The pledge was signed by no teachers on Jan. 22, the day before. It now has one pledge from South Deerfield teacher.
They’re one of the thousands of US teachers pledging to continue educating students about the controversial Critical Race Theory, which explains racism is embedded in US culture and politics.
The South Deerfield teacher wrote "Students must be given the opportunity to learn about the true history of humanity - that means not just US History, but World History. The difficult, the inspiring, the changes that have brought us into the 21st Century - students need to learn ALL of it. Our students need to truly understand how complicated the world is in order to participate in ways that can make our future better" when pledging to teach Critical Race Theory.
Though the concept was first suggested in the late 70’s, it has recently exploded as a contentious issue between the American right and left in the last two years.
Many who signed the pledge are defying state bans on the teachings. Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have passed legislation banning discussions about the US being inherently racist.
Other states, such as Montana and South Dakota, have denounced the teachings without passing specific legislation.
In an interview with The Washington Free Beacon', Ashley Varner of the Freedom Foundation accused the Zinn Education Project of providing “left-leaning propaganda to teachers.”
| Teachers | Thoughts on Critical Race Theory |
|---|---|
| Alison Walters | Students must be given the opportunity to learn about the true history of humanity - that means not just US History, but World History. The difficult, the inspiring, the changes that have brought us into the 21st Century - students need to learn ALL of it. Our students need to truly understand how complicated the world is in order to participate in ways that can make our future better |
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