American History Editorial Twisted the Truth

Originally published as a guest view in the Appeal Democrat, August 23, 2022.

The foundation of Stephanie Coontz' editorial, "American history is a parade of horrors – and also heroes," is based on the left's misleading narratives. The first is that state legislatures are trying to limit free speech. That's simply not true. Legislatures and parents around the country are attempting to focus education on teaching instead of the woke activism that is flooding our schools and being pushed on our children.

California is now working on a new math curriculum. The proposed curriculum repeatedly recommends "A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction, Dismantling Racism in Math Instruction" as a teaching aid. The first paragraph of that manual says, "The framework for deconstructing racism in mathematics offers essential characteristics of antiracist math educators and critical approaches to dismantling white supremacy in math classrooms by making visible the toxic characteristics of white supremacy culture with respect to math."

"A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction …" then goes on to encourage teachers to:

• "Identify and challenge the ways that math is used to uphold capitalist, imperialist, and racist views."
• "Expose students to examples of people who have used math as resistance."
• "Provide learning opportunities that use math as resistance."

The penchant of the left to engage in identity politics is tearing this country apart and we're not immune from that here in the Yuba-Sutter area. The Marysville Joint Unified School District administration was pushing for an Equity Policy earlier this year that provided for "routinely assessing student needs based on data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and socio-economic and cultural backgrounds in order to enable equity-focused policy, planning, and resource development decisions."

After the MJUSD School Board rejected this language, the president of the teacher's union was quoted as saying, "As an educator, as somebody who was born and raised here, as the president for the teachers union, it was shocking, and it was disappointing, it was depressing, it was a gut punch and it has definitely sent shockwaves through the local teaching community."

When did politicians and educators lose sight of treating students as individuals? Struggling students, regardless of their skin color, should be treated as unique individuals with their own unique challenges. Is their challenge a learning disability, problems at home, attitude, drugs or alcohol, homelessness, discrimination, being bullied, some other issue or a combination of these?

The author misunderstands the objection when she says, "some celebrate American exceptionalism and resist dwelling on horrors like slavery or settler colonialism." Readers shouldn't conclude that just because parents don't want courses "dwelling" on slavery and etc. doesn't mean they don't want those topics taught. What parents don't want can be summed up from this quote from the editorial.

Children shouldn't be made to "feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress" on the account of "actions committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, sex, or national origin." How can anyone object to protecting our children from superimposed guilt by association and psychological distress claiming, as the editorial's author does, that it violates a teacher's First Amendment right of freedom of speech?

Parents simply want what's best for their children – a classical education where the focus is on reading, writing, math, science, history, developing critical thinking skills and learning how to express themselves thoughtfully and logically.

Learning about "Horrors and Heroes" in history class at age appropriate grade levels is absolutely relevant. We have lost our way, though, when this left wing agenda permeates every academic subject, taking precious time away from the teaching of core subject matter and causing mistrust between students of varying ethnicities.

California ranks 44th in public education. We're last in literacy. That's where the policies of the left have gotten us. Not surprisingly, several news organizations reported that black and Hispanic children suffered the most from the left's extreme shut down of California schools due to COVID-19 concerns. Ironically, these are the same groups the left now claims will benefit from its "equity" policies. But how can encouraging children of color to identify as being oppressed and sending them to failing schools possibly result in healthy development?

These policy failures are at the center of the Parent Revolt being seen across this country. Parents are running for school boards in record numbers to protect our children and save our schools.

Lloyd Leighton is the chairman of the Sutter County Republican Central Committee.