Editor, The Smithfield Times:

Jo Weaver (“She supports equity”, Aug 4) says she was distressed at a recent school board meeting when a parent continued to refer to the move toward equity as Critical Race Theory (CRT).

Advocating equity over equality is part of CRT. While CRT is not “openly” taught in schools, the National Education Association (NEA) is secretly pushing CRT.

From a July 5 cached Bing page from the NEA Annual Meeting & Representative Assembly, New Business Item 39, later deleted from the NEA website: “Provide an already-created, in-depth, study that critiques empire, white supremacy, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, racism, patriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, anthropocentrism, and other forms of power and oppression at the intersections of our society, and that we oppose attempts to ban critical race theory and/or The 1619 Project.”

People shouldn’t oppose teaching the full history of America, the good, the bad and the ugly. However, The 1619 Project makes several controversial, divisive and contested claims, including the United States was founded on slavery; the American Revolution was fought by “some” colonists to preserve slavery; and “out of slavery, and the anti-black racism it required, grew nearly everything that has truly made America exceptional.”

The NEA presentation “Rethinking Grading with Agency and Equity” says student learning is “highly influenced by oppressive systems, including oppressive grading systems.” Oregon recently passed a bill suspending the “essential skills” requirement for graduation for three years. This comes amid a nationwide push to end standardized testing in the name of equity.

Testing is required for numerous occupations, civil service jobs and the military. My son passed his Registered Respiratory Therapist certification exams thanks in part to the excellent education he received from Isle of Wight schools.

Call me old-fashioned, but what’s happening to schools just teaching the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the real world?

 

Joe Naneville

Windsor