One of the most noteworthy aspects of the debate over education is the progressive left’s strategy to push back on conservatives arguing against far-leftist ideology in the classroom. While using deception to push their agenda is about as common for Democrats as water being wet, the way they are using lies is rather peculiar, given what is happening before our eyes.
When it comes to school districts infusing progressive ideas related to sexual orientation, gender, and race, Democrats have done little to defend their stances on the matter. They are not explaining why these ideas should be taught in K-12 classrooms.
Instead, their main strategy seems to be trying to convince the American public that these teachings are not being presented in the classroom – at all. They constantly claim there are no problematic lessons on these topics being introduced to small children.
The issue with this is obvious. Anyone who pays attention can see the myriad of stories showing that many teachers are applying concepts related to Critical Race Theory (CRT), LGBTQ matters, and others in their classrooms. In fact, social media is rife with educators openly admitting they are doing this.
Chicago Public Schools and California districts have both had reports showing how they are pushing this ideology behind parents’ backs. The superintendent of Detroit Public Schools last year publicly boasted about CRT being the “foundation” of teaching in the city.
🧵 || Final nail in the coffin to “CRT isn’t being taught in K-12” ||
This video excerpt is from a Nov 2021 school board meeting by the Detroit Public School Community District. The man speaking is their superintendent Nikolai Vitti. https://t.co/lJxGPHPzaO pic.twitter.com/ifTU47R8K2
— Courage Is A Habit (@CourageHabit) April 21, 2022
It seems to me that if progressives truly believe that teachers should be teaching small children about sexual orientation and gender identity, they would be able to defend this belief. If they think pushing CRT in the classroom is a great way to educate kids, why wouldn’t they put forth their justification for this?
For starters, their stances on these matters are indefensible.
It is nearly impossible to argue that parents should not be privy to what their children are learning. Moreover, asserting that adults should not have a say in determining their kids’ education is not exactly a winning idea.
Just ask Terry McAuliffe.
Even further, the notion that educators instructing kids younger than eight years old on sexual orientation and gender identity is somehow beneficial is another idea that is difficult to defend. Sure, with older kids, one might be able to make the case depending on the situation. But for small children? There does not seem to be any real benefit here. Moreover, progressives would have a hard time arguing that not discussing these issues is somehow detrimental to the growth of these students.
CRT is another matter entirely. The majority of Americans believe that the country’s history regarding slavery, Jim Crow, and racism is relevant and absolutely should be taught in the classroom. This is why the far left has attempted to frame this as a historical educational matter. They either argue that concepts related to Critical Race Theory are not being taught or that CRT is simply about teaching history – an idea everyone can get on board with.
But, when you have teachers segregating children by skin color, and teaching lessons about eliminating “whiteness,” it is impossible to argue that this debate is about teaching accurate history or that it has nothing to do with CRT. In fact, the topic of “whiteness” comes up quite frequently in material created by proponents of the theory, which shows progressives are lying when they claim elements of CRT are not part of the curricula in many school districts. The notion that children should be influenced into believing America is a racist nation full of white “oppressors” and nonwhite “oppressed” would be anathema to most people, which further demonstrates why the left has to lie about it.
When trying to understand this issue, it is also important to recognize that Democrats perpetuating these lies know that their stance is not popular. Polling shows that Florida’s education bill is popular – even among Democratic voters.
FL GOV DEM PRIMARY POLL:
Crist 43%
Fried 33%
Taddeo 15%CASH ON HAND:
DeSantis $81.2M
Crist $4.7M
Fried $3.8MRCP 2022 FL GOV Average:
(R) DeSantis 50.4% (+8.8)
(D) Crist 41.6%(R) DeSantis 52%
(D) Fried 39.2%https://t.co/uLzMFqkKI4— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) March 24, 2022
Progressives do seem to understand the reality here. They are actually reading the room, and they know they can’t inject their ideas into K-12 classrooms overtly. Instead, they have to be more subtle, which is why many educators will be able to subvert laws banning certain types of teaching. In light of this, deception is the only route they can go, now that the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdown orders allowed parents to see firsthand what teachers are presenting to their little ones.
The debate over education is not slowing down anytime soon, and this is one culture war battle that conservatives appear to be winning. Even with the help of Disney, progressives were unable to stop the passage of a bill prohibiting the instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity to small children. Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Stop WOKE Act into law, which bars educators from presenting far-leftist ideas about racism in American to students.
At least 12 other states are set to pass legislation similar to that of the Sunshine State, and the far left isn’t too happy about it. In short, parents are starting to have more of a voice in determining how their children are educated, and the crowd who thinks kids belong to the state instead of parents is finding out that this fight will probably not go in their favor.
