The America’s Future Starts Now Roundup: When Critical Race Theory Starts to Fail: Analysis and Experts Share Their Views

Editor’s Note: This roundup is part of the CNN Opinion series “America’s Future Starts Now,” in which people share how they have been affected by the biggest issues facing the nation and experts offer their proposed solutions. The views expressed in these commentaries are the authors’ own. Read more opinion at CNN.

America’s public schools are experiencing many problems, including culture wars that have been happening in the classroom, school libraries and school board meetings. But some challenges are more endemic, the product of decades of low pay and lack of appreciation for the service that administrators and teachers perform. CNN Opinion talked to experts in the field of education, who said we need to address the problems in the classroom in order to deal with political issues of the day.

After a campaign of intentional misinformation and fear mongering, critical race theory quickly became one of our nation’s most contested and misunderstood education issues. Conservative strategists successfully convinced millions of Americans, including concerned parents of school-aged children, that it was being taught in K-12 districts across the country. No evidence exists to confirm that this was actually the case.

The conflation of equity and inclusion work with “critical race theory” has led to wildly inaccurate and unfounded accusations. Legislators and families have taken seed in the imaginations of this threat.

In 2020, it started with the lockdowns. For the first time, many parents were surprised to see what their kids were taught thanks to online conferencing apps. And they didn’t like it: Toxic and divisive ideas about race – disguised as lessons on slavery and racism – contradicted the belief in racial equality that most Americans – whatever their politics – shared with civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The new law bars educators from teaching that any particular group is inherently racist, sexist or otherwise oppressive. It promotes teaching about people regardless of race, gender, disability or other differences. But the language is so vague that it discourages teachers from having classroom conversations about race, racism and discrimination.

More than 60 percent of teachers and more than 65 percent of principals believe in systemic racism. The majority of teachers and principals didn’t believe that systemic racism does not exist. The teachers of color who believe in the existence of systemic racism are more likely to be white. The number of principals who reported their belief in systemic racism was the same as the number of White principals. Nearly all Black or African American principals (92 percent) and teachers (87 percent) reported believing that systemic racism exists.

With no credible evidence of an actual problem and no opportunity to vote on the issue, citizens who recognize the value of teaching our children the truth about America’s racial past and present won’t have a voice in the upcoming election.

This fall, voters in one state will decide what is taught in the classroom. West Virginians will consider a ballot question known as the Education Accountability Amendment, which if passed, would amend the state constitution to give the majority-Republican legislature more control over just about every aspect of public schooling.

The truth of our democracy must be taught by the people who care about it. Unfortunately, we may have to wait a while before that discussion resumes in our public schools.

The Role of Discrimination in Education: Teaching the Truth about Race, Gender and Equality in the Classroom and in the Workplace

Shaun Harper is a professor at the Rossier School of Education and the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. His research focuses primarily on race, gender and equity in the classroom and in the workplace. He wrote about Dr. SulfurHarper.

I am a teacher and ardent supporter of public education in New Hampshire. Having taught for over 20 years, my greatest joy is participating in a democratic institution that is for everyone.

I commit myself to continual learning and growth for my students. I continue to update strategies, let go of old projects that do not serve my current students and adapt my curriculum and language to ensure it is culturally sensitive.

I teach history to the best of my ability as I continually strive to better my background knowledge. I am here to hold space for all my students regardless of their identity, political positions or other affiliations. To do this, I must rigorously and regularly examine my biases, consider what and whom I am centering and why.

In my classroom, I have dedicated myself to building a foundation of trust, joy, understanding, respectful discourse, care and acceptance. Some of us are finding that harder to achieve under the new legislation. For example, a colleague who teaches in a nearby school district was told that if she openly said slavery was a “bad practice,” she must make it clear to her students that she is expressing an “opinion.” It is an experience that teachers in my state have had as well.

The Right to Freedom from Discrimination in Public Workplaces and Education Bill was written with the mistaken idea that discrimination is condoned or practiced in public spaces.

The laws passed in other states are obstacles to growth, student well-being and compassionate practices. There is a ban on creating mandatory equity training in New Hampshire because someone might feel bad.

We took a stance on dehumanizing activities, but what was the point at which we decided it was divisive? Who are we harming by taking a hardline on the concept of slavery? Our silence is a show of support. That is our ethical crisis. That is what fear-mongering yields.

Teaching Critical Thinking: How Teachers and Students Should Think, Act, and Smell: A Keystone to Understanding Teacher Reputation in the 21st Century

The perception of teacher prestige has fallen every decade since the 1960’s, ranging from 20 percent to 47 percent in the last decade. Since 1990, the teaching profession interest among high school seniors has fallen 50 percent and since 2010, it has fallen 38 percent. The number of new entrants into the profession has fallen by roughly one third over the last decade, and the proportion of college graduates that go into teaching is at a 50-year low. Teachers’ job satisfaction is also at the lowest level in five decades, with the percent of teachers who feel the stress of their job is worth it dropping from 81 percent to 42 percent in the last 15 years.

Future voters must understand that disagreement is normal and healthy. It is admirable to change your mind in the light of new evidence. Nothing could be more American, patriotic or democratic than striving for a more just society.

Feeling discomfort and dissonance often accompanies growth and learning; this is something I strive to normalize for my students. Critical thinking and analysis are taught by asking students to wrestle with ideas and evidence. We feel uneasy because of a lack of safety. There is a crucial difference.

Poorly constructed laws were drafted to stop good, productive work under the guise of being “anti-critical race theory” and have resulted in the oppression of free thought, critical thinking and children. I know we can do better.

I would like to send a message to lawmakers. Trust teachers. Asking them to be sensitive and inclusive is reasonable. You’ll find that’s what they generally already are.

Public schooling struggles with diversity. From early battles over the Bible to current fights over race, gender identity, prayer and more, public schooling – in which all must fund a single system of government schools – inevitably pits people with diverse values, needs and backgrounds against each other.

The murder of George Floyd prompted many public school officials to target systemic racism and conservatives to demand colorblindness when it comes to America. Graphic novels, such as “Gender Queer,” with graphic depictions of sexual activity, and other books on hot-button topics sparked dueling accusations of “hate” and “indoctrination.”

In 2000, the US population was non-Hispanic white. By 2020, that had decreased to about 42%. Gay marriage support skyrocketed from 27% of Americans in 1996 to 77% in 2021, while the share of people belonging to a church, synagogue or mosque plummeted from 70% in 1999 to 47% in 2020.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/03/opinions/fixing-problems-public-schools-culture-wars-roundup/index.html

What We Can Do to Support Families and Students in a System of Government-Regulated Schools: Investing, Tutoring and Increasing Student Emotional Development

It should come as no surprise that parents have been fighting for their rights so vociferously when it comes to public education. They think that the rights are under attack.

Giving parents more say does nothing to change a system that forces diverse people, including parents, to fund – and fight to control – government-run schools.

Attachmoney to students and let families choose among varied options is the answer to freedom. Universal education savings accounts, scholarship tax credits and other choice vehicles can be used to accomplish this.

Regardless of how it is done, the goal of choice is to enable diverse families to access education they think is right rather than forcing neighbor to defeat neighbor to control public schools.

Hundreds of thousands of students have disappeared from school rolls, derailing their futures and foreshadowing budget shortfalls when the emergency Covid-19 relief funds run out. The Nation’s Report Card reported historic declines in reading and math scores.

Some critics see this as a chance to point fingers and to use kids as political pawns. We see it as an urgent call to institute short-term and long-term investments and proven strategies to support students’ emotional development and to accelerate learning, especially for Black and Latino students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who were underserved and behind their peers prior to the pandemic.

What we must not allow is for students and educators to be dragged into bad-faith battles over bathroom access and participation on sports teams as an unwelcome distraction from ensuring that every student receives a great education and the supports needed to thrive academically and socially.

There are interventions that can be used to help kids and families right now, even though both organizations are engaging in longer-term strategies.

In the short term, targeted, intensive tutoring has large positive effects on both math and reading achievement. Recent studies have found that paraprofessionals, AmeriCorps workers, and others who are trained to support student learning can be just as effective as teachers when tutoring in small groups.

These policies and practices will make teaching more desirable and accessible and will work to increase the racial, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the teaching workforce, a move that research shows has a positive impact for students.

Safety was required to return to in-person teaching and learning. Now is the time to double down on proven strategies, using the resources we are fortunate to have, to deliver on a promise the US has not yet fulfilled—providing every child access to a high quality public education, without exception.

The schools are saying that children who are born into a wrong body are the reason for the recent trends. Suddenly, from Florida to Texas to Wyoming, parents are discovering that schools are teaching, seemingly across the curriculum, that an internal sense of gender trumps biological sex. Worse, some schools are changing, at their students’ request – but without their parents’ knowledge or consent – their students’ names and pronouns to conform to a child’s surprising new “gender identity.”

Far too many parents come to the school board meetings and are met with accusations that they are putting politics in education. It’s up to the parents to raise and teach their children.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/03/opinions/fixing-problems-public-schools-culture-wars-roundup/index.html

The Power of Public Education: Implications for Students, Families, and the Future of the U.S., and for Community-Based Organizations

Jay Richards is a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation and director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family.

America’s children are facing an unprecedented moment in history and book bans and debates have always existed. Today, school resources are stretched thin, schools are facing teacher and staff shortages and districts are still grappling with the long-term effects of the pandemic on student learning, as individuals’ rights to quality education are under increasing threat.

We can tackle these issues by increasing teacher pay, creating financial incentives for effective educators, expanding student loan forgiveness for teachers, and ensuring teachers have enough resources.

There are more challenges for teachers than books, race, and gender inclusion, which is why many MAGA extremists take aim at it. Defunding the Department of Education, an ongoing federal level tactic among other changes in public school funding, should not be a topic of debate. However, it has also been central to MAGA Republicans’ federal policy agenda and could have devastating consequences for students nationwide.

America has become more inclusive due to it, with improved outcomes of race, gender and ability. Over the course of generations, bipartisan support has been shown for public schools.

“A Nation at Risk,” a major report on education released by the Reagan administration in 1983, used fear-based arguments to argue that reading and math test scores were essential for national security. This logic eventually transformed test scores from one critical indicator (which they are) to the very purpose of public schools (which they are not).

The combination of these factors — declining prestige, lower pay than other professions that require a college education, increased workloads, and political and ideological pressures — is creating both intended and unintended consequences for teacher accountability reforms mandating tougher licensing rules, evaluations and skill testing.

State leaders should talk about the future of their state and the role public education has in realizing that future. Unspent federal Covid-19 relief can be a perfect catalyst for this work. Grants to community-based organizations and PTAs, after-school providers, 4-H Clubs and faith-based youth groups can support stakeholders in articulating what they want to be true about their public schools and identifying opportunities in their communities. Civic organizations such as universities can use their own resources to sponsor similar inquiries.

They want to have financial stability and a mental health that is1-65561-6556, but the low pay and challenges of work life balance in the teaching profession, and the fact that student loan debt is over $30,000, are deterrents. This disconnect affects the profession at large, which has been struggling for years. There were fewer graduates of traditional teacher education programs between 2008 and 2019.

To meet the needs of students in the 21st century and the careers of the future, we need to include all skills and mindsets that students want and need to thrive.

For example, technology could allow expert educators to teach multiple classes virtually while a colleague who is expert in creating productive learning spaces focuses there. Many teachers excel at both roles – we just don’t have enough of them to staff every classroom in our country. Making teachers jobs more sustainable is just one of the things this shift is about.

Elisa Villanueva Beard is the CEO of Teach For America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving educational access, opportunity and outcomes for young people in low-income communities. She tweets @VillanuevaBeard.

What Do Some Local Public Schools Say about Black Lives? A Comparative Analysis of a High School Principals’ Perspective on Education Reforms Over the Last Half Century

Some people think their local public schools place too little emphasis on slavery, racism, and other challenges faced by Black people in the United States. Some people think local public schools place too much emphasis on these topics. What is your view about your local public schools?

The responses of Democrats and Republicans were mirror opposites of each other. 55 percent of Democrats said slavery,racism and other challenges faced by Black people had been neglected, and 8 percent said it too much. 51 of them said too much and 10 of them said too little.

The results of a survey of high school principals last summer were combined with interviews with additional principals to create the study.

Two professors from Brown University and the University of Albany conducted a study on the trends of professional satisfaction, preparation, and interest over the last half century.

A steady pattern of decline and rise in the 1970s, a rise and fall in the ’80s, and a drop in the late 1990s are consistent across all measures. The teaching profession is at its lowest point in 50 years.

The focus of education policy over the past 10 years has been on improving human capital in schools. These reforms, and the research upon which they drew, were based on strong assumptions about how accountability would affect who decided to become a teacher. Counter to most assumptions, our findings document how teacher accountability reduced the supply of new teacher candidates by, in part, decreasing perceived job security, satisfaction and autonomy.

The economic incentives, salary structure and work-life pressures characteristic of public education employment have created aclimate in which contemporary education reforms can cause problems rather than alleviate them.