The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association is distributing a flyer to its members, encouraging them to attend a series of “Healing Racism Workshops,” EAGnews.org reported exclusively.
Held over eight Wednesdays at the First Unitarian Society, the sessions will allow educators to receive graduate school credit through Madison’s Edgewood College.
In most school districts, more graduate school credits equate to more pay for teachers.
The flyer reads:
“We have all ‘been assigned a race by America’s pervasive socialization process.’ (Learning To Be White, Thandeka) This racial conditioning permeates the fabric of our inter-personal and inter-group relations, taking little account of laws and statutes, and reaching deep into the hearts and minds of individuals.
“In these forums we seek to create an environment in which we can address each other in a spirit of openness, free of blame or victimization.”
Our guess is these workshops are really all about blame and victimization.
Why is a “training” that focuses on “white privilege” and other such theories a priority for Wisconsin teachers? Is there evidence that black students, or other minority students, are somehow treated unfairly in Milwaukee schools? Have there been a lot of complaints from minority parents about the way their children are treated at school?
Or are the people who run these workshops so hung up on racism that they won’t allow the people of America to continue to move beyond it? Are we gaining anything by having our teachers constantly harp on their students about the cultural factors that separate people, rather than the many things we all have in common?
The training comes on the heels of the Delavan-Darien School District in southern Wisconsin taking heat for offering an “American Diversity” class that, too, focuses heavily on “white privilege,” according to FoxNews.com.
“They’re teaching white guilt,” one parent told the cable news network. “They’re dividing the students. They’re saying to non-whites, ‘You have been oppressed and you’re still being oppressed,’” she said.
Similarly, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has a teacher training program called “CREATE Wisconsin,” which stands for “Culturally Responsive Education for All: Training and Enhancement.”
When EAGnews sought documents to better understand the program, we were met with a $19,969 bill. Nevertheless, we’ll have much more coming out on the program soon.
Why is there such a heavy focus on race in teacher training and preparation? Why can’t colleges prepare educators to simply focus on teaching students the basics, instead of ideologies? The fact that some educrat thinks this sort of “training” is worth college credit says a lot about the mindset of the education establishment.
These eggheads should stop trying to drive wedges between the races and focus on giving the best possible education to children of all racial backgrounds.