I am an American Public-School Teacher.
I am not “indoctrinating” children.
I am not “grooming” children.
I am educating students.
I spend my days teaching students how to read deeply to gain knowledge and learn about the world.
I am teaching my students to be critical thinkers.
I am teaching them to ask probing questions; to seek out primary documents; to verify sources and confirm data and facts; to analyze claims and examine their logic; to fact-check everything.
I am not “woke” and I have no “socialist agenda”.
I am doing my job, by teaching the academic standards in ways that help all my students to learn and grow.
I am not indoctrinating children.
I am not grooming children.
It is soul-crushing to have some politicians vilify teachers and educators and prey on parent fears, simply to create a culture war where there is none.
It is even more horrifying to discover that there are some Americans out there willing to accept these blatant lies as truth, and to join in this manufactured war on teachers and schools.
Schools have always been “transparent” about curriculum. Grade Level Content Standards and Textbook adoption approvals are public knowledge and are determined at the state level by these very people who are telling you schools are not being forthcoming about what they are teaching. That is not true.
We are not teaching Critical Race Theory, as this is a college level topic. The term is being used to justify the push to change how things like slavery, the Civil War, the Holocaust, and Civil Rights are being taught, so as to make White Supremists look less evil.
Parents have always had the right to object to a book they do not want their child to read and teachers and schools have always honored and respected that. The only possible reason to ban books and limit school and classroom libraries, is to prevent others from having the freedom to read ideas that you do not like.
We are not indoctrinating children.
We are not grooming children.
I have been a classroom teacher for more than 28 years, and I can tell you, teachers are the hardest working, most selfless people you will ever know. They want nothing more than to teach the standards in ways that allow all students to learn and grow.
We are not the enemy. We love your children and want what is best for them, and we work every minute of every day to help them be successful.
We are not indoctrinating children.
We are not grooming children.
The only reason to create this manufactured war on teachers and schools is to dismantle public education as we know it. To weaken the public support for education so that these politicians can then be justified in withdrawing financial support and resources for public education. To privatize and monetize the very concept that every child in this country deserves a quality education. When that happens, and we let capitalism be the driving force of public education, students and their education, their needs and their future, will no longer be the central focus.
And that is not what we stand for in this country.
So just stop it! Stop attacking teachers!
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