Professors, Parents Sound off on Proposal to Prioritize Critical Race Theory
District of Columbia | May 24, 2021
he Biden administration invited the public to comment on its plan to place a priority on plications for a civics and history grant that incorporates Critical Race Theory in April. Americans had much to say about the polarizing proposal, which yielded more than 16,800 comments over a 30-day period.
In addition to comments made online, 22 parent and teacher groups signed on to a coalition letter to Secretary Cardona that says teaching Critical Race Theory may violate the rights of students to pursue an education without discrimination. The group, led by Parents Defending Education, writes that the proposal “creates the very real possibility that under the auspices of this grant program, discrimination will be introduced into classrooms across the country.”
Nicole Neily, founder and president of Parents Defending Education, told Campus Reform that the letter is a result of volunteers who are “the tip of the spear, out there, on the front lines, going to their school board meetings. These are all groups that have sprung up to address political indoctrination in schools.”
Neily says she’s seen exponential growth in parents looking to address Critical Race Theory, often driven by events happening at the local level. She cited a school district near Austin, Texas that “went to the state legislature saying, ‘We cannot afford a crossing guard for our local elementary school,’ and then they spent six figures on a racial equity consultant.”….
(Excerpts from the Tennessee Star)