by Evan Stambaugh
A former teacher running for a seat on the Forest Lake School Board once unequivocally stated that parents should have no say in what their children are taught.
Back in February, prior to running for school board, Ashley Bulmer posted a 26-second video to TikTok declaring that “teachers should be allowed to teach” without parental input in how they construct their lesson plans.
“I’m a parent, and I’m sorry to all you parents out there, but you do not get a say in your child’s teacher’s lesson plans,” she said. “I spent thousands of dollars on a degree and my educator’s license, and I would be gosh-darned if parents tried to tell me how to write my lesson plans that I literally went to school to learn how to write.”
Bulmer added that parents who want more control over what their children are taught should “homeschool them” instead.
The school board candidate appears to have voluntarily deleted the video and her entire TikTok channel, but only after the video spread like wildfire on social media.
This is Ashley Bulmer. She’s a former teacher running for school board in Forest Lake Area Schools, MN.
She wants you to know that she thinks parents shouldn’t have a say in their childrens’ education. pic.twitter.com/QosiZJIra3
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 21, 2022
Center of the American Experiment’s Bill Walsh wrote that Bulmer’s “arrogance and dismissiveness towards parents is exactly what got [Republican] Glenn Youngkin elected Governor of Virginia last year.”
“After Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe told Virginia voters he didn’t think ‘parents should be telling schools what they should teach,’ parents overwhelmingly flocked to Youngkin’s campaign and carried him to victory,” Walsh said.
In a statement posted to Facebook this week, Bulmer clarified her comments without explicitly disavowing what she said in the video. She also noted that she originally posted it to TikTok “months before” she filed to become a school board candidate.
“There should always be a partnership between parents and teachers,” she said. “Parents know their student best, and as such will be a huge asset to a teacher. Teachers know education and curriculum practices best. They know the state standards. They know how to write lesson plans and evaluate a student’s progress.”
Bulmer previously taught children of various ages in south Minneapolis, Blaine, and Forest Lake throughout her decade-long career.
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Evan Stambaugh is a freelance writer who had previously been a sports blogger. He has a BA in theology and an MA in philosophy.
Photo “Ashley Bulmer” by LibsofTikTok.
