West Cook News

Local parents are sharing their concerns over public schools amid sexually graphic books, questionable curriculum and declining education outcomes.

Janelle Towne is part of a group of local activists who attend the school board meetings. She applauds parents like West Lyons Township’s Laura Tussing who recently spoke out against books in the library that include pornographic images.

“People who never paid attention like myself are actually paying attention now,” Towne told West Cook News.

In particular Tussing focused her concern on 'All Boys Aren't Blue,' a coming-of-age tale from LGBT activist George M. Johnson.

Towne said the issue is much larger than books in the school’s library.

Teachers at the school recently recounted their participation in a Black Lives Matter study group held at the school. Conservative students claim they are being blocked from creating counterpart groups.

Student protests at the school regarding its mask policy have drawn heavy hitters such as GOP gubernatorial candidate Gary Rabine.

“And we want to know the answers to why all this is taking place,” she said. “None of it makes sense. We have a virus with a 99.97% recovery rate and multiple vaccines and therapeutics, and we're still in Illinois, one of – I believe it's down to – four states that are still locked down. And now even doubling down on vaccine passports and mask restrictions and all the other nonsense that's been going on for a year and a half while in other states, in the red states, it's, you know, like it was prior to that, prior to March of 2020.”

Towne said the issue of keeping schools open and operating should be a non-partisan issue.

“We're not going to be divided by race, we're not going to be divided by color or gender,” she said. “You're not going to pin us against each other. We're going to unify and what we're seeing all over the place. People are sick and tired of being told what to do. This is a very sinister regime.”