Is there any hope that U.S. public schools will ever get back to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic? Under the current leadership at the nation's largest teachers unions, it does not appear that will happen anytime soon.
Becky Pringle, president of the influential National Education Association, is raising eyebrows after telling The New York Times about her "pressing" goal for schools.
She wants to "reclaim public education as a common good, and transform it into something it was never designed to be: racially and socially just, and equitable."
And that's not just a future vision, either. According to The Times, the NEA has been pushing full steam ahead.
This year, the N.E.A. published its Racial Justice in Education Resource Guide, which advises teachers on how to directly address issues such as white supremacy, implicit bias and acknowledging how race influences their work. Over the summer, at the union’s representative assembly — where Mr. Biden addressed the group, calling the N.E.A. “indispensable” — delegates voted to pour $675,000 into measures to “eradicate institutional racism” in public schools.
In response to growing protests against teaching students about the legacy of systemic racism, which conservative groups deride with the umbrella term “critical race theory,” the union also began an “Honesty in Education” campaign that supports teaching “truthful and age-appropriate accountings of unpleasant aspects of American history.”
In addition, the N.E.A. has pledged more than $56,500 to research conservative groups that it said were “attacking educators doing anti-racist work.” (NYT)
The report acknowledges that Pringle has "alienated members with her platform," but that's not all. In response to the story, many social media users just asked that she do her job and focus on the basics of education.
How about reclaiming math, reading and science proficiency? Do your damned job. https://t.co/c8uTj5OCVF
— Tim Wood ?????? (@TimOnPoint) December 13, 2021
At a time when Democrats have lost the huge voter advantage they once had on education, this might not be the best moment to “transform it into something it was never designed to be”https://t.co/CLKEbcxBnE
— Geoff Kabaservice (@RuleandRuin) December 13, 2021
The best way to fixneducstion is by disbanding teachers unions, ending tenure and eliminating groups like the NEA.
— menarenotwomen (@menarenotwomen2) December 13, 2021
Your focus on social justice is not justice.
Your focus on equity has nothing to do with equality.
These concepts are simply racism by another name.