Tag: teachers
Don Jr. Mindless Tweet

Twitter Derides Mindless Don Jr. Comments On School Safety

The eldest son of the former president is calling for the firing of “critical race theory” teachers in public schools and to use those funds to pay for armed guards. He also wants all “gender studies” teachers fired, and is calling for putting the hiring and firing of those teachers on state and local ballots.

Donald Trump, Jr., who, it appears, has no teaching degree, training in early childhood education (ECE), early child development, or any other education training, has a B.S. in economics.

Trump appeared to be specifically referring to elementary schools, after last week’s mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. 19 children and two teachers were shot and killed, and another 17 were wounded.

Most elementary schools, and in fact most public schools at the elementary, middle school, or high school level, do not have teachers dedicated to teaching gender studies classes, although some teachers may touch on the subject in conjunction with their regular classes.

A search by NCRM could find no critical race theory classes at the elementary, middle, and high school level public schools. Like many Americans, Trump Jr. appears to be misunderstanding what critical race theory (CRT) is.

Critical Race Theory, according to the law professor who coined the term, “is a way of seeing, attending to, accounting for, tracing and analyzing the ways that race is produced,” Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, a law professor at the U.C.L.A. School of Law and Columbia Law School told The New York Times last year, “the ways that racial inequality is facilitated, and the ways that our history has created these inequalities that now can be almost effortlessly reproduced unless we attend to the existence of these inequalities.”

“It is a way of seeing, attending to, accounting for, tracing and analyzing the ways that race is produced,” she said, “the ways that racial inequality is facilitated, and the ways that our history has created these inequalities that now can be almost effortlessly reproduced unless we attend to the existence of these inequalities.”

As many know, it is a college-level method of investigating, not an elementary school class.

Donald Trump, Jr. appeared to disagree, and was widely mocked Sunday night:
























Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Teacher’s Satirical Note On 'Don’t Say Gay' Enrages Right-Wing Outfit

Teacher’s Satirical Note On 'Don’t Say Gay' Enrages Right-Wing Outfit


The American conservative “advocates for parental rights in schools,” known as Moms for Liberty, have been busy working on making sure your children are protected from things like critical race theory (CRT), and any talk about gender identities (and LGBTQ+ stuff). Florida’s transphobic and homophobic and childhood-phobic conservatives scored a big legislative victory in March when state legislators were able to pass the “Don’t Say Gay” bill through into law. Its official name is the “Parental Rights in Education” bill and while it technically never mentions the word “gay,” the bill is a pretty obvious overreach into the rights of entire swathes of the American public. As such, lawsuits are already being filed against the Sunshine state.

Moms for Liberty’s Twitter account posted what they are calling a letter template for rebellious teachers to send home in regard to the new legal guidelines they are now forced to deal with as a result of the general pig-headed phobias of people like Moms for Liberty. Writing “A teacher in Palm Beach County, FL shared this template with us. It is being shared among teachers to use for grades K-3. How do you feel about this? What will you do when this arrives home in your child’s backpack? Time to take a Stand,” the letter is a little slice of genius, and the responses to this conservative freakout have been [takes a meditative breath] beautiful.

The letter serves to point out how, in its vague language, the bill’s authors have attempted to veil their bigotries and fears under the guise of parental rights. It does this by using the law’s truly banal purposes against the very parents who are pretending that this law isn’t very specifically about being homophobic and transphobic and queerphobic.

First the letter:

Dear Florida parent/caretaker:
The Florida house of Representatives has recently ruled that “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.”

To be in accordance with this policy, I will no longer be referring to your student with gendered pronouns. All students will be referred to as “The” or “them.” I will no longer use a gendered title such as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” or make any references to my husband/wife in the classroom. From now on I will be using the non-gendered title “Mx.”

Furthermore, I will be removing all books or instruction which refer to a person being a “mother,” “Father,” “husband” or “wife” as these are gender identities that also may allude to sexual orientation. Needless to say, all books which refer to a character as “he” or “She” will also be removed from the classroom. If you have any concerns about this policy, please feel free to contact your local congressperson.Thank you, Mx. XXXXXXXXXX

Whether this is a real “template” being handed out to teachers who see the don’t say gay bill for what it really is or if this is just one of those great memes that has truly pressed these “Moms for Liberty’s” buttons does not matter. Bridget Ziegler, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, Fox News talking face, and precinct committeewoman for the Republican Party of Sarasota County retweeted the letter, writing, “Once again, it’s unfortunate our students and their education are being hijacked by the Left’s culture wars. Thank goodness more educators, many whom are parents of young children, are speaking up and pushing back!”

The responses have been wonderful:



And here’s a new one to me—but maybe it’s been around for a while.



American Federation of Teachers

Teachers Union Warns A Million Education Jobs May Be Lost Without New Federal Aid

If federal relief funding is not provided to cities and states facing coronavirus budget shortfalls, nearly 1 million jobs in public K-12 education could be lost, according to a report released on Monday by the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest U.S. teachers union.

The report, titled, "A Time to Act: The Importance of Investment in Public Education and Other State and Local Services in the Time of COVID-19," found that K-12 public schools across the country are facing a $93.5 billion budget gap going into the next school year due to decreases in tax revenues received by state and local governments. Public schools receive the majority of their funding from tax revenues.

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heroes

Let’s Not Kill Our Heroes

Among the lessons taught by the pandemic is to value the people who make life possible in this country. They are hospital employees, ambulance drivers, cops and firefighters, of course, but also delivery workers, grocery clerks, utility workers, mail carriers and a panoply of others who confronted danger every day for months and still do. Most of us didn't notice how routinely they were overlooked, underpaid, dismissed and even disparaged until they helped us survive a lockdown.

Millions of parents have lately discovered, if they didn't already know, that teachers are among the most undervalued professionals in America. Trying to wrangle children at home every day, let alone induce them to learn, has schooled anyone who might have felt that our educators make more money than they deserve. So if we've discovered how essential these workers truly are, shouldn't we treat them as we would hope to be treated ourselves? And if we're committed to redressing fundamental inequities, shouldn't we start now — not wait until some distant day when the crisis is over?

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