Does Critical Race Theory Belong in Public Schools?
As a School Board Member at North Adams Community Schools, and as a member of the Legislative Committee for the Indiana School Board Association, I have been spending significant time trying to understand the concept of Critical Race Theory. I have read hundreds of pages of white papers, listened to hours of podcasts, and looked to "experts" for their viewpoint...on both sides of the discussion. It, known as CRT, truly is a frightening approach which minimizes us all to a few labels or categories, all the while telling us our future has already been written.
What I have concluded to date is this...as public school educators we are responsible for instructing our children in the areas where education must reside, not in cultural theory or personal beliefs, but in those disciplines that could be best identified utilizing the STEAM acronym. This stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. Each of these categories possess a wide array of applications that would encompass what could be labeled as a classical public school education.
Culture and Faith must be learned at home - the teaching of these do not belong within the hallways of our public schools. Education must not and cannot have a filter for the color of one's skin. It cannot be thought of as a vehicle for one race to elevate itself for the purpose of controlling other races, or equally as important a method to reduce or lower one race to benefit another. Education is a foundational element of a civilized society to be applied to all members of a civilized society. It is a service that only applies judgement based on the content of a person's character and the achievements of that person, not the color of their skin.
Education must be an area that challenges understanding and causes students discomfort as they are confronted with new ideas, views, and information. Education though, can never be something that causes discomfort because of who the student may be or what the student looks like. CRT is a front to this belief, demanding what could be labeled as an unethical practice of inflicting intentional harm and emotional distress on students simply because of their racial makeup. If I supported such a practice, I would expect to be labeled as one supporting educational malpractice and promptly voted out of office at the next school board election.
The hallways of our public schools are the wrong place for the teaching of culturally centered beliefs, including CRT. Our schools are the place to provide the tools for a person to elevate herself or himself in what continues to be the greatest Country in the world. CRT is a suppressing theory, stating that people are born with a pre-destined future. I fail to find the justice in such a trend of thought and am unable to support such a position. I would rather spend my efforts lifting people up and elevating them so that they can achieve as much of the American Dream as they want to work to achieve.
That is why I’m proud to be a Public School Board Member.