No Revisionist History

 I've said it before and I'll say it again - no revisionist history. And yet, that's what seems to be happening.

I believe some of this churn is about Critical Race Theory. The GOP has been nothing short of brilliant by saying IT is racist because it makes kids, even kids of color, feel bad about themselves. 

How about the goal of NOT making ANY student feel bad about themselves? 

How about the goal of teaching a complete history of the United States, all the while explaining to students that hearing all of it will be the best medicine to never repeat it?

I listened in on the League of Education Voters panel yesterday on CRT. One observation that really brought the idea of teaching all the history home to me came from a professor on the panel, Dr. Verónica Vélez, who teaches at Western Washington University. She was relating a story about how her mother had been a great gardener but Dr. Vélez never listened as she was growing up. Fast forward to today and Vélez wanted to learn. Turns out mom had a lot to share. Vélez complained she never heard about the science of gardening in school. 

Her mother's reply, "Why would you? When did school ever teach you that we matter?"

For me, that's truly the crux of the matter - ALL the people who came to this country created it and we should be teaching our students that. 

Another member of the panel brought up that State Superintendent Chris Reykdal has stated that CRT is not being taught in Washington State. Here's what he said in 2021 to KIRO FM:

Reykdal says Washington state has learning standards and schools teach all history from multiple perspectives in social studies, government, or civics.

“We talk about the Civil Rights Movement, we talk about the causes of the Civil War, we talk about the experiences of Black Americans, of white Americans,” he said. “It’s comprehensive history, but it’s not critical race theory.”

Reykdal says the rhetoric that’s popular to discuss right now is a different CRT that he refers to as contrived radicalized talking points.

“This is manufactured rage for political purposes,” he said. “It’s a catchall now for every sort of angry thing that people want to throw out there, and unfortunately, has nothing to do with our actual learning standard or anything that the Legislature in this state has passed for what we teach.”

The panelist said he should take back his words because there ARE teachers that use CRT. But Reykdal isn't saying that there aren't teachers using CRT; he said it is not part of Washington State curriculum. There's a difference. 

I bring this all up because there's a "moderate" Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, who is supporting these proposed changes to that state's elementary curriculum. 

Concerned Educators of the Commonwealth put together a document listing a number of issues with the revision. Some of the concerns they raised include:

• Removing Martin Luther King, Jr. from elementary curriculum
• Referring to Native Americans as “America’s first immigrants,” despite being indigenous
• Reducing content on contributions from the Sikh and the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community

The final redraft also does not contain a mention of the LGBTQ+ community in Virginia, nor does it have any mention of Juneteenth. 

If approved, professional development would begin in summer 2023 and the revised standards would enter the classroom in the 2024-25 school year.

There are just no words for what they are proposing. It's a disgrace.  

Just to state, I am aware this kind of fight is not happening in Seattle Schools. It has a nice blue bubble shield. But if this kind of thing gets a toehold, it will start spreading.