School board proposal ‘white-washes’ history, draws protests from parents, students
OPINION - Large-scale student protests and “teacher sick-out” school closures have recently thrust into the spotlight the school board of Jefferson County, Colorado...
Critics of the proposal fear that the mandate could bar teachers from accurately teaching aspects of the civil rights movement, slavery, Japanese internment during WWII and U.S. treatment of Native Americans, among other things.
Statements issued by the conservative board members after the uproar the proposal caused have only added fuel to the fire. Ms. Williams’ own statements attempting to explain her proposal, which she characterizes as ensuring that history is taught “without bias,” appear to directly contradict the actual language of the proposal. She and her conservative colleagues have also blamed the teachers’ union for the widespread student protests, with Board President Ken Witt referring to the outraged students as “pawns” of the teachers’ union and saying that the proposal is “exactly the opposite of censorship” — charges that students, parents and teachers most firmly reject.
The Email
Perhaps the best evidence of WNW’s intentions was contained in an email from a Williams supporter seeking applicants for the yet-to-be-formed committee and intercepted by one of the minority board members, which reads:
Dear Friends, This is a door that many of us have been praying for. See Julie [Williams’] note below. If you know anyone who is conservative and/or a Christian who can serve on this committee to be watchmen for history curriculum please pass this along to them. We must have more conservative members on this committee than progressives and liberals. Please help Julie fill the committee with godly people.
This email, which has not received significant coverage in the media, and which none of the conservative board members have distanced themselves from, indicates a rather blatant attempt to politicize public education and indoctrinate Jefferson County students with an extreme ideology.
All of these actions have the students, parents and teachers of this moderate metropolitan community outraged, and with good reason. For more information, you can visit: http://www.supportjeffcokids.org and www.jeffcoschoolboardwatch.org
