child’s education, not government. He was contacted by parents about the newly developed Facebook grassroots page, “SDPC PARENTS AGAINST VIRTUAL LEARNING”, in which 2,100+ followers are actively engaged. He was more than willing and very eager to start the ball rolling to help return control of children’s education to parents.
Parents in Pickens County, SC were very concerned over the direction the SDPC Chairman of the School Board, Shannon Haskett, and the other trustees were taking when they shut down schools for a whole week and switched to virtual due their fears of the Covid 19 positive case virus uptick.
It became apparent to founders of the Facebook group formed that the school board members were willing to override our legislators and our Governor in masking up children, and forcing children in to virtual classes more than they should. These parents knew their local school board was leaning toward going against the SC law in place that prevents schools from not offering face to face learning. Their “about” section on Facebook states, “Please add everyone you know! The only way to fight this is to join together. We will be meeting to petition the school board first meeting on Monday 8/16 @ 9am. We will protest until our children are given back their right to education and prosperity.”
The parents held their first protest/rally in front of SDPC Administrative Offices in which over 100 parents, some with their children, carried signs, waved and yelled at the cars passing by. Parents stayed until a spokesperson was sent out to address the protest participants. See the news coverage here: Pickens County parents protest, start petition against district’s virtual learning decision (msn.com)
Many parents also attended the next school board meeting and spoke out adamantly against the direction the SDPC had taken. It became apparent that their voices were not being taken seriously, and they needed more planning and more exposure to apply pressure. Pastor Mark Burns agreed with the parents’ concerns and agreed to help launch a more planned approach to get their voices heard.
Parents across the upstate of SC worry about what’s next. They ask the question, “Will our local school boards comply with Biden and force vaccinations upon our children and also force masks on them as well? “
Pastor Mark Burns, of Easley, SC.
Pastor Mark Burns is adamant about helping organize this movement so it becomes a voice to be reckoned with. The plan is in place. Ten captains volunteered to get ten more leaders under their wing, and those ten leaders will get ten more members under their wing. “We will grow our numbers so large that Governor McMaster will hear our pleas” said Pastor Burns. A huge rally is in the planning stages right now, and special t-shirts have been ordered for all to wear at the soon to be disclosed location. The group is hoping to see at least 2,000 parents at this future rally demanding attention to this overreach into parental rights! (See above photo)
A petition on Change.org has been started which nearly has 5,000 signatures which can be viewed at this link: Petition · Keep Pickens County Students in School · Change.org
This MY CHILD, THEIR EDUCATION, MY CHOICE movement has goals. They say they want to restore parents’ right to choose and direct their child’s education and health directives and stop the overreach of bureaucratic tyranny of the local school boards. They will rally the vote to replace any school board member who does not recognize that parents are the major stakeholder in their child’s education and health decisions. In fact, the group has already gotten behind Amy Williams of Easley, SC in her quest to be elected to replace the vacant school board seat left by Alice Vander Linden in District 7 of SDPC when she moved out of district.
A favorite quote from Pastor Burns at the parent/concerned taxpayers meeting was, “Quit complaining about what you continue to permit.”
“The rally cry going forward is, “ My Child, Their Education, My choice! “ said Pastor Burns.
This group is calling for real ACTION.
Pastor Burns has a plan! He says to Text the word CHOICE to 844-844-3477 and you can become a voice to be heard all the way to Governor McMaster too. By texting to this number you will be kept up to date on the battle plan and will become part of the solution to an overreaching Federal Government into your child’s education.
Pastor Burns says, “Stay tuned for a Parental Rights Rally in the near future, come join the action! Stay abreast of what’s going on. Text the word CHOICE to 844-844-3477.”
Johnnelle Raines is a retired public school teacher of 29 years in the classroom. She is also a Board Member of the United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE).
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