Natalie Cline
The author, Natalie Cline, serves on the Utah State Board of Education and represents District 9. Her interest in public education dates back a decade, and is focused on defending and championing the primary role of the family in every aspect of a child's life.
Cline's philosophy of pedagogy is characterized by a desire to return to the simple art of learning.
A love of liberty, learning, and the Lord has informed her unwavering approach to tackling education policy and difficult topics at the Board from a truth-based perspective.
it is the culmination of this commitment that has earned Natalie Cline a reputation as one of Utah's foremost fighters for freedom, faith, and families.
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The Final Word on Porn in Utah Schools?
Obviously, this is NOT the official position of the USBE Board, but I just wanted to start out by acknowledging and thanking the almost 500 parents and grandparents who wrote the Board and reached out to me hoping the Board would vote for a model policy that would actually prevent porn, in any form, in their children’s schools. I want these parents to know I left nothing on the table and gave this issue every ounce of energy I had.
However, I am just one person on a board of 15, and the other members of the Board present at today’s meeting decided to throw their efforts and their votes behind the Master Merged model policy, which doesn’t require LEAs to do a single thing to stop porn.
Natalie Cline
The author, Natalie Cline, serves on the Utah State Board of Education and represents District 9. Her interest in public education dates back a decade, and is focused on defending and championing the primary role of the family in every aspect of a child's life.
Cline's philosophy of pedagogy is characterized by a desire to return to the simple art of learning.
A love of liberty, learning, and the Lord has informed her unwavering approach to tackling education policy and difficult topics at the Board from a truth-based perspective.
it is the culmination of this commitment that has earned Natalie Cline a reputation as one of Utah's foremost fighters for freedom, faith, and families.
This letter, written July 26, 2022, and published here with permission, was written to Natalie Cline's friends and constituents in response to their support for her efforts to protect children from pornography in public schools. It is not an official USBE position.
Why? Because model policies are only a suggestion, as reiterated by several board members during today’s meeting. Model policies don’t have the force of law, only Rules do, and the Board rejected my motion last month to create a Rule that would actually enforce HB374, Sensitive Materials in Schools.
The Board spent all morning trying to collaborate on amendments that, at the end of the day, don’t make any real difference. Because, once again, it is still just a model policy, which means it’s purely optional.
Without a Rule, this whole process has been nothing but political theater.
If the Board had passed my motion last month, it would have triggered the creation of a Rule to implement my model policy as the Rule for the state’s 160-plus LEAs (districts & charters) to follow regarding sensitive materials in schools. If my motion had passed, we would have seen the following happen:
For the Board to allow this “restricted” option into the Master Merged model policy is simply irresponsible and is a huge injustice to children whose innocence we are supposed to protect. Or have schools come to believe it is their job to expose children to sexually graphic content? Schools cannot give minors drugs or alcohol, even with parent permission, because it is illegal. Again, this begs the question, why is there a double standard when it comes to the proliferation of illegal, sexually graphic content in schools?
Even worse, the Master Merged model policy confuses the exclusionary intent of HB374 by introducing subjective criteria for the types of books schools should include—recommendations that can be easily twisted to actually justify the introduction of pornographic, indecent, or otherwise controversial materials in the name of “relevance,” “diversity,” and “accessibility.”
LEAs would benefit from the legal protection that an appeal to the State Board would provide as final decisions made by the State Board can be legally defended by the state. In contrast, the Master Merged model policy has the USBE only get involved if an LEA isn’t following its own policy—the Master Merged model policy doesn’t provide parents any recourse or appeal if the LEA’s decision on a complaint fails to comply with the law.
A handful of activist organizations weighed-in to support the Master Merged model policy, which apparently trumped the concerns of thousands of Utah parents. We are nothing but a bobblehead Board if we agree to lower our standards to appease socially extreme activists, politicians, and outside organizations whose agendas facilitate the sexualization of Utah’s children. It appears the Board values political “collaboration” over moral obligation.
I want to leave no doubt in the public’s mind about the ineffectual, weak nature of the Master Merged model policy. Even if all LEAs were to adopt it to the letter, it still sells kids short because LEAs would be left to police themselves when it comes to following the law, and they have done an egregious job doing this so far.
8th Grade Student Encounters Sexually Explicit Material in Health Class
Canyons School District Puts Obscene Content Back on Book Shelves
Laverna in the Library – Facebook Group Focused on Explicit Material Sightings in Schools
Davis School District Keeps “Red Hood” in Schools
Pornographic Materials In Schools Inspire 2020 Bill to Create Porn Warning Labels on Books
Parents Plea With Washington County School District to Remove Pornographic Material
What the Master Merged draft doesn’t do is more telling than what it does do—it doesn’t enforce the law. Our kids’ safety is non-negotiable for me. I will not vote for anything that will cause me to violate my oath of office and the promise I made to my constituents when I ran for office, and that’s why I voted NO today on the Master Merged model policy. Our children and the families of Utah deserve better.
For the complete backstory on the events leading up to today’s Board meeting, please read my letter to my constituents published July 14, 2022.
Yours in liberty,
Natalie Cline
Doing What Truth and Liberty Require
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