Meanwhile Over in Kennewick SD...


1) That first paragraph where it says "free of political bias?" History is written by the winners. History IS very much political so trying to sanitize it all will be some job. 

2) So kids will be taught that racism exists today but the U.S. is not fundamentally or systemically racist. What if a teacher has a lesson on redlining and has research that it still occurs today? What then? Racism in this country only occurs in a few pockets? Oh brother!

3) So "nor disparaging treatment shall be applied to learning about any race,..." Again, the teacher is putting forth info on the Civil War. A student makes an observation that it looked like the slave owners were all white and the enslaved were all Black." Is that student to be censured? Can the teacher agreed in theory? 

4) I absolutely agree that no one's race makes them responsible for "past transgressions of their race." But doesn't that phrasing imply that yes, there IS a race that was responsible? Hmmm. 

I also saw an amusing comparison today with those who damn the partial forgiveness of some loans with a comparison of asking how hundreds of years of slavery will be forgiven.  If you want some to NOT be off the hook for one thing, then it should follow that you don't want some to be off the hook for other actions. 

5) How does one be "neutral" on slavery? On tearing Native American children from their parents and putting them in boarding schools? On putting Japanese-Americans into internment camps. History and civics is probably the MOST difficult place to be neutral. 

They better define "educate" versus "indoctrinate." Because if you want teachers to say, "America is the greatest nation on earth," where does that fall between those two?

6) I do appreciate the Board allowing students multiple ways to express themselves about racism and allowing debate in class. I only wonder how the teacher is allowed to run interference.

Thoughts?


Comments

Immigrant said…
I agree 100% with the Kennewick school district. We should teach our children America's history and especially our mistakes in order to do better. However teaching division, segregating kids between oppressed and oppressors and claiming our country is unique in being fundamentally racist is not only morally wrong, it actually harms the movement towards equality. I wish at least one board member in Seattle would show restraint when it comes to the current ideological agenda but there's no chance. How is that for diversity that nobody dares to disagree?
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Immigrant, please find me a district doing what you stated. It isn't SPS (except for those who were trained and listened to Tracy Castro Gill).

And that whatabouism of "we're not the only country" well, this is the country we live in. We have to be accountable for ourselves.

You think diversity means being able to speak your mind? I think you are confused.

Anonymous, send me that comment with a name and I'll print it.
paolo said…
On behalf of Immigrant -a quick scan of the web showed Chicago, Washington D.C., Buffalo, NY, Balsz Arizona and MN schools have adopted 1619 Project. 33 school systems in TN have been granted waivers to use CRT texts. Tulsa and Mustang districts in OK use CRT. District reps from 22 states attended a 1619/CRT training in MN. These include the teaching of all or part of what Immigrant has claimed. I'm not looking to argue over something as silly as CRT. My information here is meant to answer your request to be shown even one district presenting as per Immigrant's comment.

Thoughts- Melissa, you're missing nuances about histories - especially those which teachers are trained and ethically required to account for in presenting K-12 History materials. It's misleading to say, "History is written by the winners.". Small 'h' histories come in a variety of perspectives. It's a 'History' teacher's duty to be aware of those perspectives, incorporate them in ways and at paces which help each student learn so each comes to understanding at their own pace.
It seems to me you're mistakenly assuming professional teachers stick strictly to whatever book a given district has chosen; thereby presenting one perspective or, in cases like TCG, an agenda of personal bias. Kennewick says it aims to avoid political and personal bias. Accomplishing that necessitates multiple perspectives beyond what any single text can provide.
Underlying your whole commentary is the assumption teachers will stick strictly to district-approved materials. Incompetents, and those lacking professional ethics will do so. But most teachers will not.
Regarding your list of questions 2-5 I can answer in depth if you'd be patient enough for what is taught in years of teacher training. Colleges of Education present such questions and teacher candidates learn how to address
them. Later specialized workshops help teachers meet newly arising questions in an ever-changing culture.

Returning to your reply to Immigrant- Can you explain "You think diversity means being able to speak your mind?" I don't see what that refers to; a board member speaking against the current ideological agenda? Immigrant speaking up? a different definition of diversity?




Immigrant said…
Replying to Melissa's comments:

Yes, Tracy was too wacko for SPS but there are many others employed by the district who share most of her ideas, which of course they deliver in a less abrasive way.

As far as examples of CRT being used in Washington for K-12 education see this framework for woke math: http://k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math%20SDS%20ES%20Framework.pdf

Just one quote: "How has math been used to resist and liberate people and communities of color from oppression?"

I've seen other documents by SPS regarding white supremacy that were terrible but I haven't kept them. I'm going to start keeping track just in case.

Yes, this is the country where we live and it has many flaws. However fabricating history to make its founding revolve around slavery like The 1619 Project does is false, ridiculous and toxic.

Diversity is not being able to speak your mind, correct. However the most important type of diversity, way more than skin shade, is diversity of ideas. Could we have an anti-abortion Catholic on the school board? Even the idea is ludicrous. Could we have a retired general? John Stanford wouldn't happen today.

Also I couldn't notice we have 6 women and one man on the board. I see they publish data about how the board demographics aligns with the district population but for some reason nothing about gender...

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