From a conservative teacher in the Montgomery County, Maryland Public School (MCPS) System.
Conservatism, Education, and Montgomery County Public Schools is a combination that is not welcome. I have seen it firsthand. My hope is through a series of articles, I can share my experiences as a conservative teacher within the MCPS system. I look forward to shedding some light on what is happening within our public school system.
Apparently, we are in a dual pandemic. Dual. That means two. At least that’s what Montgomery County Public Schools would have its staff and students believe.
Teacher note:
The term “dual pandemic” is a term used in the secondary lessons. The students are reading an article that discusses the term. Depending on your school’s equity journey in the building, staff may have concerns with the term for multiple reasons. The goal of this slide is to demonstrate to students that there are two major events that are happening in the world right now. One due to COVID-19 and the other due to social justice responses to combat systemic racism that is and has been occurring for hundreds of years. If students do not understand or there are concerns with calling social justice responses a “pandemic,” the “dual pandemic” wording can be replaced with wording that your students recognize in your building. The content of the slides should remain the same.
Teacher script:
“Right now, there are two pandemics that are happening. You may have heard about these and seen pictures or videos about them. Sometimes it is called a “double pandemic” or a “dual pandemic." These two major events that are impacting the whole world. The first is COVID-19 and the other is racism. Let’s review these.”
I suppose one of these would be COVID-19. The reality is that there is a virus out there that is novel to us. Many of us are now forced to work and learn from home. We currently aren’t able to enjoy a game at Nationals Park or attend a concert venue. Heck, we can’t even listen to a guy on a guitar play while we sip a glass of wine at a local winery. Many around us are experiencing a heightened level of stress. This year is like none other.
Sure, let’s call all the above part of a pandemic that our nation is experiencing.
According to MCPS, there is yet another pandemic. Not only does the county require schools to provide Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) to help support the well-being of our students during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to help them “navigate” through pandemic number two. Systemic racism.
The exact wording from a lesson plan goes as follows:
"The goal is to demonstrate to students that there are two major events that are happening in the world right now. One due to COVID-19 and the other due to social justice responses to combat systemic racism that is and has been occurring for hundreds of years."
Kids as little as pre-K are subjected to lessons with images of protests and signs saying “black lives matter” and “I can’t breathe.”
A book called The Antiracist Baby is being read to thousands of elementary school children, many parents unaware as they are busy at work. The book includes steps that the reader must take to make “equity a reality.”
Fast forward to the 3rd through 5th grade lessons, where students are exposed to the following:
People in African American and Latinx communities have been more likely to get sick from COVID-19 because of how racism and unfairness impacts their lives.
And those are just the elementary level lessons.
Montgomery County Public Schools has been in the throes of indoctrination for years. This is infuriating as a parent and tax payer of the county. Furthermore, as someone who is required to teach it to your children, I am being asked to compromise my values to shove it down your children’s throat. My conservative values, though, will not let me.
I will not teach this garbage. I will, yet again, find peace in that my students, at least for a year, will not be subjected to such indoctrination.
At the same time, I see this as another sign that my years as a county teacher are numbered.
My hope is that this sheds more light on what our children are being exposed to. Teaching is not the career I thought it would be.
References:
https://cutt.ly/tfOeJKM
https://images.randomhouse.com/teachers_guides/9780593110416.pdf
https://storage.googleapis.com/classroom-portal-production/uploads/2020/06/e7158e42-antiracistbaby_spread.jpg
Original source article published by The MoCo Conservative
August 16, 2020