KEEPING BIAS AT BAY
I was thumbing through the I70 scout last week and saw how many ads there were in the classified section had been taken out by school districts along the Corridor. Teachers, administrators, custodians, paras, secretaries…you name it, large numbers of positions needing to be filled. Specifically though, the number of teaching positions open gave me the most pause.
It is incredibly alarming to me how many students are steering clear of going into education. It is a tough job, but I do think that it has gotten increasingly more difficult over the past few years. There are a lot of issues to contend with, and even more now with the consequences of COVID. However, it is this author’s opinion that the major reason for this shortage is the increased politicalization of our schools. Educators nowadays encounter too many mandates about focusing on social emotional learning, gender identity, pronouns, watering down expectations, and increased paperwork, which leaves less time to just educate young people about their content.
It is incredibly alarming to me how many students are steering clear of going into education. It is a tough job, but I do think that it has gotten increasingly more difficult over the past few years. There are a lot of issues to contend with, and even more now with the consequences of COVID. However, it is this author’s opinion that the major reason for this shortage is the increased politicalization of our schools. Educators nowadays encounter too many mandates about focusing on social emotional learning, gender identity, pronouns, watering down expectations, and increased paperwork, which leaves less time to just educate young people about their content.
Furthermore, the curriculum that’s being written has become more liberal leaning, including the expectation to include lessons centering around the history and acceptance of the transgender and LGBTQ communities, the newest historical interpretation of the black community, like “how to be an Anti-racist”, or BLM curriculum, or climate change. Just last month, my own school district hosted a districtwide meeting where the district head of the social studies teachers proceeded to berate Republican leaders at the state level, talk badly about our former president, and spew liberal rhetoric with no concern to the teachers in the room. |
Granted, the majority of the teachers that day were mostly left or liberal leaning folks who agreed with her. However, there was no regard for the teachers who may not agree with their politics, and ended up modeling the exact opposite of what teachers should present in their classrooms - a politically neutral environment where everyone feels safe. It was alarming. There should never be a moment where the political beliefs of an educator should get in the way of teaching content. This person also made it clear that the biased information being shared was something that we were expected to teach our students.
Districts might be telling parents that teachers are NOT teaching lessons that cause confusion, or even division among students, but if a district leader is able to bad mouth leaders they disagree with, insist that teachers include historical documents that are specifically LGBTQ focused, and provide resources that are one-sided, then it is certainly bleeding into classrooms. It is the hope of every parent that classrooms are not politicized, but that does not seem to be the norm any longer.
In a recent interview with Charlie Kirk, Marisa Streit, the CEO of PragerU, who is working on unbiased curriculum for public schools through PragerU, commented on the left’s impact on our children. “People have no idea, you have been gaslighted when it comes to what's in American schools. If you can't get them out and homeschool them, then you are sending your kids to a school where they have to be inoculated (immunized against a disease)." |
To offset “left leaning” curriculum, PragerU has created their own, K-12 videos to help supplement the honest truth about American history (and other content areas). This curriculum is getting major push back from teacher's unions and liberal educators that say these materials are detrimental to children.
These online, free videos have recently been approved for Florida schools, and the left is throwing a fit. Teachers unions and Department of Education members are frantically fighting to protect their ideological monopoly over education and the curriculum that is allowed to be taught (mostly because the leaders of these institutions are being swooned by executives of the major educational software and curriculum companies). |
PragerU has experienced an immense amount of pushback because these folks don’t want to give students access to content…it might shoot holes in their assumptions that “these are OUR kids”. These are the same leaders and teachers that are pushing literature focused on transgenderism, homosexuality, and supporting drag queen story hour at young ages (see last month’s article on the Scholastic book fair). What kills me is that there is a huge amount of free lesson plans on the internet for teachers to utilize. Maybe it’s time to start asking why all of THOSE lessons (not approved by the Department of Education at the federal or state level), are being highlighted as bad for children, just like they are for PragerU materials.
School boards need to make sure that rogue teachers are not teaching things that are outside of the approved literature and standards. Communities should have a choice in utilizing content like PragerU. Teachers who are not brainwashed in Leftist ideas should feel supported by their administrations. Teachers who ARE teaching in a biased manner and presenting elements against the parameters of the district should be disciplined. Students SHOULD be able to study in a classroom without being indoctrinated.
We can fight (and win) for our children, even if we can’t take our kids out of public schools. We might not all have teaching degrees, but we can all be teachers in our children’s lives. You can find supplemental videos on PragerU Kids Supplemental courses in Civics, History and more. The videos are short, engaging and informative. There are also lesson plans after each video for you to discuss with your children after watching.
We can fight (and win) for our children, even if we can’t take our kids out of public schools. We might not all have teaching degrees, but we can all be teachers in our children’s lives. You can find supplemental videos on PragerU Kids Supplemental courses in Civics, History and more. The videos are short, engaging and informative. There are also lesson plans after each video for you to discuss with your children after watching.
Getting involved locally:
There are many different ways that citizens can get involved in the educational process. Schools are asking for participation in many different ways. The schools along the corridor have made school board meetings readily available for the public to watch and participate in. Together, we can contribute time and attention to our young people. Below is a list of opportunities:
-Attend a board meeting (virtual): Bennett, Strasburg, Byers, Deer Trail
-Run for school board positions
-Write your local superintendent
-Attend a board meeting (virtual): Bennett, Strasburg, Byers, Deer Trail
-Run for school board positions
-Write your local superintendent
- Bennett * Mrs. Robin Purdy
- Strasburg * Mr. Dan Hoff
- Byers * Mr. Tom Turrell
- Deer Trail * Mr. BJ Buchmann