In a disturbing trend, Washington state officials continue to lower academic standards in public schools.  You can see my latest research study on this here. Now the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) is continuing the trend to degrade standards.  At planned meetings on January 20th and 21st, Board members will consider imposing harsh Critical Race Theory (CRT) requirements in the training and certifying of public school teachers.  [See the official meeting notice here.]

Controversial across the country, CRT mandates do nothing to improve the quality of instruction or to educate children for success in an increasingly complex world.

This latest move comes after passage earlier this year of SB 5044, a bill passed by Democrats and signed by Governor Jay Inslee on May 5th.  The bill mandates CRT in public schools, teaching that white students are oppressors and that students of other ethnicities are victims.  The training also includes concerning anti-Semitic and anti-Asian elements, and raises legal concerns about violating the voter-passed Washington Civil Rights Act.

CRT also tells children that American society is systemically racist, and that white students, regardless of their true background or life experiences, are automatically privileged.  Other students are instructed they are victims, and there is little they can do in life to get ahead, no matter their merit, character or how hard they work.

CRT lowers academic standards by shifting students’ attention away from acquiring the knowledge and skills they need in English, math, history and science.

As cover, proponents label the race-based ideology as “cultural competency, diversity, equity, and inclusion (CCDEI) standards initiative.”  Here are some examples from the proposal:

“AWARENESS, IDENTITIES, AND BIASES: ...schooling has perpetuated cultural genocide and white supremacy and act in such a way that actively acknowledges and works to dismantle one’s own role in this system’s perpetuation.”

“DISMANTLING INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION: Educators acknowledge systemic racism and injustice in the history of the Americas, the United States, the Pacific Northwest, and in the state of Washington. In doing so, educators recognize, reflect on, and de-program internalized responses to white supremacy and inequity throughout the school system and in society.”

“Educators understand systems of white supremacy and the ways that they are complicit in perpetuating racism…”

PESB members say they intend to use their  Cultural Competency Standards 2021 Survey and Listening Report to target public school teachers based on race,

“...white educators, need training and as well as accountability for examining their own biases and privileges... In particular, educators need training on how fear of failure, unwillingness to experience discomfort, and white fragility contribute to their lack of cultural competence/responsiveness.”

Teachers are told to use terms like “structural racism, white supremacy, and implicit bias” in the classroom to target white students and their parents.

Clearly this racialist proposal violates the civil rights of teachers, students and their families.  Already, CRT has become highly unpopular and repeal of SB 5044 is likely to be a topic when the legislature meets on January 10th.

CRT is based on promoting social disruption and directing hate toward others.  After months of closures and ongoing concerns over COVID, public education has been disrupted enough.  With all they have had to deal with, teachers and students don’t need more controversy imposed on them by state-level officials.